Lindy Waters III Signs with Beijing Ducks After NBA Journey
Lindy Waters III is leaving the NBA the way he entered it — quietly, on the margins of the transaction wire, but with his next move already lined up.
The former San Antonio Spurs wing has signed with the Beijing Ducks of the Chinese Basketball Association, taking his five-year NBA journey overseas. Brett Siegel of ClutchPoints first reported the move, which pairs Waters with another ex-NBA forward, JaKarr Sampson, in the Chinese capital.
For Beijing, it’s a calculated addition. The Ducks finished fourth in the CBA last season at 29-13 and pushed through to the semifinals before bowing out to the eventual champions, the Shanghai Sharks. They’re close. They need shooting, spacing, and a steady pro who understands a role. Waters has built a career on exactly that.
From Undrafted Long Shot to NBA Mainstay
Waters’ story never followed the lottery-pick script.
After four seasons at Oklahoma State, he went undrafted in 2020 and started his pro career with the Enid Outlaws in The Basketball League, a long way from national TV and packed arenas. That stint didn’t last long. Oklahoma City saw something in his size, shooting, and feel, and brought him into the Thunder system.
For three seasons, Waters bounced between the Thunder and their G League affiliate, the Oklahoma City Blue. It was a grind, but he stuck. Across 104 games with the Thunder, he averaged 5.3 points and 1.8 rebounds, carving out minutes as a floor-spacer who could slide between the wing spots.
The Golden State Warriors took the next swing in the summer of 2024. On a roster built around movement and shooting, Waters found a natural fit. He appeared in 38 games, started nine, and posted 5.5 points, 2.5 rebounds, and 1.1 assists per night — modest numbers, but the kind that keep you in the league when you defend your position and don’t hijack possessions.
Then came the turbulence.
Midway through the 2024-25 season, Waters was shipped to the Detroit Pistons in the sprawling five-team Jimmy Butler trade. Detroit never became a long-term home. In 14 games, he averaged 3.4 points and 1.0 rebound, another short chapter in a career defined by movement.
A Small Role on a Big Stage in San Antonio
The Spurs offered the next opportunity. San Antonio signed Waters last summer, and he settled into a deep-rotation role on a team suddenly accelerating toward contention.
He suited up for 40 regular-season games, almost exclusively off the bench, averaging 2.4 points in just 7.1 minutes. The box scores rarely shouted his name, but Gregg Popovich trusted him enough to sprinkle him into playoff rotations.
Waters appeared in nine postseason games as the Spurs surged all the way to the 2026 NBA Finals. His numbers were minimal — 1.7 points in 3.8 minutes — yet for a player who started his career in a minor league in Enid, those Finals minutes represented the summit of the NBA mountain.
This summer, San Antonio chose a different direction. The Spurs declined to bring him back, and the door to Beijing opened.
Spurs Stay the Course After Finals Run
Waters’ departure is a footnote in a Spurs offseason defined less by upheaval and more by consolidation.
San Antonio’s headline move came at the very top of the roster: a five-year, $252 million extension for Victor Wembanyama, the franchise’s towering centerpiece and the reason the Finals no longer feel like a fairy tale in Texas. Locking him down was non-negotiable.
Around him, the Spurs focused on continuity. Harrison Barnes, Julian Champagnie, and Jordan McLaughlin all received new deals, preserving the core rotation that carried them to June.
They did, however, address the one spot that had nagged at them: power forward. The front office moved quickly to bring in veteran Tobias Harris on a two-year contract. Harris arrives with the expectation of pushing Champagnie for the starting job, adding a steady scoring presence and playoff experience to a frontcourt built around Wembanyama’s length and versatility.
The draft added another layer of youth. San Antonio used first-round picks on Jayden Quaintance and Tarris Reed Jr., then doubled down in the second round with Ja’Kobi Gillespie and Maliq Brown. It’s a familiar Spurs formula: star secured, veterans in support, and a pipeline of young talent waiting in the wings.
Waters no longer fits into that picture. The margins of a contender’s roster are ruthless.
A New Stage in Beijing
For the Beijing Ducks, there’s no such squeeze. They’re chasing a title of their own in a league that has increasingly become a landing spot for NBA role players in their prime years.
Waters brings 161 NBA games, a proven jumper, and the kind of professionalism that travels well. In Oklahoma City, Golden State, Detroit, and San Antonio, he survived on his ability to adapt, to accept whatever role a coach handed him and make the most of it.
In China, the role could be bigger. The ball might find him more often. The shots will matter just as much.
His NBA chapter closes without fanfare, but not without substance: undrafted to rotation minutes, G League to the Finals, four franchises, five seasons, and a reputation as a reliable pro.
Now the question shifts continents: how high can that game play in Beijing, on a team already knocking on the door of a CBA championship?
