Historically speaking, the San Antonio Spurs have preferred to keep things in-house. Most of the best players in franchise history were drafted, developed, and elevated by the Spurs. David Robinson, Tim Duncan, and Manu Ginobili all spent their entire career with the organization, and all are now in the Hall of Fame.
However, the Spurs have also made their fair share of trades. And while they’ve done fairly well on the trade market, Spurs fans have lost a decent amount of fan-favorites to trades. Marilyn Dubinski of Pounding the Rock recently ranked the top five most painful trades in Spurs history.
According to Dubinski, the Derrick White trade ranks second among them.
“Maybe recency bias plays a role in this one being so high, but this was another shocking trade that left fans’ hearts hurting when it happened,” Dubinski wrote. “Another ultimate Spurs underdog story and fan favorite, everyone was hoping White would be a part of their future. It hurt seeing him go, and it hurts seeing him in another uniform, but as a sign to what a great human being he is, Spurs fans are also finding themselves thrilled to see him thriving as the ultimate role player with the Celtics. That’s how much he is still loved here.”
San Antonio really loved White. He was an underdog who grew into a great rotation piece, as described by Dubinski.
That said, Dubinski also noted that the trade was worth it, as it was part of a string of tank-first moves that led to the Spurs selecting Victor Wembanyama with the first pick in the 2023 NBA Draft.
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