When Devonte' Graham joined the San Antonio Spurs in 2023, the team had 27 games left. Graham played in 20 of them. His 31 points a day after he arrived set the franchise record for most in a Spurs debut. He also collected three rebounds and three assists in that 138–131 double overtime loss to the Detroit Pistons. In averaging 13 points per outing and starting eight over those last two months the season, Graham became a regular part of the rotation.
Heading into an off-season in which the Spurs didn't overhaul the roster upon the drafting of Victor Wembanyama, it may have been natural to think Graham would again find himself among the team's regulars.
But 2023-24 proved to be a vastly different story. After seeing the court in those 20 of the aforementioned 27 games, the sixth-year veteran played in only 23 of their 82 games last year.
“I'm sure he didn't like it, but he was always there for his team,” Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich said toward the end of the season.
It proved Graham's last in San Antonio after he signed a one-year deal with the Portland Trail Blazers.
Devonte' Graham as a “player”
Right after the Silver and Black's huge win vs. the then defending NBA champion Denver Nuggets in the second-to-last game of the regular season for both, Popovich called Graham a “player.”
“Down the stretch, he got to play a little bit more and he's shown that he's still a player,” the winningest coach in NBA history said after Graham hit a game-winner in the 121-120 final.
In that same press conference, Popovich invoked Steve Kerr and Danny Ferry when answering a question about Graham's big moment that night, indicating that, like them, the 29-year-old guard would come up big even though he didn't get many minutes.
“He was the same cloth, the same species,” the Hall of Fame coach continued, “He busted his a** all year long and was always ready.”
For Graham, who averaged 18.2 points per game in 2019-20 with the Charlotte Hornets, it wasn't easy to sit and watch.
“My teammates keeping me confident. Just putting in that work, staying ready and just being a pro,” the former Kansas Jayhawk revealed.
Graham credits folks who are even closer to him as the reason he's kept on going.
“My family, keeping that confidence in me,” he said.
“It's just how I was raised, how I've always approached being the NBA. You've got to be professional at all points. You never know who's watching.”
Seven of the 23 games in which Graham played this past season came in the last month when several key Spurs were injured. Graham took advantage, averaging 8.4 PPG, including 20 against the New Orleans Pelicans, whom he also played for before the Spurs acquired him as part of a trade for Josh Richardson.
“You have your good and your bad days, but you stay positive, stay ready, stay confident. Can't lose that confidence and you just go out there and play,” Graham said just before the season ended.
As the Spurs continue to build around Wemby, Graham now gets a chance to reset in Portland.
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