The San Antonio Spurs made a blockbuster commerce so as to add a co-star subsequent to Victor Wembanyama, however they managed to maintain loads of items for future strikes.
The San Antonio Spurs received in on the commerce motion this weekend, buying and selling 4 first-round picks with varied protections, Tre Jones, Zach Collins, and Sido Cissoko for De’Aaron Fox and Jordan McLaughlin. The Spurs, very clearly, need to encompass Victor Wembanyama with as a lot expertise as potential.
Nevertheless, Fox isn’t precisely a deadeye shooter, and the Spurs nonetheless have sufficient property to make one other transfer earlier than the Feb. 6 commerce deadline.
Listed below are two gamers who ought to be on San Antonio’s radar.
The Spurs, after touchdown Fox, are roughly $4 million beneath the posh tax and have a little bit of room to work with, however they gained’t be capable to add a high-end, costly participant with out parting with their very own invaluable items.
The Minnesota Timberwolves, in the meantime, have some troublesome decisions looming on the horizon. Reigning Sixth Man of the 12 months Naz Reid might be due for a contract extension quickly, and in the event that they need to preserve him on the books, they must discover methods to chop prices elsewhere. Nickeil Alexander-Walker is within the final yr of his deal, and the Wolves could possibly be inclined to commerce him fairly than let him stroll for nothing.
Averaging 8.8 factors, 2.9 rebounds, and a couple of.4 assists off the bench, Alexander-Walker may complement Stephon Fort, Julian Champagnie, and Jeremy Sochan as they arrive off the bench for the Silver and Black, constructing a deadly defensive lineup within the second unit for the Spurs.
If the Spurs are keen to half with extra draft capital, throwing Malaki Branham within the combine could be sufficient to stability salaries.
To date this season, the Spurs have performed 4 completely different facilities behind Victor Wemanyama. Zach Collins and Charles Bassey are restricted, with the previous being traded to the Chicago Bulls within the deal for Fox. Bassey and Sandro Mamukelashvili are usually not long-term options, and Jeremy Sochan is clearly out of place when requested to play heart.
If the Spurs imagine that Keldon Johnson, Fort, and Champagnie can slot into greater offensive roles, veteran Harrison Barnes all of the sudden turns into expendable. The Spurs may flip him to the Detroit Pistons, who may add some area for Cade Cunningham to work in.
In return, the Spurs would get the hard-nosed, defensive-minded Isaiah Stewart.
“Beef Stew” is averaging a profession low in factors and rebounds, however is taking part in the smallest function of his profession up to now. He’s quietly one of many higher rim protectors across the league and will cease the Spurs from bleeding factors when Wembanyama heads to the bench.