The San Antonio Spurs have found some real gems outside the lottery in the past decades. But Luka Samanic won’t be one of them as the franchise decided to waive the Croatian forward on Monday.
Samanic leaves San Antonio after just two seasons, having been the Spurs 19th pick in the 2019 NBA Draft. The move was part of the team’s efforts to get their roster to 15 players before the start of the 2021-22 NBA season.
Samanic struggled to make an impact in the NBA, having spent most of his rookie season with the Austin Spurs, the Spurs’ G-League affiliate. He had received more opportunity in his sophomore year, playing 33 games and making four starts, but the 21-year-old failed to make the best of it and only averaged 3.7 games and 2.1 rebounds per contest.
The last straw seemed to be Samanic’s performances this preseason, where he looked sluggish and had a particularly poor defensive effort.
“He hasn’t played very much, so his is more of a confidence game and understanding what it takes to be a player,” Popovich said of Samanic last week via San Antonio Express-News.
Since his rookie contract was guaranteed for 2021-22, Luka Samanic’s release won’t make any changes to the Spurs salary cap situation. The only way the franchise could get some cap relief is if Samanic gets claimed by another NBA team, but that seems highly unlikely.
