Why The San Antonio Spurs Should Do It

This deal for the San Antonio Spurs is two-fold. They’d receive four players in exchange for LaMarcus Aldridge, but to acquire Jusuf Nurkic, they’d have to part with valuable picks.

San Antonio would have to be sold on Nurkic’s impact in the coming years, and ideally his ability to lead the next generation of their roster.

Nurkic is absolutely a piece to build around, but it remains to be seen if San Antonio is willing to part with first round picks.

But in San Antonio, the Spurs missed the playoffs for the first time in 22 years. The Spurs have had a standard for the last two decades, and they fell short in 2020.

A move to acquire Nurkic would signal that the Spurs aren’t willing to oversee a long rebuild. San Antonio could pair Nurkic with DeMar DeRozan, or other surrounding pieces if DeRozan is traded this offseason.

The biggest reason for the Spurs to do this would be their sense of urgency to return to the playoffs, if Portland were willing to part with Nurkic.