The San Antonio Spurs have one of the most intriguing young cores in the league. Headlined by Victor Wembanyama, the Spurs have a clear path forward, especially if Devin Vassell, Jeremy Sochan, and others can continue to grow and improve alongside the rookie sensation.
However, San Antonio also has a few veterans on the roster that could be names to watch ahead of trade season this year. Cedi Osman has been brought up as a player contending teams could potentially want to add, and Doug McDermott is still on the team, too. That said, a trade may not be McDermott’s fate this season.
According to Dan Favale of Bleacher Report, McDermott could be one of the top buyout candidates on the market this season.
“At 32, McDermott clearly isn’t part of the Spurs’ bigger picture,” Favale wrote. “He’s already taken a backseat to Cedi Osman and Julian Champagnie minutes, and two-way-player Dominick Barlow doesn’t seem too far behind.
“San Antonio can, of course, use McDermott’s $13.8 million expiring salary as part of another trade. But if both he and Osman remain on the roster past the deadline, there’s a solid chance at least of them gets bought out. Unless the Spurs are dead set on uber-acceleration heading into next season, they’re not re-signing both (or necessarily either).”
McDermott makes $13.75 million and is in the final year of his contract, meaning he could be a low-risk trade target for some teams. However, squads around the league may rather wait and take the chance of San Antonio simply buying him out.
Should that be the case, any team looking to add three-point shooting could jump at the chance to sign McDermott to a minimum contract.
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