Lindy Waters III Leaves NBA for Beijing Ducks

Lindy Waters III is leaving the NBA the way he entered it: on his own terms and off the beaten path.

The former San Antonio Spurs wing has signed with the Beijing Ducks of the Chinese Basketball Association, taking his career overseas after five seasons in the league. His move was first reported by Brett Siegel of ClutchPoints and ends a winding NBA chapter that took him from Oklahoma City to Golden State, Detroit and, finally, San Antonio.

For the Ducks, who finished fourth in the CBA last season at 29-13 and reached the semifinals before falling to eventual champions Shanghai Sharks, Waters arrives as another experienced perimeter piece. He’ll link up with fellow former NBA forward JaKarr Sampson in Beijing, joining a team that already expects to contend.

From undrafted to everywhere

Waters’ story never followed the standard script.

After four seasons at Oklahoma State, he went undrafted in 2020 and had to fight his way into the professional ranks. His first stop: the Enid Outlaws of The Basketball League, far from the spotlight and even further from NBA guarantees.

Oklahoma City eventually called. The Thunder signed him and turned him into a classic two-way grinder, shuttling between the NBA roster and the Oklahoma City Blue in the G League. Across three seasons with the Thunder, Waters carved out a role as a floor-spacer and energy wing, averaging 5.3 points and 1.8 rebounds in 104 games.

Golden State took the next flier. The Warriors brought him in during the summer of 2024, and he responded with his most substantial role to date. Waters appeared in 38 games, started nine, and posted 5.5 points, 2.5 rebounds and 1.1 assists per night — the kind of production that hinted at a reliable rotation piece on a good team.

Then came the trade.

Midway through the 2024-25 season, Waters was shipped to the Detroit Pistons as part of the sprawling five-team deal headlined by Jimmy Butler. In Detroit, his minutes and impact dipped. Over 14 games, he averaged 3.4 points and 1.0 rebound, a short stay that never truly settled.

San Antonio offered a different stage.

A brief Spurs chapter and a Finals run

The Spurs signed Waters last summer, asking him to bring shooting and depth to a young roster built around Victor Wembanyama. Waters appeared in 40 regular-season games, almost exclusively off the bench, and averaged 2.4 points in 7.1 minutes per contest.

The raw numbers were modest. The moments weren’t always.

As San Antonio surged all the way to the 2026 NBA Finals, Waters logged nine postseason appearances. His role shrank to 3.8 minutes and 1.7 points per game, but he was part of a group that pushed through the Western Conference and fell just short of a title. For a player who began his pro career in a small minor-league gym, the Finals stage marked a long climb.

Once the season ended, the Spurs made their calculations. They chose not to bring him back.

Spurs look forward, Waters looks abroad

San Antonio’s summer has been defined less by change and more by consolidation. The franchise moved quickly to lock in its cornerstone, handing Wembanyama a five-year, $252 million extension that cements the 7-foot-4 phenom as the face of the organization for the long haul.

Around him, the Spurs doubled down on continuity. Harrison Barnes, Julian Champagnie and Jordan McLaughlin all received new deals, keeping much of last year’s rotation intact after the Finals run.

Where they did act decisively was at power forward. The front office identified the spot as a clear need and pounced on veteran Tobias Harris in free agency, signing him to a two-year contract. Harris is expected to push Champagnie hard for the starting job, adding scoring and experience to a frontline built to complement Wembanyama.

The draft added more layers to the project. San Antonio selected Jayden Quaintance and Tarris Reed Jr. in the first round, then Ja’Kobi Gillespie and Maliq Brown in the second, stocking the roster with young size and athleticism to grow alongside their superstar.

In that evolving picture, there was no new deal for Waters.

So he heads to Beijing, to a league that has become a haven for skilled wings looking for larger roles and bigger minutes than the NBA can offer. The Ducks are already a playoff force; now they add a 3-and-D guard who has seen just about every rung of professional basketball.

From Enid to OKC, from the Warriors’ motion offense to the chaos of a five-team trade, from a Spurs bench role to the NBA Finals — Lindy Waters III has squeezed a lot into five seasons.

China is next. The question now is whether this is the closing act of his NBA story, or just an intermission.