San Antonio held two top-eight selections in what was considered at the time, and is ultimately looking to be, a weak NBA Draft class.
The jury is still out on a number of players — centers Donovan Clingan (Portland) and Zach Edey (Memphis) haven’t been disappointments and Washington forward Alex Sarr has promise.
But in terms of solidfied, top-end contributors selected in the first-round that summer, the Spurs currently have the only one: Stephon Castle. The Spurs starting guard is San Antonio’s best perimeter defender and averaged 17 points, seven assists and five rebounds per game this season.
San Antonio nabbed Castle with the No. 4 selection on that June evening. The Spurs have had a string of lottery luck in recent years, and have capitalized on each opportunity. They selected Victor Wembanyama No. 1 overall in 2023, Castle at No. 4 and Dylan Harper with the second overall selection last summer.
It didn’t use the No. 8 pick in 2024. Intead, the Spurs traded it to Minnesota in exchange for the Wolves’ 2031 first-round pick.
The Wolves used the pick to take Rob Dillingham, the supposed starting point guard of the future.
Dillingham struggled to crack the rotation in Minnesota and was inconsistent, at best, in his minutes before he was finally dealt to Chicago at this year’s trade deadline along with Leonard Miller and a bag of second-round picks for Ayo Dosunmu.
Dosunmu has been better than Minnesota could’ve hoped for since his arrival, serving as additional depth at perimeter defender while also giving the Wolves an additional ball handler who’s one of the team’s more adept passers and playmakers.
In addition to Dillingham, that acquistion also cost Minnesota young forward Leonard Miller — who flashed down the stretch of the regular season with Chicago — as well as four second-round picks. The Wolves also grabbed Terrence Shannon Jr. in the latter stages of that first round. And after a slow start to his career, the wing is flashing his offensive value for the second straight postseason.
But the true cost of the Dosunmu trade is the financial aspect, as Dosunmu is a free agent this offseason, the only reason Chicago made him available.
The Wolves will likely have to pay Dosunmu $15-plus million per year on any deal this summer to retain his services in what could be a competitive market for the guard. Whether or not he’s the Timberwolves’ long-term solution at point guard remains to be seen.
San Antonio, meanwhile, has Castle at $10 million for next season, and south of $13 million the year after that. It would surprise no one if the young guard made an all-star team in that span. That’s the true value of hitting on draft picks versus having to go elsewhere to fill roster holes.
That draft night deal also left Minnesota largely without of valuable assets in its trade arsennal that it could use to augment or reimagine future renditions of its roster. First-round picks help you made splash, impact deals, such as the one the Spurs ultimately used that 2031 Timberwolves’ first-rounder to do — acquire De’Aaron Fox at last year’s NBA trade deadline.
Fox and Castle now represent San Antonio’s starting backcourt. The Spurs have a young, talented roster that’s contending for titles now and has the assets and core to continue to do so long into the future.
And, at least in part, they have the 2024 draft to thank.