Category: San Antonio Spurs Blog

The San Antonio Spurs have exercised their fourth-year team option on guard Dejounte Murray and center Jakob Poeltl for the 2019-20 season.

In addition, the Spurs have exercised their third-year option on guard Derrick White for the 2019-20 season.

Murray is entering his third season with the Spurs after being selected by San Antonio in the first round of the 2016 NBA Draft (29th overall). Last year, Murray was named to the NBA All-Defensive Second Team, becoming the youngest player in NBA history to be named to an All-Defensive Team. He ended the season with 459 rebounds, setting the record for most total rebounds in a single season by a point guard in Spurs history passing the previous mark of 378 by Johnny Moore in 1984-85. The former Washington Husky has appeared in 119 career NBA games, averaging 6.6 points, 4.2 rebounds and 2.3 assists in 17.4 minutes.

Poeltl is in his first season with the Silver and Black after being acquired from the Toronto Raptors on July 18. Last season, Poeltl averaged 6.9 points, 4.8 rebounds and 1.22 blocks in 18.6 minutes. Selected by the Raptors with the ninth overall pick in the 2016 NBA Draft, the 7-0, 230-pound center has appeared in 136 games in his two-year NBA career, averaging 5.4 points and 4.1 rebounds in 15.8 minutes. Poeltl holds a career field goal percentage of .641 (320-499), which ranks fifth in the NBA among all players with at least 300 field goals made in the last two seasons.

White appeared in 17 games during his rookie season with the Spurs, averaging 3.2 points and 1.5 rebounds in 8.2 minutes. The former Colorado Buffalo helped lead the Austin Spurs to the 2018 G League Championship, averaging 24.8 points, 4.8 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 1.80 steals in 32.8 minutes in the G League Playoffs. He appeared in 24 regular season games for Austin, averaging 20.1 points, 5.0 rebounds, 3.4 assists, 1.29 steals and 1.17 blocks in 28.2 minutes. White was drafted by the Spurs with the 29th overall pick in the first round of the 2017 NBA Draft.

The San Antonio Spurs have signed Jaron Blossomgame, Drew Eubanks, Nick Johnson and Okaro White.

It’s likely that all four signings are non-guaranteed deals that merely bring the players to Spurs training camp.

Blossomgame, 6-7/220, was a member of the Austin Spurs 2018 G League Championship roster, leading the team by averaging 8.2 rebounds to go along with 16.5 points and 1.4 assists in 29.6 minutes. Named to the All-NBA G League Third Team last season, he posted 14 double-doubles and tallied 17 games with over 20 points. Blossomgame was originally drafted by the Spurs in the second round of the 2017 NBA Draft (59th overall) after playing four seasons at Clemson University, where he averaged 13.5 points, 6.5 rebounds and 1.1 assists in 30.7 minutes and was named to the All-ACC First Team in 2016.

Eubanks, 6-10/245, joins the Spurs on a two-way contract after playing with the Silver and Black in the 2018 NBA Summer League. Averaging 13.2 points, 6.8 rebounds, 1.72 blocks and 1.1 assists in 31.3 minutes last season as a junior at Oregon State, he shot .624 (164-263) from the floor and finished eighth in the nation in field goal percentage. Appearing in all 94 games over his three-year career with the Beavers, Eubanks ranks third in school history in career blocks (163).

Johnson, 6-3/200, was named the G League Finals MVP last season after helping Austin to the G League title. He appeared in 28 games for the Houston Rockets in the 2014-15 season, averaging 2.6 points and 1.4 rebounds in 9.4 minutes after being drafted by Houston in the second round of the 2014 NBA Draft (42nd overall). Johnson has appeared in a total of 102 NBA G League games and spent one season playing for Bayern Munich in Germany in 2016-17. Johnson played three seasons at the University of Arizona, where he averaged 12.3 points, 3.7 rebounds and 2.8 assists in 30.9 minutes, being named the 2014 Pac-12 Player of the Year in his final season with the Wildcats.

White, 6-8/205, spent the last two seasons as a member of the Miami Heat and holds career averages of 2.9 points and 2.3 rebounds in 41 games in his NBA career. He was named to the 2017 G League All-Star during team, posting 18.4 points, 8.7 rebounds and 1.8 assists that season. White spent two seasons playing internationally in Italy and Greece after a four-year career at Florida State University, where he helped the Seminoles to their first ever ACC Championship in 2012 and was named to the All-ACC defensive team in 2014.

Here’s the San Antonio Express News with some sad news on a former Spurs assistant:

Don Newman, an assistant coach who served on the staff of a pair of Spurs championship teams, has died after a battle with cancer. He was 60.

Newman was a member of coach Gregg Popovich’s staff from 2004-2012, helping the Spurs win titles in 2005 and 2007.

He left the Spurs in 2012 to become the lead assistant under Randy Wittman in Washington, where he remained until 2016.

Newman died Tuesday. Funeral services are pending.

Full article

The San Antonio Spurs have signed forward Chimezie Metu.

Metu, 6-11/225, was selected by the Spurs in the second round of the 2018 NBA Draft (49th overall). He recently played with San Antonio in the 2018 NBA Summer League, averaging 11.4 points, 7.6 rebounds and 1.4 assists in 21.4 minutes in five appearances.

Last season as a junior at the University of Southern California, the Lawndale, Calif. native was named to the All-Pac-12 First Team and received honorable mention for the All-Defensive Team. He averaged a team-high 15.9 points to go along with 7.4 rebounds and 1.74 blocks in 31.0 minutes.

Over his three-year career at USC, he averaged 12.3 points and 6.3 rebounds in 27.0 minutes while shooting .533 (495-928) from the floor in his 71 appearances. In his sophomore season, Metu was named the 2017 Pac-12 Most Improved Player and received All-Pac-12 Second Team honors. He finished his collegiate career third in school history with 168 total blocks.

The San Antonio Spurs signed forward Quincy Pondexter today.

Pondexter, 6-7/230, spent last season with the Chicago Bulls, averaging 2.0 points and 1.2 rebounds in 8.5 minutes in 23 games.

A seven-year NBA veteran, Pondexter holds career averages of 5.0 points and 2.0 rebounds in 17.3 minutes over 302 total games played. After being drafted by the Oklahoma City Thunder in the first round of the 2010 NBA Draft (26th overall) he was sent to the New Orleans later that summer. Prior to the start of the 2011-12 campaign, Pondexter was dealt to the Memphis Grizzlies where he played the next three-plus seasons. On Jan. 12, 2015 he was traded back to the Pelicans where he posted a career-best 9.0 points, 3.1 rebounds and 1.5 assists in 27.8 minutes over 45 games.

Pondexter played collegiately at the University of Washington, earning All-Pac-10 First Team honors as a senior in 2010. In four seasons with Huskies he averaged 13.1 points, 5.6 rebounds and 1.7 assists in 136 games. He is the school’s all-time leader in games played and finished his career ranked third in scoring with 1,786 points.

The San Antonio Spurs signed forward Dante Cunningham today.

Cunningham, 6-8/230, spent last season with New Orleans and Brooklyn, averaging 5.7 points and 4.1 rebounds in 21.4 minutes over 73 total games. Starting the year with the Pelicans for the first 51 games, he averaged 5.0 points and 3.8 rebounds in 21.9 minutes before being dealt on Feb. 8 to the Nets, where he appeared in 22 contests and posted 7.5 points and 4.8 rebounds in 20.3 minutes.

A nine-year NBA veteran, Cunningham holds career averages of 6.1 points and 3.8 rebounds in 651 total games played. After being drafted by Portland in the second round of the 2009 NBA Draft (33rd overall), the former Villanova Wildcat spent his rookie year with the Trail Blazers before being sent to Charlotte in the middle of his second season on Feb. 24, 2011. The forward signed as a free agent with Memphis after the season, where he spent one year before being traded to Minnesota in the summer of 2012. After playing two years for the Timberwolves, Cunningham signed with New Orleans on Dec. 4, 2014 and spent three-plus years with the Pelicans before being dealt to Brooklyn last season.