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Lillard can take over a game and score at will ala kobe
when hes on- he is unstoppable
I think these core players for the Spurs are ready. I think Keldon is ready for the playoffs, and Vassell, and Sochan. They'll get better with time, just like how Parker and Manu weren't done developing after winning in 03.
But I think with Lillard in place of expirings this team would have a legit shot. Wemby, Keldon, Vassell, Sochan, and Lillard is 5 guys I'm comfortable seeing the Spurs go to war with. In the playoffs you ultimately need 7 or 8 players you can count on once you get far enough. Collins could be one, Jones and Branham or McDermott could be the others.
If not for Sean's knee surgery in 98 they might have ringed then too, though Vinny instead of Elie was a shortcoming.
Lillard can take over a game and score at will ala kobe
when hes on- he is unstoppable
And he had 13 points and 17 rebounds in his final game. The clinching game of the championship.
29 teams don't ring every year. Dame isn't the only high salary player.
tied for 7th highest, only 2M below 2nd highest paid player: https://hoopshype.com/salaries/players/
If Dame were 27-29 I wouldn’t think twice…but he’s not. His age and money are just too risky. The upside is maybe 2nd round team? Downside is missing out on a championship potential core/team for next 5-7 years.
The amount of money being paid doesn’t matter and too many people are fixated on it. It’s the timing of when those contracts end that money is tied to which matter most. Deliberate planning for that is key. Looking at dollar value is pointless in the context that is being used by many here.
if the deal is good, say 3 FRP filler, swaps, then the 2 frp to salary dump him is just the cost of doing business. the same is true of herro, although i think he might remain positive asset especially if he can exploit wemby partnership.
Lillard ain't David Robinson and LOL the thought of 19 year old Wemby being as ready as 22 year old Tim.
I mean basically Spurstalk is only willing to trade for Luka, Giannis, and Jokic. That’s it. Meanwhile we have a team full of all-stars that are better fits than any other all-nba player in the entire nba. So in 3 years we will have 3 all nba players naturally and will be willing to compete… yeah good luck with that plan
Whats more likely is that we will end up with the 14th pick next year and y’all geniuses will miss out on Lillard for a alright player in Keldon, the 14th pick in the draft, the CHI pick, and one Atlanta swap. Makes zero sense. Bc by then we will be in the same cycle.
No don’t trade for x player bc our 14th pick is gonna be an all star. Tre Jones might develop a 3ball. KJ averaged 18 ppg with no defense. He’s integral to our culture. Who knows what that 15th pick from Atlanta nets us. It could be another Kawhi!
And next thing you know, we never had a deep playoff run, our core guys are still youngish, but not nearly as good as we thought they were, and our draft picks will be too young to help Wemby.
One player, 3FRPs and we literally have a pick every year anyways and all of Spurstalk says no. Just weird
It’s not weird it’s rational. Dame has a ton of risk due to his age and contract. It’s situational. I’d be open to trading for the guys you mentioned. Not Dame. But if Ja or Embiid or Ant Edward’s or any other expensive star was available that was younger and fit with the timeline more then we would be open.
Dame is too old and too expensive and does not match the timeline at all unfortunately. If his deal was exactly the same but he was 27 I would be more open to it.
Side note - just saw a nugget from Bobby Marks that he heard Dame loves SA BUT wants a more le ready team. So only way he would be open is if they had another trade lined up for another all star (like Kawhi and PG situation)
The beauty of what the Spurs FO has done is that it has left open the flexibility to that any of these options are all viable team building options and none of them really hamstring us the way you might think. As Dejounte has pointed out, Lillard’s contract, while massive, isn’t as killer as it seems on the surface BECAUSE of the way the Spurs have conducted themselves thus far. So with that in mind…
1) Dame is a bona fide superstar who I think actually fits with our team quite well. However, his age and contract are negatives. I actually think Dame is the kind of dude who could still be balling at a high level at 36, but it’s hard to spend $60MM to find out, whether you can afford to or not. For these reasons, this is not my preferred option.
2) My preferred option is probably unpopular on this board, and it’s Tyler Herro. He’s young, he’s talent, and he is attainable. IMO, he would immediately become our best player behind Wemby, with a fairly significant gap to the next best player. Someone in this thread will make an argument that Vassell is a better player, and we’ll just have to agree to disagree. His contract actually fits quite well with our timeline. He may not be a perfect fit with Vassell, KJ and Sochan, but I really don’t care too much about that. Vassell and KJ aren’t good enough to worry about how a superior player fits with them, and I think Sochan will fit with anyone. For the record, I actually think Herro and Vassell could fit well together… but I’d also be fine with losing Vassell to get Herro, because that’s how much better a player I think Herro is than Vassell. You’re obviously, all free to disagree.
3) I’m totally fine with the Spurs slow playing it as well. That is a completely viable team building route. However, what I think we would best not disillusion ourselves with is that there is going to be this epic 2025 FA class that we need to keep our powder dry for and that Giannis, Luka, etc. will be free agents willing to come to San Antonio. These draft classes never really materialize, and even with Wemby, San Antonio still isn’t going to be that top FA destination.
4) As an extension of the point above, I believe the FO has earned a lot of trust with setting us up to this point, but at some point they’re going to have to actually make a move. That’s the part we’ve yet to see from this FO… it’s all just been selling and putting future pieces in place thus far. Can they make the transition to being shrewd and effective buyers? They can’t make all these picks… but we’ll also have wasted an opportunity if we end up just selling them for some 2031 FRP that conveys when Wemby is possibly playing somewhere else. All the moves we make need to be done to improve the team within the Wemby timeline that is known - which is 6-7 years. We can’t horde cap space and picks forever. At some point, we have to push in the chips. For now, I trust the FO… but I have both eyes open.
While I am pro-lillard trade I don't want to include Keldon in any deal, but it's not because I think he'll be a star (I'm not a huge believer in him turning into a star).
Rather for pragmatic reasons: the reason to trade for Lillard is to compete right now. Can't compete without legit NBA players up and down the short rotation and Keldon fits that bill. Without Keldon there would be a big hole for minutes and I don't think Branham or Cissoko or Champagnie can come close to filling it
After looking at Brooklyn's stash of picks, I do think they could offer a more tempting deal to Portland, though I think they would ultimately be a worse team than SA would with Lillard.
I don’t think the Spurs are going to be a 40-win team drafting 14th. I think they’re going to be a 29-win team drafting 6th. And Toronto will be a 36-win team handing over the 11th pick.
People don't know if he's Duncan or Olowakandi but they know what free agents or trade bait he needs but it has to be RIGHT NOW and it has to be someone who is available RIGHT NOW. Don't let him play even a single minute in summer league. Use all draft picks. Sign every free agent. Spend every penny. You're a shill for the front office who wants to see the franchise fail if you don't want to make every available move right this minute.
we might need a poll to settle this, but who is actually full on lillard? i'd assume its 50% no, and 50% "if it's for the minimum why not"? The problem is Dame has no leverage due to his contract, value on contract. If you the spurs, you wanna low ball portland, or see what else we can pry loose from Miami or whever else lillar or harden might go.
I think it's fine to say, trading for lillard is ok in the short term, and a medium concern in the medium term, and not trading is also okay. Personally we can do better but need to be ready for the next set of stars to want to come here.
yeah the timing of this is bad, who the are the spurs going to get and why should they become the clippers? Dame needed to make this request before FA, unless he wants harden and that probably a no.
also the spurs know first hand about lillard and LMA, and while wemby might be more assertive than LMA, it would not be surprising if LMA scared the spurs off lillard.
Maybe they can land Jerami Grant to pair with him!!
People don't understand that it is not just Dame, he would be followed up by several win now moves. Mistake after mistake would add up trying to catch up with his timeline not Victors. We are not sure yet if it fits on the court or personality wise. You just don't commit to the top 10 highest paid player nearing the end of his career then stop there. It would be waste of our time and dame time.
I think people are setting themselves up for failure regarding Wemby first year - Don’t get me wrong happy to have him but way to much pressure on his young shoulders. He is going to have his ups and downs like any rookie and Pop will be very cautious with him regarding injuries and just wear and tear in such a long season. Before I do a Houston I am going to do a test drive to see what I actually got and then I will start making moves
I doubt it will be possible to trade for Dame without having to take on Nurkic too. The Blazers are in the drivers seat here. The Spurs have been looking for another C; is it worth settling for Nurkic there if it means getting Dame?
Cedi Osman doesn’t count?
If the blazers are ready to treat Nurkic like a burden and not an asset then equations change
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