Should Spurs Take a Swing at Sabonis?

[Chinook]

Sabonis would be the best player on the Spurs pretty easily. But they don't have the roster to do any better than the Pacers have, and trading for Sabonis only takes them further from that. If we knew the young Spurs guards would develop into great complimentary players who can work with Dom on both sides, then taking a step back with White/Murray going out could make sense. But the team badly needs a defensive PF to go with Sabonis and the theoretical guards, and this season is one of the best chances for them to get that player. They aren't going to do it if they trade their first.

Knowing what I know, I wouldn't want them to trade any reasonable package for him. But if they did trade for him, I would be way more excited than sad.

[jjspur]

Smart GM's know what Sabonis value is. Dumb and desperate ones will over pay. I like Sabonis, he is a pretty good player and I think Pop could somehow make it work with our players. The problem is that Indiana has the same problem that Philly has in that they want a ton of players and assets for a player that's pretty good but not great player. Sadly it wouldn't really move us in the top echelon of NBA teams. Unless they are practically giving him away (which they're not) I'd pass on that deal.
Keep looking to deal Thaddeus Young. Hopefully we can get something of value for him sooner rather than later.

[poopbox]

Only if we trade him for things we will not have any use for after this season. Thad Young ( won't be here next year ), Lonnie Walker (won't be here next year ), KBD (won't be here next year and not a good player, Forbes (won't be here next year and not a good player). If we could trade 3 of the 4 for Sabonis we should. We should NOT offer anything more than that though. Soon as Indiana ask for even a second round pick hang up the phone.

Poeltl and Sabonis are not an ideal fit...but it's better than Poeltl and Keldon together so...got to start somewhere...

0% chance we do this trade though...Spurs are going to see what Zach Collins can give them as a big and are not going to trade for another one to compete with him for playing time and the Pacers can get a better deal from literally every other nba team

[playbonner15]

Pacers will get better offers from other teams......

[gambit1990]

i like him but spurs need myles turner.

[gambit1990]

mcdermott, poeltl, forbes, lonnie + IND's 2023 2nd round pick for myles & domantas

[tbdog]

If we had ddr, it would have made sense. But now we are rebuilding. Spurs need to find a future 4 by the start of next season.

[exstatic]

I don't think he's strictly a center. He's undersized as a Center. I think he could play next to Poeltl

His lack of lateral mobility doesn’t allow him to defend present day 4s.

[D-Robinson 50 fan]

I don’t think Sabonis would play that well with Jakob. I mean he mostly plays center for the Indiana with a big guy who is a better shooter than Jakob. The last few years both the coaches for the Pacers tried to play Domas and Myles together but ended up splitting their time Sharon the court.

Don’t get it twisted Sabonis is a really good player but I don’t think he fits what we need and unless the team is going to totally rebuild around him I think it wouldn’t be wise (giving up lots of younger players and draft picks isn’t wise) to trade from him.

[Leetonidas]

I took a more in depth look at his advanced defensive stats and they're actually not that bad tbh. He is not a great defender but he also does not appear to be a complete slouch. His lateral movement is slow and he is undersized so he isnt going to protect the rim or cut off guards on the perimeter but he is a good positional defender and knows where to be generally. it also seems like he has a solid shot out to the midrange, he just isnt much of a three point threat though he does hover around 31% for his career which obviously isnt great but isnt Demar level bad.

idk, the more i think about it, the more i want the spurs to try and make a move for him. I mean how many bigs can put up 20/12/6 on 60+ TS%? he is a pretty efficient offensive player and an otherworldly passer. I think he would fit very nicely here, though next to Poeltl would be an odd fit for sure

[Teamduncan21]

Forbes (won't be here next year and not a good player).

Bold of you to assume

[Biggems]

no they should not.

[spurraider21]

Blair bonner Neal and a second

[Gagnrath]

Add me to the no votes. He's not good enough on defense for what Indiana wants for him. He's a c who can pull some of minutes but isn't really defensive enough to anchor a defense. We don't have a strong defensive power forward to play with him. We don't really have a center who fits well with him. In theory Landale and Z.Collins should be ok fits next to him on offense but both of them are big?

It's to bad that he is more c than of because I want to see Keldon as a three but I don't think a package the Spurs can offer/ take will be one that the pacers find agreeable.

[XDT76]

No more undersize 5 please. If Myles Turner cannot make it work with him I don't see any 4/5 can make it work with him.

[playbonner15]

Blair bonner Neal and a second

And Spurs get Varejao........

[SpursBills]

Not unless they can also get vanderbilt from the wolves

[rankingtear]

IND has historically the worst defense with him at C last year as i recall.

[objective]

I'm not in love with a move for all the reasons everyone has said. Hasn't worked out great next to a rim protecting spacer in Turner, how would it be next to a non-spacer like Poeltl? Just watching pacers clips with Turner out at the 3 point line and everyone else spaced for a Sabonis pnr doesn't look like it'll work here. And Sabonis doesn't shoot well and isn't a defender.

And yet ...

I don't think it's a bad idea depending on the cost.

It's probably worth noting that the Pacers were thinking they were close to pseudo-contenders when Oladipo was healthy and an all-nba player in 17-18 when they went 7 with the Cavs. They haven't really been healthy since, with someone always out in the playoffs if they made it. IF the Spurs think that they have an eventual all NBA talent in Murray or Vassell etc then Sabonis as a supporting player is good get.

Other things to keep in mind:

The Sabonis-to-McDermott pairing was the #1 assister to assistee duo in the league last year. There's probably no better way to maximize McDermott than pairing him with Sabonis.

Sabonis is enough of a post up threat in the halfcourt and the team could really use another option like that.

Staggering Poeltl and Sabonis would probably only result in them playing 6-8 minutes per half together, that's something that should be manageable.

He has 2 more years at less than 20 per year ... I don't see the Spurs doing any better with that kind of cap money. , they can do a lot worse, and he's only 25 so he's in line with a youth movement.

And while he's good ... Let's not kid ourselves, Indiana was a lottery team with him last year and now. He's not guaranteed to 'hurt the tank' if picks are protected properly. Spurs could still be picking 10-12 in the odds and get lucky and move up into the top 4.

He's not as good a fit as John Collins would have been, but he's only $20 million instead of $30 of whatever the number was to back Atlanta off.

And if the price was as cheap as Young, Walker and the bulls collection of picks from the DDR trade then I say it's worth it. Keldon probably alters the equation of picks.

[slick'81]

I mean hes not a bad player. Still a ton of speculation over a guy we dont even know the spurs are after.

[TDMVPDPOY]

spurs need an enforcer down low who can board and block shots, get easy baskets

[Robz4000]

He'd make a lot of sense if the Spurs had a shot-blocking PF but they don't. At this point I want the Spurs to roll with what they have and see where things end up at the end of the season. Still think they finish with a bottom 5 record but then they get a great chance at landing that PF they need.

[slick'81]

He'd make a lot of sense if the Spurs had a shot-blocking PF but they don't. At this point I want the Spurs to roll with what they have and see where things end up at the end of the season. Still think they finish with a bottom 5 record but then they get a great chance at landing that PF they need.

bottom 5 in the league? No way. In the west? Maybe

[Robz4000]

bottom 5 in the league? No way. In the west? Maybe

East is better than the West this year tbh. Only two teams in the East have a worse record than SA.

[Seventyniner]

Forget Sabonis, I want Turner if anything.