Welcome to the Open Thread. During the month of June, we are talking NBA Draft. As we lead up to the 2025 NBA Draft on June 25th, we will be revisiting the Spurs draft choices. Today we remember the 2011 NBA Draft.

Question: What do Kyrie Irving, Derrick Williams, Enes Kanter, Tristan Thompson, Jonas Valančiūnas, Jan Veselý, Bismack Biyombo, Brandon Knight, Kemba Walker, Jimmer Fredette, Klay Thompson, Alec Burks, Markieff Morris, and Marcus Morris have in common?

Answer: They were all drafted before Kawhi Leonard.

For all his greatness, Kawhi Leonard may not have become the two-time Defensive Player of the Year, 2014 Finals MVP, or a continual threat for league MVP in his prime without the expert tutelage of Gregg Popovich and his merry band of coaches.

As will go down in Spurs lore, the Spurs traded Pop’s favorite George Hill for the San Diego State Aztec along with draft rights to Dāvis Bertāns and Erazem Lorbek. At first glance, this may have appeared to be a long-shot of a trade and quite the sacrifice on the part of the Spurs. A relatively unknown Leonard with 25% 3-point shooting along with a couple of draft rights to overseas players for George Hill. Hill was emerging into the starting point guard he has become. But keep in mind, Hill had one more year on his contract and there was no way he was going to take Tony Parker’s starting position.

As if obtaining Kawhi wasn’t enough, trading mate Dāvis Bertāns made it to San Antonio where be became a three-point assassin off the bench. He was traded in 2019 to the Washington Wizards for DeMarre Carroll while clearing space in a botched attempt to sign Marcus Morris. (Morris botched it up, not the Spurs.) Bertans stayed in the NBA moving from Washington to Dallas, to OKC and then on to Charlotte. he is currently playing in Dubai.

As if Leonard and Bertāns were not enough to obtain from the draft, Cory Joseph was the Spurs actual first round pick at the 29th spot. Joseph is noted for requesting to be sent down to the Austin Toros to develop, a move which enhanced his game and endeared him to coaching staff and fans alike. He stepped in for Tony Parker as the starting point guard at times and found success in the role. He won a championship with the Spurs before moving to his native Toronto. After two seasons with the Raptors he was traded to Indiana for the draft rights of Emir Preldžić. He has since passed through Indiana, Sacramento, Detroit, Golden State, and spent this past season with the Orlando Magic.

And finally, with the 59th pick in the draft, The Spurs chose Hungarian swingman Ádám Hanga, Hanga has continued to play in Europe since the draft. He’s won multiple Liga ACB, Spanish Cup, and Spanish SuperCup championships. He’s also received accolade for defensive prowess — Hungarian League Best Defender 2011, EuroLeague Best Defender in 2017, Liga ACB Defensive Player of the Year in 2016 and 2017, Alas he never quite caught on stateside.

Welcome to The Thread. Join in the conversation, start your own discussion, and share your thoughts. This is the Spurs community, your Spurs community. Thanks for being here.

Our community guidelines apply which should remind everyone to be cool, avoid personal attacks, not to troll and to watch the language.