How would you describe the San Antonio Spurs‘ 2024 NBA offseason to date? Coming into it after a 2023-24 campaign for the Spurs that saw French rookie forward wunderkind Victor Wembanyama find his groove on the defensive end of the court sooner than expected, San Antonio seemed ready to move faster in their current rebuild.
And while there has yet to be a blockbuster move like a trade for Utah Jazz star forward Lauri Markkanen as has been rumored to be under consideration, there have been plenty of other moves to accelerate the rebuild. After drafting Stephon Castle and Harrison Ingram, the Spurs signed veteran floor general Chris Paul as a free agent.
They also traded for vet Sacramento Kings forward Harrison Barnes for a very low ask. To Bleacher Report’s Zach Buckley, that looks like “not quite a fast-forward, but moving at 1.24x speed.”
We’d be inclined to agree, as we also see those post-draft moves as impactful, if not transformative. “Having … Paul serve as the on-court extension of Gregg Popovich feels like a cheat code,” he explains.
Should rookie San Antonio Spurs guard Stephon Castle start on opening night? https://t.co/xa4rP8s1Gs pic.twitter.com/lnxyHv6bcE
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“Paul might be 39 years old and a shadow of himself as a scorer and defender, but his decision-making remains top-notch … He’ll continuously put Wembanyama in favorable situations, not to mention hopefully have plenty of point-god wisdom to share with … Castle,” writes Buckley.
“And while the Spurs wiggled into the DeMar DeRozan sign-and-trade to gain a 2031 first-round pick swap with Sacramento, they won’t complain about having … Barnes around,” he notes. … He’ll give San Antonio solid minutes as long as he’s around and hopefully have some pointers to pass along to Devin Vassell.”
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