Why San Antonio Spurs Spurs Do This Trade

The San Antonio Spurs hedged their bets a bit this offseason signing players such as Doug McDermott and Zach Collins in free agency. However, allowing all of their veteran free agents to leave in free agency, it would seem San Antonio is leaning toward a rebuild.

With their first-round pick in the 2021 NBA Draft, the Spurs also took the youngest player, Josh Primo from Alabama, which could show their hand a bit of what their plans are. If they stick to developing the young guys, Thaddeus Young doesn’t have much of an outlook with the team.

But, he has a lot of value around the league still. He was one of the more popular players at the deadline but ultimately remained with the Chicago Bulls. Now, the Spurs will be able to reap those benefits, acquiring a young center and two more future second-round picks in exchange for him.

Naz Reid has looked like a rotation center in his first two seasons with the Timberwolves. He filled in well when Karl-Anthony Towns was sidelined and turning 22-years old in August fits their timeline. The LSU product has shown promise as a floor-spacing big man with good shot-blocking prowess as well.

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The second-round picks give San Antonio two more shots to add young players to the roster or to add as sweeteners to trade packages. Taurean Prince is added to match salaries, but he can also provide some solid depth on the win for the Spurs and another veteran presence for the younger players to learn from.