The San Antonio Spurs called up rookie Luka Samanic on Tuesday. With a chance to get his first NBA experience Wednesday, Samanic told MySA he sees the benefit of playing in the G League on the Austin Spurs.
He looks at teammates on the NBA team and see they’ve succeeded in part because of their G League start.
“You have to be patient and just trust what they say, and look at what everybody did before,” Samanic said. “Lonnie (Walker IV), Dejounte (Murray) and Derrick (White). So why not me?”
In the 2016-17 season, Murray played 15 games for Austin, where he averaged 17.2 points, 7.9 rebounds and 6.3 assists.
The next year, White spent 24 games in the G League and averaged 20.1 points per game.
Last season, Walker played 29 games in Austin and averaged 16.6 points.
All three have contributed to the San Antonio team this year.
Samanic is averaging 15.3 points, 7.8 rebounds and 1.3 assists in 28.4 minutes for Austin.
He has yet to appear in an NBA game after being selected No. 19 overall in the 2019 draft by the Spurs.
Power forward LaMarcus Aldridge has been ruled out Wednesday against the Dallas Mavericks, which could allow the 6-foot-11 Samanic to get onto the court for the first time in his career.
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