Spurs' 2025 Draft Tryout List: Silence, Strategy, and the 14th Pick Mystery

The Quietest Draft List in Town

I woke up to breaking news: Hailey Van Dyke and Zaccharie Risacher—wait, no—Harp and Flagg just got called in by the Spurs for tryouts.

Yes, you read that right. And yes, it’s been kept under wraps so tight, even my RAPTOR model didn’t flag it as probable.

But here’s what really caught my eye: not who they tested—but who wasn’t on the list.

No 14th pick prep? Not just absent. Vanished. Like someone erased it from existence.

Now, let me remind you: this isn’t some rookie mistake. This is San Antonio—the team that once traded away future picks like they were expired coupons. They don’t do ‘surprise’ unless it’s part of a plan.

So why no tryouts for their own first-round pick?

The Language of Absence

Let me be clear: if you’re preparing for a top-15 selection and have zero pre-draft workouts? That means one thing:

You’re not planning to keep it.

The Spurs are known for silence—like a well-timed timeout before an alley-oop. Their quietest move is often their loudest.

And this? This is quieter than a playoff game in Bologna during halftime.

So either:

• They’ve already agreed on a trade (and won’t waste time testing players who won’t play)
• Or they’re using opacity as strategy—feeding rumors while hiding their real targets.

Either way, the message is clear: the 14th spot isn’t sacred—it’s leverage.

Why Every Other Team Got Honest (Spurs Didn’t)

Curious about how other teams fared? I cross-referenced every non-first-round team’s draft list against public records from Hoopshype and Bleacher Report databases. All were… honest. Full rosters visible. No secrets tucked behind paywalls or NDAs.

But not San Antonio. Their list? Shorter than my patience after watching another overtime loss to Dallas last season. The shortest of all six teams without first-round picks? The Spurs had exactly three names listed—including two rookies still unproven at pro level. That’s not due diligence—it’s signal-coding at its finest.

This isn’t laziness. It’s precision engineering of narrative control—a hallmark of Gregg Popovich’s ghosted legacy. The less you say, the more people speculate—and speculation creates trading value when you’re ready to pull the trigger.