Spurs trade draft pick to Pacers right before NBA first round gets underway

Billy Heyen

Spurs trade draft pick to Pacers right before NBA first round gets underway image

The San Antonio Spurs started their NBA Draft night with a trade.

About 35 minutes before the draft got underway on Wednesday, the Spurs agreed to a deal with the Indiana Pacers.

San Antonio sends the No. 38 pick this year to the Pacers in exchange for a future second-round pick and cash, per ESPN's Shams Charania.

In the NBA's new split-round format, that pick won't actually be made until the second round gets underway on Thursday.

The Spurs still hold picks No. 2 and 14.

The Pacers only had the No. 54 pick, so now they have two second-round selections.

Indiana likely did the move to get another guy under contract for a lower cap hit than a player signed for the veteran minimum.

The Spurs have a lot of roster pieces already and likely wouldn't need that additional young player, so they kick the selection down the road for when it might come in handy in a few years.

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Billy Heyen

Billy Heyen is a freelance writer with The Sporting News. He is a 2019 graduate of Syracuse University who has written about many sports and fantasy sports for The Sporting News. Sports reporting work has also appeared in a number of newspapers, including the Sandusky Register and Rochester Democrat & Chronicle