Shams: Spurs Trading Malaki Branham, Blake Wesley, & a 2026 SRP to the Wizards for Kelly Olynyk

[Leetonidas]

Bring back the chosen one Lonnie Walker lol

Actually would not mind tbh. He is a high quality third stringer

[spurraider21]

You can if you remove Champ from the rotation and move everyone else to a more modest MPG.

Fox (30), Castle (28)
Vassell (28), Harper (24)
Sochan, (28) Johnson (18)
Barnes (18), Olynyk (18)
Wembanyama (30), Kornet (18)

I don't love Barnes starting, but as I said in another post, I think he'll keep starting until he makes them bench him. There's hope that that lineup will be better than last year's opener with Fox's dynamism, Vassell knowing he won't be a lead guard, Sochan being another year removed from the PG experiment and Wemby getting more seasoning. I do like that bench, though. It has a chance to actually be good defensively, and I think Johnson is a good compliment to two young guards holding down the fort. I think ideally people would want his role replaced by Champ, but I don't see that happening. Everyone is playing too few minutes to make a 10-man rotation work, but that's kind of how the regular season works. With injuries, foul trouble and overtime, I would expect most of those guys to average a higher MPG on their stat sheets. But if this is a final transition year with vets giving way in 2026, it feels like a strong improvement over last year.

now remove 18 minutes of keldon, give those to champ

[exstatic]

Actually would not mind tbh. He is a high quality third stringer

He’s worse defensively than Malaki.

[T Park]

I doubt Olynyk makes much of a difference. A lot of it is combining the 2 expiring for a bigger one to take into the trade deadline.

Yeah why would a 42% three point shooter who can defend and rebound help this team

[Dverde]

I think the Spurs were fine riding with Blake, but was added for salary reasons. Branham made it to Mitch’s doghouse quickly. I knew he wasn’t going to be on the opening day roster. Blake was a hard worker and I hope he puts it together.

[spurraider21]

He shot 40% from 3, 80% from 0-3 feet, and has a nice middie bounce game. He’s awful defensively, but if he gets minutes in WSH, he’s gonna score.

so many of his minutes last year were garbage time when it was a YMCA scrimmage going on out there

[J_Paco]

Yeah why would a 42% three point shooter who can defend and rebound help this team

And playmake for a guy his size. An underrated skill if a lot of the offensive philosophy remain the same (ball movement, player movement).

[BatManu20]

"Lunch Lady" is one of the harder nicknames in recent memory tbh.

[J_Paco]

I think the Spurs were fine riding with Blake, but was added for salary reasons. Branham made it to Mitch’s doghouse quickly. I knew he wasn’t going to be on the opening day roster. Blake was a hard worker and I hope he puts it together.

If he can somehow put it all together - needs a 'go-to' offensive skill (that is portable) and a three-point shoot - I would love to see him back in a Spurs jersey, someday. I love players with a 'dog mentality' which he finally found last season.

[Chinook]

I think the Spurs were fine riding with Blake, but was added for salary reasons. Branham made it to Mitch’s doghouse quickly. I knew he wasn’t going to be on the opening day roster. Blake was a hard worker and I hope he puts it together.

I think Wesley wanted to be traded. He had removed the Spurs stuff from his social media pretty soon after the lottery, if I recall.

[Mugen]

ya!

[Chinook]

Is CP3 retiring? Hadn't heard what's up on that front.

He apparently wants a farewell tour and to play for a team in or near Cali. Feels like Denver would be the best fit.

[vy65]

Wait, did we trade for the White John Collins when we could have had the real thing?

[J_Paco]

I think Wesley wanted to be traded. He had removed the Spurs stuff from his social media pretty soon after the lottery, if I recall.

Well, he likely isn't seeing much time here in Washington, DC. Probably needs to be waived and latch on to a team like Milwaukee, Indiana or Orlando with questionable PG depth.

[Spurs9]

Huge fan of this, we got some nasty back.

[WaywardTexan]

Why would the Wizards do this trade? What do they gain?

[Chinook]

Why would the Wizards do this trade? What do they gain?

They save a lot of money, get a second-round pick (even though the pick sucks) and get to see Wesley and Branham in camp.

[Leetonidas]

He’s worse defensively than Malaki.

Yeah but he's a much better offensive player. As a third stringer who wouldn't play much he isn't terrible

[100%duncan]

Happy that we got rid of iceman tbh

[Spurs9]

Actually would not mind tbh. He is a high quality third stringer

I miss Lonnie, he was one of my favorite players on the team. His last games he played in Philly he put up several 30pt games on 50%+ fg.

[Chinook]

Wait, did we trade for the White John Collins when we could have had the real thing?

Actually, you bring up a good point. I wonder if A) The Spurs were trying to trade for Collins and pivoted of Olynyk once John was dealt to Los Angeles or B) The Clippers were in talks with Washington for Olynyk, and after LAC got Collins instead, the Wizards pivoted to the Spurs. It seems like the same teams would be interested in both players. I'm personally happy it worked out this way.

[vy65]

You can if you remove Champ from the rotation and move everyone else to a more modest MPG.

Fox (30), Castle (28)
Vassell (28), Harper (24)
Sochan, (28) Johnson (18)
Barnes (18), Olynyk (18)
Wembanyama (30), Kornet (18)

I don't love Barnes starting, but as I said in another post, I think he'll keep starting until he makes them bench him. There's hope that that lineup will be better than last year's opener with Fox's dynamism, Vassell knowing he won't be a lead guard, Sochan being another year removed from the PG experiment and Wemby getting more seasoning. I do like that bench, though. It has a chance to actually be good defensively, and I think Johnson is a good compliment to two young guards holding down the fort. I think ideally people would want his role replaced by Champ, but I don't see that happening. Everyone is playing too few minutes to make a 10-man rotation work, but that's kind of how the regular season works. With injuries, foul trouble and overtime, I would expect most of those guys to average a higher MPG on their stat sheets. But if this is a final transition year with vets giving way in 2026, it feels like a strong improvement over last year.

Don't really understand why you're shoe-horning Sochan into the SL. Your bench unit has dangerously little shooting and is relying on a 34 year old white dude nicknamed "lunch lady."

Fox(30), Harper (24)
Castle (28), JC (15)
Vassell (28), Johnson (15)
Barnes (18), Sochan (15), Olynyk (15)
Wembanyama (30), Kornet (18)

Looking at this, a consolidation of Vassell and Johnson for a legitimate wing with Jeremy as the backup makes a lot more sense.

[spursistan]

Nice knowing ya Blake, Malaki I guess. Neither had a future on this team despite Blake’s defensive skills.

Not a bad pickup all things considered. Better than getting 50 year old Kevin Love like some were wanting.

It is for same the reason I didn't want Brooke Lopez because he looked nearly washed-up last season. He basically chose the Clippers as a retirement home (LA-born and went to Stanford)

In Kornet/Olynyk, Spurs acquired the best backup /third string Center combo available on the market/trade block. What i like most here is the upgrade in BB IQ getting these type of players: low-usage, dirty-work, sneaky tough guys (shoot, screen and rebound)..The core is set: we just need to churn out the Danny Green and Tiago Splitter of the worlds as we go along

[NASpurs]

I like these 2 for 1, cutting-the-fat types of deals.

[Chinook]

now remove 18 minutes of keldon, give those to champ

The real tech is to want Bryant to take his minutes after the ASB.