The Spurs fell to Golden State in Saturday’s home finale, punching their ticket for New...
Jock Landale of the Spurs drives past Andre Iguodala of the Golden State Warriors in the first half at AT&T Center on April 9, 2022 in San Antonio.Break out the jambalaya. The Spurs are headed to New Orleans.
Golden State was hardly at full bore, either, with Stephen Curry still sidelined with a foot sprain and Klay Thompson taking a breather as well. Walker was back in the lineup after missing Thursday’s loss in Minnesota with a sore back he said will not get better until he has the offseason to rest it.First, there is Sunday’s regular-season closer at Dallas, which is meaningless in the standings but which the Spurs might — or might not — use to bring their regulars back for a proper tune-up.
Failing that, they are poised to enjoy the best of both worlds — a taste of pseudo-postseason basketball, as well as their highest draft pick since 1997. If the Spurs end with the ninth-worst record but do not qualify for the full playoffs, they will have a slightly better than 20 percent chance of landing a top four pick in the lottery drawing. They will have a nearly 97 percent chance of grabbing their first top 10 pick since selecting Tim Duncan first overall in 1997.Losing in Dallas and then falling short of the postseason for the third consecutive season wouldn’t be the worst thing for the organization’s long-term future.
The Warriors are glad to have him. The Spurs would be glad to have a player of that caliber join them in June.As expected, the Spurs’ own 2021 lottery pick has been something of a mixed bag as a rookie.