Category: Spurs Trade Rumors

San Antonio Spurs trade guide for the NBA’s 2024 deadline

What do they need to do to surround Victor Wembanyama with the right players for where the French wunderkind is in this stage of his career?

Trade season for the NBA’s 2023-24 season has arrived in earnest, and with it, comprehensive analysis for every team in the league, including the rebuilding San Antonio Spurs. What do they need to do to surround Victor Wembanyama with the right players for where the French wunderkind is in this stage of his career?

The folks over at the “Utility Sports” podcast put together a very good trade deadline primer for the Spurs, highlighting what the team has to work with in terms of draft assets and contracts, an assessment of the players on the roster now, and a look into what the team could best use to speed up Wemby’s growth as an NBA prospect.

The wrinkles added to the Spurs’ trade prospects created by the adoption of a new collective bargaining agreement are not so critical with San Antonio as they are with other ball clubs further along in their cycle of (hopeful) contention,

But it does change the landscape for the Spurs ahead of the Feb. 8 deadline. To hear all you need to know about San Antonio’s trade season, check out the clip embedded above.

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Potential ‘buzz’ around Spurs’ Keldon Johnson ahead of trade deadline

As the trade deadline appraches, San Antonio Spurs forward Keldon Johnson could be a name to keep an eye on.

When asked about potential trades earlier this season, Gregg Popovich made a joke out of it. “Get a vet or two and go win a championship this year?” Popovich said sarcastically. “I’m going to go think about that.” The San Antonio Spurs are just 5-29 on the season. A playoff run doesn’t seem to be in the cards.

That said, there could be some moves to be made to help them plan for the future. Victor Wembanyama looks like a clear franchise centerpiece, and Devin Vassell has the tools to be a solid second option. The question is, what players could they be willing to trade at the deadline this season?

During a recent appearance on “Brian Windhorst & The Hoop Collective,” NBA insider Marc J. Spears of Andscape stated that a name he keeps hearing is Keldon Johnson. (H/t Will Miller of The Smoking Cuban)

“You know who I got my eye on with the Spurs? Keldon Johnson,” Spears said. “I keep hearing this buzz about [him]. Not sure if he fits in well with this group going forward, and should he be coming off the bench?”

Johnson has been having a solid season this year but was recently moved to the bench. He’s averaging 17.5 points, 6.4 rebounds, and 3.8 assists while shooting 45.7% from the field and 33.9% from behind the three-point line.

The 24-year-old makes $20 million this season – a very tradable contract. Plus, he makes $19 million next year and $17.5 million in each of the two seasons after that.

For any team looking to add a quality player on a cost-controlled contract, Johnson could be an ideal target.

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Ex-Spurs All-Star being made ‘widely available’ in trade talks

As the trade deadline appraoches, former San Antonio Spurs All-Star Dejounte Murray could be on the move again.

Historically speaking, the San Antonio Spurs haven’t been a team to make a ton of trades. They’ve picked up the pace in recent years, but for the most part, they keep things in-house and develop the guys they have on the roster. In recent years, the biggest deal they made was with the Atlanta Hawks.

In the summer of 2022, the Spurs traded Dejounte Murray to the Hawks. At the time, Murray was fresh off his first All-Star season, but the Spurs weren’t in a place to compete for a playoff spot with Murray at the helm. But now, Murray could be moving on from Atlanta.

According to Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports, the Hawks have made Murray “widely available” ahead of this year’s trade deadline.

“The premier point guard on the market before the Feb. 8 trade deadline may be Atlanta’s Dejounte Murray, a former All-Star whom the Hawks have made widely available, according to league sources, two years after trading three first-round picks to acquire Murray from San Antonio,” Fischer wrote.

Murray has been having a solid season for the Hawks. So far this year, he’s averaging 20.6 points, 4.6 rebounds, and 5.2 assists while shooting 46.0% from the field and 38.3% from behind the three-point line.

Fischer also noted some potential questions about Murray’s fit next to other ball-dominant guards around the league.

“There are questions, to be sure, about whether Murray’s fit would be ideal next to another ball dominant lead like [Jalen] Brunson, as Murray’s pairing with Hawks All-Star Trae Young hasn’t brought the dividends Atlanta once imagined,” Fischer wrote. “Yet Murray’s four-year, $114 million extension that begins in 2024-25 does make him an intriguing trade target for any team with backcourt questions.”

As the trade deadline approaches, the former Spurs guard could be on the move. (Again.)

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Pistons star Cade Cunningham pitched as potential Spurs trade target

Detroit Pistons star point guard Cade Cunningham was floated as a potential San Antonio Spurs trade target.

As the San Antonio Spurs look to build around Victor Wembanyama moving forward, they should constantly be exploring potential opportunities to improve. Head coach Gregg Popovich noted that the team is unlikely to make any such moves this season, as the team is sitting at the bottom of the Western Conference,

That said, if the right player becomes available, the Spurs should be ready to jump at the chance to snag him. Wembanyama has all the talent in the world, and while that hasn’t translated to winning yet this season, putting help around him should be the team’s top priority.

Jonah Kubicek of Inside the Spurs recently suggested Detroit Pistons star Cade Cunningham as a potential San Antonio trade target.

“The Pistons would demand a massive haul of picks for Cunningham, and the Spurs could entertain that,” Kubicek wrote. “Cunningham showed in college that he can be one of the best pick-and-roll players in the league, but has never really played with a viable partner. Enter Victor Wembanyama. Surrounding that duo with elite shooters already on the roster would immediately make the Spurs infinitely better. A war chest of picks would be the asking price, but it’s only been two calendar years since Cunningham was the undisputed first-overall pick. He’s been playing quite well, but for a horrible team that frankly is not fun to watch, so people have written him off.”

The Pistons just snapped a 28-game losing streak, but it seems unlikely that they part ways with Cunningham, who has been the lone bright spot in Detroit this year.

Adding him would give the Spurs a dynamic duo to lead them into the future, but it would cost a hefty sum, and the Pistons would almost certainly rather keep him and look to turn things around.

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