The Spurs’ first-round pick, Jayden Quaintanceunderwent successful right knee surgery on Wednesday, the team announced in a press release.
The 18-year-old big man played just four games for Kentucky this season as he was dealing with complications stemming from a torn ACL he suffered in February 2025 during his freshman season with Arizona State.
He played his first collegiate season at just 17 years old and was considered a potential lottery pick due to his impressive defensive instincts and tools, averaging 2.6 blocks and 1.1 steals in just 29.5 minutes with the Sun Devils.
However, injury concerns caused him to fall in the draft to the 20th pick, where he was taken by the Spurs, who seized the chance to buy low on the chance at forming a defensively dominant frontcourt duo in the future between Quaintance and star Victor Wembanyama.
The team was aware that he would require another knee surgery to clean up his meniscus when they drafted him, as he said after being selected that he was still experiencing “a little pain,” so this procedure comes as no surprise. That could be partially responsible for their decision to trade into the 26th pick in order to select the more NBA-ready big man, Tarris Reed Jr.
“We do our homework and we’ve got a great medical team that’s very thorough in their analysis and process,” general manager Brian Wright said, per Jeff McDonald of the San Antonio Express-News. “We spent time with his representatives going through where he is in his rehabilitation process and what the options are. We got comfortable about what that looks like today and then the long-term prognosis as well.”
Quaintance will likely miss the beginning of next season and could be looking at a return date sometime in 2027, Brett Siegel reports for ClutchPoints (via Twitter). He said he trusted the team’s vision for putting him in the best possible position long-term.
“They said their priority is making sure that I’m 100% healthy,” Quaintance said. “So just trusting the medical staff here, that they’re going to be in the best position to be successful.”
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