There was once a point when the San Antonio Spurs believed Joshua Primo could become an important part of their next era.

Now, at only 23 years old, the former lottery pick finds himself attempting to rebuild his career far away from the NBA after another unexpected development.

Primo, who was selected 12th overall by the Spurs in the 2021 NBA Draft, has reportedly signed a one-year contract with Russian club BC Parma. The move represents another significant chapter in a career that has taken a dramatically different direction from what many expected when San Antonio invested a lottery selection in him.

For the Spurs, however, Primo’s latest career development is unlikely to cause much concern.

San Antonio has moved on.

When the Spurs selected Primo in 2021, they were betting on potential. He was only 18 at the time and possessed several of the qualities teams look for in a young guard, including shooting ability, size and considerable room for physical and developmental growth.

The organization clearly believed there was something worth developing.

His first season was relatively quiet, but Primo entered his second campaign looking noticeably stronger physically and appeared to be preparing for a much bigger role. There was genuine optimism that he could emerge as one of the young building blocks of the franchise.

Then everything changed.

Following serious allegations, San Antonio waived Primo in 2022, abruptly ending a relationship that had barely begun to reach its potential.

The guard subsequently spent a year away from the NBA before receiving another opportunity with the Los Angeles Clippers. That chance, though, failed to provide the revival many may have hoped for.

Primo appeared in only three regular-season games for the Clippers before once again finding himself outside the NBA.

Now, his latest move has taken him to Russia.

At 23, Primo is still young enough in basketball terms to potentially revive his career, but his journey has already become one of the more striking examples of how quickly an NBA prospect’s trajectory can change.

For San Antonio, meanwhile, the situation ultimately became far less damaging than it initially appeared.

The Spurs were able to move forward after Primo’s departure and continued building toward a completely different future.

Their subsequent struggles helped put them in position to select Victor Wembanyama with the No. 1 overall pick in 2023. They then added Stephon Castle and Dylan Harper, giving the organization a dramatically different young core from the one that existed during Primo’s brief tenure.

That makes Primo increasingly feel like a forgotten chapter in San Antonio’s rebuilding story.

The irony is difficult to ignore.

A player once viewed as a potential lottery-level cornerstone is now playing overseas, while the Spurs have constructed an exciting young roster around Wembanyama and their other recent high draft selections.

There is no guarantee that Primo’s story is finished. Basketball careers can take unexpected turns, and at just 23, he still has time to establish himself again.

But his latest move is undeniably another reminder of how far his career has drifted from the path San Antonio envisioned when it called his name with the 12th pick in 2021.

The Spurs, meanwhile, have little reason to look backward.

Their rebuild has entered an entirely new phase, and with Wembanyama leading the charge, Primo’s brief chapter in San Antonio has become increasingly distant from the franchise’s current ambitions.

What once looked like a potentially costly lottery gamble has effectively been swallowed by the Spurs’ remarkable rebuild.

And that may ultimately be the biggest twist of all.