Does this trade make sense for the San Antonio Spurs?

This trade does make sense for the Spurs in the sense of freeing up some roster spots and still ending up being competitive in the Western Conference, but the cost could be too great. Not the cost of the talent they would be trading away for Hield, but just his contract in general! 

As mentioned previously, Buddy Hield is set to make $61.5M over the next three seasons with the entirety of his contract guaranteed, so the Spurs would be tied down to him through the 2023-24 season if they acquired Hield. This is not to say that they could not move him again in a trade, but his value may not be the same as it is now. 

If the Spurs want to add another talented player that can help them compete for a playoff spot, then this trade definitely makes sense for them, but the financial impacts could wind up hurting them. Adding Hield would put the Spurs at around $106M in payroll already for the 2022-23 season, giving them virtually no room to then go and add talent to their roster next offseason. 

Without Hield, their payroll currently sits around $98M, giving them some flexibility to add key talents around their young core. This is definitely an intriguing situation to consider, especially since the Spurs are technically rebuilding with no All-Stars on their roster. 

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Moving Al-Farouq Aminu, Chandler Hutchison and Lonnie Walker is not a lot of value lost by the Spurs, especially since each player is in the final year of their contract, but this is a lot of money to absorb. Assuming the Spurs are okay with taking on Hield’s contract, then this trade makes sense for them.