The San Antonio Spurs have become one of the top teams to watch in NBA trade rumors in the post-draft landscape in a surprising way. They were reportedly discussing trades that included Dejounte Murray in the conversation
There were reported talks involving the Spurs and the Atlanta Hawks for a deal centered around Murray and John Collins on the eve of the NBA Draft. Those talks are reportedly still ongoing with
According to Bleacher Report’s Jake Fischer on the “Please Don’t Aggregate This” podcast, the San Antonio Spurs are ‘definitely’ gathering intel on John Collins amid recent trade talks.
“The Spurs are definitely doing intel on John (Collins), like I know that,” Fischer said. “They’re calling around, asking about him.”
LATEST NBA NEWS AND TRADE RUMORS: 2 Trade Packages To Send Atlanta Hawks’ John Collins To San Antonio Spurs
The connection between the Spurs and Hawks is furthered by the mutual desire from Trae Young and Dejounte Murray to play together. Atlanta has sought to acquire a secondary ball-handler to take pressure off Young and to keep the defense honest after a rough first-round exit where their superstar was largely neutralized.
The only reasoning behind the Spurs moving Murray in a trade this offseason would be a motivation to tank for the loaded 2023 NBA Draft. There just isn’t much reason to trade a first-time All-Star signed to a $16.6 million salary in 2022-23 and a $17.7 million salary in 2023-24. It would need to be very worthwhile for San Antonio to make such a move.
LATEST NBA NEWS AND TRADE RUMORS: 2 Trade Packages To Send Atlanta Hawks’ John Collins To San Antonio Spurs
John Collins is a win-now talent with a role player ceiling. While he’s an effective rim roller and efficient spot-up shooter, he’s limited defensively and is never going to be a go-to scorer. The San Antonio Spurs would be wise to re-route him in a trade if they were to trade Dejounte Murray and undergo a legitimate long-term rebuild.