The San Antonio Spurs seemed to have scored another gem in 19th overall pick Luka Samanic. The 19-year-old forward is looking like another prospect the Spurs will be raving about for years to come, and perhaps maybe even as soon as in his rookie year this coming season.

San Antonio was so high on Samanic that even Spurs legend Tim Duncan, who is now an assistant coach, was invited by the team to take part in Samanic's pre-draft assessment:

“I was at the pre-draft workout, before the draft, and we went to dinner,” Samanic said in an interview with Total Croatia News, via Jeff Garcia of News4SA. “I didn't even know that he (Duncan) was going to be there. I thought there would only be people from San Antonio. When I saw him and saw Gregg (Popovich), that is something that does not happen every day. And we didn't talk at all about basketball, it was all about how I was doing in school, how many languages I speak, things to fit into their San Antonio family.”

This was the highest of compliments for Samanic, as two prominent figures from the organization went out of their way to reach out to him. And when the day of the draft finally arrived, Samanic admitted he was indeed hoping to land with the Spurs:

“I was ready for anything, and I secretly wanted San Antonio because they have some history with Europe and when I heard that I was 19, I was overjoyed,” he said.

Last season with Slovenian side Petrol Olimpjia, Samanic averaged 8.6 points, 5.1 rebounds, 1.1 assists, and 0.8 steals in 18.6 minutes per contest.