What do Tony Parker, Derrick White, Dejounte Murray, Manu Ginobili, and Keldon Johnson all have in common? All of them were drafted by the San Antonio Spurs well after the lottery, and every team in the league had a chance to pass on them before the Spurs snapped them up.
Parker is a Hall-of-Famer. Murray is an All-Star. White and Johnson are gold medalists, and Manu is all of the above.
In the 2025 NBA Draft, the Spurs picked Cartyer Bryant 14th overall. He didn't fall quite as far as those soon-to-be superstars, but it's not like the Spurs used premier draft capital on him either. Keep in mind, 14th overall is the latest the Spurs have picked in the first round since 2022.
Carter Bryant is Ahead of Schedule
Before he was drafted, Bryant was touted as an elite athlete with excellent defensive instincts. Check and check, so far.
His offense game was and is promising, but mostly limited to off-ball movement and corner 3-pointers. In his lone college season at Arizona, he shot a solid 37.1% from deep, although his attempts were limited and he wasn't much of a scorer.
In his rookie season, his calling card has been his defense, but his shot has rapidly improved with more attempts.
He's makin 33.9% of his 3s on the season, but in games where he plays over ten minutes, that skyrockets to 37.3%. In the last 18 games, he's been elevated from a garbage-time fixture to a core part of the lineup, and he's shooting a blistering 40.3%.
Add in his defensive skills, and he's on pace to surpass his pre-draft hype. Forget him being the next Jeremy Sochan (with a jump shot), he could be the next Kawhi Leonard!
Wishful thinking, probably, but it's worth noting that in the last 18 games, he's taking more 3s than he ever did in college, and sinking them at an elite rate.
Between Victor Wembanyama, Stephon Castle, Dylan Harper, De'Aaron Fox, Devin Vassell, and Keldon Johnson, Bryant will never be tasked with being a top-level scorer for the team, but with his defense already making him starter-worthy and his offense progressing ahead of schedule, expect him to play a bigger and bigger role on both sides of the ball.