Croatian Luka Samanic cut by the Spurs

By Johnny Askounis/ info@eurohoops.net

Luka Samanic has been waived by the San Antonio Spurs, the team announced Monday.

Per the press release: “The San Antonio Spurs today announced that they have waived forward Luka Samanic.

Samanic played two seasons for the Spurs, averaging 3.8 points and 2.2 rebounds in 9.9 minutes over 36 games. Originally selected by San Antonio with the 19th pick of the 2019 NBA Draft, the Croatian forward also appeared in 39 games for the Austin Spurs in the NBA G League, averaging 16.2 points, 8.3 rebounds and 1.5 assists in 29.1 minutes.”

Samanic, 21, had a guaranteed 2,959,080 dollars on his contract for the next season. The remaining portion of his rookie contract was not guaranteed and will not carry a hit on the Spurs salary cap if an NBA team claims him on waivers.

Prior to jumping to the NBA, the young Croatian power forward had launched his pro career at Barcelona B and for the 2018-19 season moved to Petrol Olimpija, since merged to Cedevita Olimpija. He had made his way to 12 Basketball Champions League games with the team based in Ljubljana.

San Antonio, led by head coach Gregg Popovich for a 26th straight season, still has 16 guaranteed contracts. The team must trade or release one more player on a guaranteed contract before the start of the 2021-22 Regular Season to meet the limit of 15 players with guaranteed contracts.

Following the final prep game, against the Houston Rockets on Friday, the Spurs will host the Orlando Magic in their opener, planned to take place October 20.

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