Spurs waive 2019 first-round pick Luka Samanic

The San Antonio Spurs spent the No. 19 pick of the 2019 NBA Draft on Croatian forward Luka Samanic but hadn't yet picked up the 2022-23 option attached to his rookie contract. 

Per ESPN, the Spurs waived Samanic on Monday. 

Samanic appeared in 36 regular-season games during his short San Antonio tenure and averaged 3.8 points, 2.2 rebounds, and 0.6 assists per contest. He's the third player from his draft class to be waived after Mfiondu Kabengele and Sekou Doumbouya.

According to Jeph Duarte and Noah Magaro-George of Pounding the Rock, the Spurs will endure a dead money salary cap hit of approximately $2.9 million unless a different franchise claims Samanic within 48 hours of his release. The 21-year-old listed at 6-foot-10 averaged 21.8 points and 11.3 rebounds while with the Austin Spurs of the G League in 2020-21, but head coach Gregg Popovich ultimately relegated Samanic to a bench role that largely included the forward making mop-up duty appearances. 

Following Monday's development, the Spurs have 17 players on their active roster and have until the start of the regular season next week to trim that down to 15 players.