How This Deal Impacts San Antonio Spurs
The San Antonio Spurs are entering a rebuild for the first time in franchise history. They are having visions of repeating the 1996-97 season, when David Robinson was hurt and they landed the No. 1 overall pick in the draft, selecting Tim Duncan.
The 2023 NBA Draft has what looks like two can’t miss prospects in Victor Wembanyama and Scoot Henderson. The Spurs want to give themselves as good a chance as possible at landing one of them, which is partly why Dejounte Murray was traded.
To continue improving their chances, moving the other veterans on the roster would make sense. If they traded Doug McDermott, the only player on the roster older than 28 years old would be Gorgui Dieng. If they traded Josh Richardson and Jakob Poeltl, they may not have a rotation player older than 24.
That is certainly one way to go about rebuilding and tanking, as San Antonio would focus on developing the young players on the team and hope to land one of those aforementioned top prospects. They would be all for the trade with the Los Angeles Lakers.
LATEST NBA NEWS & TRADE RUMORS: Los Angeles Lakers & San Antonio Spurs Updates
Russell Westbrook would never actually step foot in San Antonio. He would be bought out immediately, making him a free agent so that he could choose the next team he wants to play for.
What the Spurs would be focused on is the draft capital coming back. They get first-round picks in 2027 and 2029 in this scenario, which is exactly what they are looking for. San Antonio already has one of the most robust draft caches in the NBA and this would only strengthen it.
LATEST NBA NEWS & TRADE RUMORS: Los Angeles Lakers & San Antonio Spurs Updates
The future outlook would be bright for the Spurs with the young players on the roster, hopefully, a top prospect getting added to the mix in the 2023 NBA Draft and all of the future assets they possess.
