Spurs trade ideas

[Mr. Body]

Not at all surprised the Spurs weren't interested in Jollins...

Am very surprised that we haven't made any other moves to fill out the roster though.

I'm guessing we have a Bassey/Bismack resigning yet to come and probably signing some guy none of us have ever thought about.

The only people that love John Collins is SpursTalk. It seems no one else in the world is excited about him. Clippers seem to be piling bodies together, including Bradley Beale soon, in hopes their aging heap of a roster works out somehow.

I'd be surprised if the Spurs don't do anything else, but that may be the case.

[spurraider21]

Not at all surprised the Spurs weren't interested in Jollins...

Am very surprised that we haven't made any other moves to fill out the roster though.

I'm guessing we have a Bassey/Bismack resigning yet to come and probably signing some guy none of us have ever thought about.

yeah... still 2 roster spots open in addition to all the 2-way spots. theres nothing really interesting on the market anymore outside of somebody like Coffey who has a little intrigue. for the 3rd center, i think as a 3rd stringer bassey makes more sense than biyombo. get him on a cheap 2 year deal with only the first guaranteed. for the last spot i would expect them to just bring in Duke even though they probably should take somebody who can shoot

and then for 2-way i would fully expect Minix and Ingram back. for the last spot i would guess Chibuzo Agbo

[Guru of Nothing]

Not at all surprised the Spurs weren't interested in Jollins...

Am very surprised that we haven't made any other moves to fill out the roster though.

I'm guessing we have a Bassey/Bismack resigning yet to come and probably signing some guy none of us have ever thought about.

Aren't there several shoes that still need to drop? Kuminga comes to mind. If he moves in a sign and trade, maybe the Spurs can assist. Related: Al Horford? (if he is to end up in Golden State).

[scott]

yeah... still 2 roster spots open in addition to all the 2-way spots. theres nothing really interesting on the market anymore outside of somebody like Coffey who has a little intrigue. for the 3rd center, i think as a 3rd stringer bassey makes more sense than biyombo. get him on a cheap 2 year deal with only the first guaranteed. for the last spot i would expect them to just bring in Duke even though they probably should take somebody who can shoot

and then for 2-way i would fully expect Minix and Ingram back. for the last spot i would guess Chibuzo Agbo

If Kevin Love gets bought out, I'd like for us to sign him, specifically so he can have a Spurs podcast with Luke Kornet, if for no other reason.

[Seventyniner]

If Kevin Love gets bought out, I'd like for us to sign him, specifically so he can have a Spurs podcast with Luke Kornet, if for no other reason.

He can also take #0 and Keldon can have #3. Then Vassell takes Kobe's other number and all the lowest possible jersey numbers (considering jersey retirements) up to #14 would be taken.

#0 Love
#1 Wembanyama
#2 Harper
#3 Johnson
#4 Fox
#5 Castle
#7 Kornet
#8 Vassell
#10 Sochan
#11 Bryant
#14 Wesley

Barnes and Champ, and maybe some others who fill out the roster, will be the lone "high" jersey number holdouts. #30 is more middle of the road too.

[SpursFan86]

Not at all surprised the Spurs weren't interested in Jollins...

Am very surprised that we haven't made any other moves to fill out the roster though.

I'm guessing we have a Bassey/Bismack resigning yet to come and probably signing some guy none of us have ever thought about.

Fox/Castle/Harper/Vassell should soak up the vast majority of the minutes at the 1 and 2...Wesley gets some spot minutes here and there. Hopefully Branham hardly ever sees the floor tbh. This is the most straight-forward part of the rotation IMO.

For the 3, I imagine pretty much all of the minutes go to some combination of Vassell/Champagnie/Sochan/Keldon. Maybe Castle proves he can be a legit wing type player, but it's just already pretty crowded...I'd love for Keldon to be mostly phased out but I don't see that happening.

At PF is where it gets ugly IMO. Sochan/Barnes/Bryant? We better really hope that Barnes doesn't have any sort of noticeable fall-off from last year. Even if Sochan takes a step forward it just seems brutal. Maybe they really do want to keep Wemby at the 4 a lot of the time.

If the latter statement is the case, seems like they're expecting Kornet to have a larger role. Have Wemby play 15-20 mpg at PF and 15ish mpg at center...then Kornet soaks up ~25 mpg at center and you're left with spot minutes for someone like Bassey or Biyombo.

[scott]

He can also take #0 and Keldon can have #3. Then Vassell takes Kobe's other number and all the lowest possible jersey numbers (considering jersey retirements) up to #14 would be taken.

#0 Love
#1 Wembanyama
#2 Harper
#3 Johnson
#4 Fox
#5 Castle
#7 Kornet
#8 Vassell
#10 Sochan
#11 Bryant
#14 Wesley

Barnes and Champ, and maybe some others who fill out the roster, will be the lone "high" jersey number holdouts. #30 is more middle of the road too.

While this is at the bottom of my list of concerns... this would be pretty cool.

It would also be hilarious in the context of the fake image I've constructed of Devin* for him to change his number like Kobe before he's earned any kind of accolades

*The one where Devin enters the game down 35 with 6 minutes left to play and whispers to himself "This is my time to shine" - I have no clue if Devin is really like this, and honestly I doubt he is, but it's a funny mental image I've created

[scott]

Fox/Castle/Harper/Vassell should soak up the vast majority of the minutes at the 1 and 2...Wesley gets some spot minutes here and there. Hopefully Branham hardly ever sees the floor tbh. This is the most straight-forward part of the rotation IMO.

For the 3, I imagine pretty much all of the minutes go to some combination of Vassell/Champagnie/Sochan/Keldon. Maybe Castle proves he can be a legit wing type player, but it's just already pretty crowded...I'd love for Keldon to be mostly phased out but I don't see that happening.

At PF is where it gets ugly IMO. Sochan/Barnes/Bryant? We better really hope that Barnes doesn't have any sort of noticeable fall-off from last year. Even if Sochan takes a step forward it just seems brutal. Maybe they really do want to keep Wemby at the 4 a lot of the time.

If the latter statement is the case, seems like they're expecting Kornet to have a larger role. Have Wemby play 15-20 mpg at PF and 15ish mpg at center...then Kornet soaks up ~25 mpg at center and you're left with spot minutes for someone like Bassey or Biyombo.

The fact that we only have 13 players on the roster while pre-emptively trading away our SRP a day early (before we even know who is on the board), signals one of two things to me:

1) The team had plans to do more and they either struck out with those plans (maybe it was Yabu... maybe it was Ryan Rollins... etc), or they are still working on them (some trade working in the background), or

2) The team is wholly confident in what they have and think they can just fill those last roster spots with whatever scraps are left in the free agency pile. Considering this team hasn't had a winning record in a long time, and 2 of those 13 roster spots are currently taken up by Blake Wesley and Malaki Branham... this would strike me as an unbelievable level of hubris if it were true. Even if the Spurs absolutely love every guy on the roster as currently constructed, there is no justification to not take opportunities to make the team incrementally better. Even a team like OKC, who just won the chip with a 68 win team, is still drafting guys and moving off the end of the roster in order to incrementally improve.

Option 2 is so absurd, that I refuse to believe it. The only way that would make sense is if we were planning on tanking again, which I also refuse to believe.

So... either something is coming, or the team really misjudged its ability to land its preferred targets. I'm going to be optimistic and believe the former for now.

[SpursFan86]

The fact that we only have 13 players on the roster while pre-emptively trading away our SRP a day early (before we even know who is on the board), signals one of two things to me:

1) The team had plans to do more and they either struck out with those plans (maybe it was Yabu... maybe it was Ryan Rollins... etc), or they are still working on them (some trade working in the background), or

2) The team is wholly confident in what they have and think they can just fill those last roster spots with whatever scraps are left in the free agency pile. Considering this team hasn't had a winning record in a long time, and 2 of those 13 roster spots are currently taken up by Blake Wesley and Malaki Branham... this would strike me as an unbelievable level of hubris if it were true. Even if the Spurs absolutely love every guy on the roster as currently constructed, there is no justification to not take opportunities to make the team incrementally better. Even a team like OKC, who just won the chip with a 68 win team, is still drafting guys and moving off the end of the roster in order to incrementally improve.

Option 2 is so absurd, that I refuse to believe it. The only way that would make sense is if we were planning on tanking again, which I also refuse to believe.

So... either something is coming, or the team really misjudged its ability to land its preferred targets. I'm going to be optimistic and believe the former for now.

Unfortunately I'm not sure I share the optimism. I truly think the Spurs are looking at it from the standpoint of "Well we never got to see Fox/Wemby really play, we're adding two lottery picks, and we filled a major hole at backup center with the Kornet signing. That's enough change for next year to see how things play out".

I get the sense they're much higher on Vassell/Keldon/Sochan/Barnes than we are, tbh. Clearly they're decently high on Vassell/Keldon given the contracts they received. At this point I'd be pretty surprised if they don't extend Sochan. Barnes probably doesn't deserve to get lumped in here: he's at least a strong vet presence + is one of the few people who can actually shoot on this team.

Would just be pretty wild to me to go into next season not adding a single shooter outside of 19 year-old Carter Bryant

[scott]

Unfortunately I'm not sure I share the optimism. I truly think the Spurs are looking at it from the standpoint of "Well we never got to see Fox/Wemby really play, we're adding two lottery picks, and we filled a major hole at backup center with the Kornet signing. That's enough change for next year to see how things play out".

I get the sense they're much higher on Vassell/Keldon/Sochan/Barnes than we are, tbh. Clearly they're decently high on Vassell/Keldon given the contracts they received. At this point I'd be pretty surprised if they don't extend Sochan. Barnes probably doesn't deserve to get lumped in here: he's at least a strong vet presence + is one of the few people who can actually shoot on this team.

Would just be pretty wild to me to go into next season not adding a single shooter outside of 19 year-old Carter Bryant

I'm actually fine if they are high on the PoF and want to roll with them... but that still doesn't excuse not trying to fill out the roster with real NBA players and maybe it's just copium but I refuse to believe that the FO is just thinking "the PoF is so good that we can resign Bassey and then pick up a bum off the street and we'll be good to go".

There just is no practical reason to not take advantage of empty roster spots, even if its on some vet min guy or a second round pick. It just doesn't make any sense... but then again, the Spurs have been ignoring the end of the roster and using SRPs, and even generally using the two-ways on viable future players (Bassey and Champ did come through this way though... I'd like to see us use two-ways like we did on these guys).

[exstatic]

Unfortunately I'm not sure I share the optimism. I truly think the Spurs are looking at it from the standpoint of "Well we never got to see Fox/Wemby really play, we're adding two lottery picks, and we filled a major hole at backup center with the Kornet signing. That's enough change for next year to see how things play out".

I get the sense they're much higher on Vassell/Keldon/Sochan/Barnes than we are, tbh. Clearly they're decently high on Vassell/Keldon given the contracts they received. At this point I'd be pretty surprised if they don't extend Sochan. Barnes probably doesn't deserve to get lumped in here: he's at least a strong vet presence + is one of the few people who can actually shoot on this team.

Would just be pretty wild to me to go into next season not adding a single shooter outside of 19 year-old Carter Bryant

My guess is that with his rudimentary skill set, Bryants 3s are of the catch and shoot variety, and Harper is at least as good in that department. Being the lead guard, he didn’t get many of those opportunities, and his bounce game isn’t there yet, dragging down his percentage. Both Harper and Fox are both good catch and shoot guys, which is why the lineups with the 3 guards will work. All 3 can legit pressure the rim, and kickouts will be available.

[Bruno]

The fact that we only have 13 players on the roster while pre-emptively trading away our SRP a day early (before we even know who is on the board), signals one of two things to me:

I think Spurs just don't want right now to have prospects at the end of their bench. In 2023 and 2025, their traded their early second round pick and in 2024, they used it on a stashed player.

My guess is that they think right now there are more drawbacks than edges to have this kind of players. Spurs might want to have as much stability as possible around the young players they truly believe in (Wembanyama, Castle, Harper and Bryant).

[Seventyniner]

While this is at the bottom of my list of concerns... this would be pretty cool.

It would also be hilarious in the context of the fake image I've constructed of Devin* for him to change his number like Kobe before he's earned any kind of accolades

*The one where Devin enters the game down 35 with 6 minutes left to play and whispers to himself "This is my time to shine" - I have no clue if Devin is really like this, and honestly I doubt he is, but it's a funny mental image I've created

That sounds like a prime entry for the ChatGPT images thread.

[k830713]

I'm worried that Spurs' lack of transfer activity could lead to a desire to tank and fight for AJ Dybantsa

[DPG21920]

I think Spurs just don't want right now to have prospects at the end of their bench. In 2023 and 2025, their traded their early second round pick and in 2024, they used it on a stashed player.

My guess is that they think right now there are more drawbacks than edges to have this kind of players. Spurs might want to have as much stability as possible around the young players they truly believe in (Wembanyama, Castle, Harper and Bryant).

To me that’s the lazy route. Once spurs know someone doesnt have a future (Branham, Bassey, Ingram, etc..) they should be quicker to move on and try taking some swings on guys.

Theres no reason, especially with guys who dont play IMO, to worry about continuity. The goal is to find rotation players you can actually use with some upside or ability to get on the court and outperform deal

[scott]

This Norman Powell trade has me thinking about adding the Clippers to the list of teams we should target in trades (SAC, CHI, NOP being ones already on there).

The Clippers have had some bangers over the years.

Traded Baron Davis and what would become the #1 pick (that became Kyrie) a few months later for Mo Williams and something called Jamario Moon

Traded SGA and a zillion picks for Paul George

Traded Norman Powell for John Collins, who apparently no one else wanted

Maybe we can send them Branham for some unprotected FRPs

[spurraider21]

This Norman Powell trade has me thinking about adding the Clippers to the list of teams we should target in trades (SAC, CHI, NOP being ones already on there).

The Clippers have had some bangers over the years.

Traded Baron Davis and what would become the #1 pick (that became Kyrie) a few months later for Mo Williams and something called Jamario Moon

yeah, that one was horrible. i think they were just trying to salary dump baron davis, but giving away the unprotected pick had hilarious results. then again they had less than a 3% chance of that pick winninge the lotto. that pick had something like a 90% chance of being #8 or later. still, giving away a lotto pick just to salary dump cant be justified. there was a time i liked jamario moon when he was on toronto in his first couple of years. ridiculous athlete, played hard on both ends, but by the time this trade was made there was no intrigue left

Traded SGA and a zillion picks for Paul George

ill defend this one. they traded SGA and 5 picks for Paul George and Kawhi. my understanding is kawhi made it known they would be a package deal, and that he would only sign with the clippers if they made that simultaneous trade. people knew SGA was good, nobody knew this good. but dealing for 2 all-nba guys at the same time in their primes, both coming off very strong years is not necessarily bad business. they a couple of solid runs early but then fell apart with injuries

Traded Norman Powell for John Collins, who apparently no one else wanted

i think theyre roughly equivalent as players and i dont hate this move for the clippers at all. they had a big hole at the 4, and are currently one of the frontrunners to land beal for cheap at the 2. i like this move for them

Maybe we can send them Branham for some unprotected FRPs

you had me at o

[poopbox]

The fact that we only have 13 players on the roster while pre-emptively trading away our SRP a day early (before we even know who is on the board), signals one of two things to me:

1) The team had plans to do more and they either struck out with those plans (maybe it was Yabu... maybe it was Ryan Rollins... etc), or they are still working on them (some trade working in the background), or

2) The team is wholly confident in what they have and think they can just fill those last roster spots with whatever scraps are left in the free agency pile. Considering this team hasn't had a winning record in a long time, and 2 of those 13 roster spots are currently taken up by Blake Wesley and Malaki Branham... this would strike me as an unbelievable level of hubris if it were true. Even if the Spurs absolutely love every guy on the roster as currently constructed, there is no justification to not take opportunities to make the team incrementally better. Even a team like OKC, who just won the chip with a 68 win team, is still drafting guys and moving off the end of the roster in order to incrementally improve.

Option 2 is so absurd, that I refuse to believe it. The only way that would make sense is if we were planning on tanking again, which I also refuse to believe.

So... either something is coming, or the team really misjudged its ability to land its preferred targets. I'm going to be optimistic and believe the former for now.

Pretty sure it's option 2 with a twist. Spurs don't actually know how to build a team so they don't see any value in filling out the last two roster spots.

These are the decisions people who never produce winning seasons make.

The spurs have an accountability problem as an organization. The greatness of Wemby might be able to brute force this franchise back to relevancy. But unless the spurs actually have and value accountability, it's the only way they will be relevant again.

[scott]

spurraider21, no matter the justification for LAC, it seems like their big deals usually end up on the losing end, and that's the key. I remember a Bill Simmons episode where he said "Just keep trading with SAC and CHI. It doesn't even matter what they trade is, just trade with them and you'll win". I'm adding LAC to my list, because for whatever reason their trades usually end up with hilarious bad results. I'm expecting Powell to be Michael Jordon this season while John Collins turns into Zach Collins

[TD 21]

To me that’s the lazy route. Once spurs know someone doesnt have a future (Branham, Bassey, Ingram, etc..) they should be quicker to move on and try taking some swings on guys.

Theres no reason, especially with guys who dont play IMO, to worry about continuity. The goal is to find rotation players you can actually use with some upside or ability to get on the court and outperform deal

The inability to admit wrong and softness (like micro managing a 19 year old, projected non rotation player in summer league when other teams aren't with more proven/seasoned players) are the two issues I have with this organization.

Aided by historical draft luck, they've mostly nailed things in recent years, but these attributes or characteristics have to go yesterday.

They need to stop pretending they're the post prime Duncan/big three era Spurs and start seeing themselves as what they've been for a while, which is one of the dregs. The difference is, the others don't have the luxury of acting like them.

[scott]

Pretty sure it's option 2 with a twist. Spurs don't actually know how to build a team so they don't see any value in filling out the last two roster spots.

These are the decisions people who never produce winning seasons make.

The spurs have an accountability problem as an organization. The greatness of Wemby might be able to brute force this franchise back to relevancy. But unless the spurs actually have and value accountability, it's the only way they will be relevant again.

Agreed about accountability, and this is Holt Jr's failing as an owner. No expectations, no accountability. He's left it to his two highest paid non-player employees to set the expectations and hold people accountable, and those two have in turn established The Patience Grift (trademark pending). We've been patient for so long, one of the creators of the grift nearly died before we could get back to the playoffs.

[pad300]

SAS out - Branham (and possibly a second from our 4 in 2026)
UTA out - Kyle Anderson

Why for UTA - another ~$5 Million in savings (or capspace) and continue the tank.
Why for SAS - Roster balance. Kyle Anderson will give us much more useful minutes this season (at the 4) than Branham (at the 2). Also, he might be a sneaky good fit at the 4 beside Wemby... He's on roughly $10M this year, and next year is unguaranteed if it doesn't work out...

[exstatic]

To me that’s the lazy route. Once spurs know someone doesnt have a future (Branham, Bassey, Ingram, etc..) they should be quicker to move on and try taking some swings on guys.

Theres no reason, especially with guys who dont play IMO, to worry about continuity. The goal is to find rotation players you can actually use with some upside or ability to get on the court and outperform deal

Bassey has been moved on from, and Ingram doesn’t have a roster spot.

They had, and still have a roster spot that they could have used for #38. There no need to move anyone to make that pick.

Here’s the deal. If you come in as a FRP, and play ball, getting the culture and doing the work, you get your 4 years. I’ve only seen SA not pick it up 3 times, James Anderson with a fifth metatarsal fracture that at the time was a career death sentence, Sammich who was lazy ass, and Primo the flasher.

The Spurs ask a lot of their rookies, all of their players really, and that’s the payoff, the reward. Contracts like Malaki’s and Blake’s aren’t expensive, but they would cost assets to get off cleanly creating a roster spot, and it just isn’t worth it. Those second round picks you’re interested in would be the cost to get off those contracts you want gone.

You can rail about and about it, but that’s the way it’s going to be done, so it’s really pointless. I knew Lonnie was a dud after year 2, and I’d have to watch him for two more years. I didn’t , because he was pretty much moved out of the way, and his contract wasn’t much money as a 17 pick. Que sera.

[RC_Drunkford]

The only people that love John Collins is SpursTalk. It seems no one else in the world is excited about him. Clippers seem to be piling bodies together, including Bradley Beale soon, in hopes their aging heap of a roster works out somehow.

I'd be surprised if the Spurs don't do anything else, but that may be the case.

yeah the Clippers just traded a borderline All-Star for him, but I'm sure they secretely hate John Collins lol

[RC_Drunkford]

SAS out - Branham (and possibly a second from our 4 in 2026)
UTA out - Kyle Anderson

Why for UTA - another ~$5 Million in savings (or capspace) and continue the tank.
Why for SAS - Roster balance. Kyle Anderson will give us much more useful minutes this season (at the 4) than Branham (at the 2). Also, he might be a sneaky good fit at the 4 beside Wemby... He's on roughly $10M this year, and next year is unguaranteed if it doesn't work out...

would that be the return of SAGirl?