Why This Trade Makes Sense For The San Antonio Spurs

So far this season, young talents like Keldon Johnson, Dejounte Murray and Lonnie Walker have stepped up in the backcourt for San Antonio with Derrick White being out and when he returns, the Spurs have a solid group of young talent that they can build with for the future. 

If they elect to keep DeRozan as well past this year, they have a veteran leader for their young core and all they need to do is continue gathering young assets to reestablish themselves as one of the top teams in the league. This is why trading LaMarcus Aldridge could be beneficial to them, even though they would be taking on DeAndre Jordan’s contract.

Jakob Poeltl and Drew Eubanks are the future of the Spurs frontcourt, so management hopes, but neither guy is ready to contribute at a high-level. DeAndre Jordan is a former All-Star center and has shown flashes of being able to still play at a high-level. All San Antonio would really need from him is the ability to rebound and contest/block shots in the paint, which is what he is doing well with Brooklyn this season.

The first-round pick the Spurs get in this trade and Taurean Prince though are the two main pieces of this trade that benefits San Antonio moving forward. The Spurs need to continue to draft high-level talent and getting more first-round picks can achieve this for them. 

Taurean Prince is also a player who could fit San Antonio’s system very well. Standing about 6’7”, Prince is a physical forward who spends a lot of time in the paint fighting for rebounds. The guy is tough as nails and there are never questions about his effort level as he leaves it all out on the court. 

At just 26-years old, Prince is a guy the Spurs could utilize in their rotation and possibly for the foreseeable future. He is under contract through the 2021-22 season, meaning San Antonio would have two years to figure out if they want to include him in their long-term plans.

While the Spurs missed the playoffs for the first time in 22 years last season and keeping LaMarcus Aldridge gives them the best chance to make it back, they are in no shape to contend at all in the Western Conference. As a result, they need to trade Aldridge instead of letting him go elsewhere in free agency next year to provide themselves with the necessary draft picks they need to build their next core of the future.