San Antonio, despite growing at a rapid rate, is still considered a small market team. They always have been, so they've had to achieve their successes by building through the draft and making savvy moves through trades or free agency. So, while the recently re-emerging claims that the Spurs are the "luckiest franchise" in reference to drafting is somewhat fair, it doesn't paint the proper picture of what makes them special.
San Antonio Spurs are the luckiest franchise in NBA history when it comes to drafting😩 pic.twitter.com/7A1lXl7fYd
— NBA Memes (@NBAMemes) August 21, 2025
Don't underestimate the power of consistently making the right decision. Too many teams don't do it, and it comes in all sorts of shapes and sizes. Nobody would be talking about the fortune of the Spurs if they didn't do a bunch of other things right, because no one player can be responsible for the immense success this franchise has experienced.
Tim Duncan was the anchor point, but the vets they had on the roster surrounding him were integral to starting his career with such a bang. He'll tell you himself how highly he regarded the older players around him. But it doesn't stop there. Not even close.
The Spurs make the right move more often than not
Did you know that Kobe Bryant wasn't selected in the 1996 draft until the 13th pick? There are a lot of teams that regret passing up on the Black Mamba now. Sure, there are always misses, but those things cost people their jobs because the question of why the GM missed it will prevail. Especially when you have guys like Todd Fuller or Samaki Walker going ahead of him.
You have to do your due diligence everywhere in the world, and the Spurs were ahead of the curve on that. Drafting Tony Parker with the 28th pick in the first round and Manu Ginobili with the 57th pick in the second weren't obvious moves to others, but they helped shape this franchise.
Their decision to add Robert Horry to the roster was an important one, despite how we may feel about him now. He played a major role in bringing trophies to the Alamo City. Danny Green had been discarded by Cleveland. You'd think that a shooter could thrive alongside LeBron James, but Green did not and found himself in search of a new home. He found it in San Antonio.
Nobody really knew what Kawhi Leonard was capable of, but the Spurs traded away Coach Pop's favorite player, George Hill, to bring the Klaw in. A few years later, he's winning an NBA Finals MVP, and shortly after that, he's handed the keys to the franchise (before he backstabbed us).
The Silver and Black didn't get the number one overall pick last year, but what they did with that number four pick was select Stephon Castle. There were three other teams who could have made that move, but they didn't, and the Spurs got the best player from that class.
So, yeah, there may be some luck involved in the draft lottery (if you believe in that sort of thing), but don't discount the savvy and deliberate work this organization has done to build its reputation. It doesn't just come from some mystical force called "luck." It comes from having some of the smartest, forward-thinking minds in the league. That means much more.