Far removed from their glory days and desperately in need of starting a new chapter, the San Antonio Spurs have recovered nicely by building a solid young core for the next phase of their franchise. However, they still are a few pieces away from having a legitimate playoff contender in place. Having said that, let's take a look at the three players the Spurs absolutely should trade for to get them back into the playoff mix and give them a fighting chance in the postseason.
Spurs Moves: 3 Trades San Antonio Can Make
Ben Simmons
After a highly disappointing performance in the eastern conference semifinals, Ben Simmons will more than likely be placed on the trade block by the Philadelphia 76ers. If there's anybody in this league who can get through to Simmons and rid him of his bad habits while turning him into an absolute force to be reckoned with, it's Spurs coach Gregg Popovich. Under the Spurs top-notch player development program Simmons would re-learn the game and come back 10x better.
With Popovich being the ultimate player's coach, he would be able to build a strong enough bond with Simmons that would boost his confidence and make him a more aggressive scorer. Pop would also be able to fix his broken jump shot and turn him into an efficient mid-range scorer with a solid 3-point shot in his arsenal. Simmons also would form a young and exciting tandem with Spurs star Dejounte Murray.
Together, this duo would wreak havoc on the perimeter and possibly become the next great defensive backcourt in the NBA. In San Antonio, Simmons would be resurrected into one of the greatest players the game has ever seen. Already possessing great size, athleticism, defensive prowess, and rebounding abilities, the Spurs would turn him into a multi-dimensional scoring machine.
Buddy Hield
An elite shooting guard that can alternate at small forward, Buddy Hield is a star in his prime stuck on a Sacramento Kings squad that seems to be going nowhere and fast. On the Spurs he would form a great back court with Murray and give them depth on the wing while also providing them with the scoring punch they need to power through to the postseason. Hield's strong on-ball defense and court awareness are what make him the perfect fit for the Spurs' style of play.
Under the guidance of Popovich, Hield would elevate his game and help the Spurs enter the playoff mix as a dangerous lower seed. His lights out shooting and lockdown defense adds another element to a young team that's ready to make a strong postseason push. With this move, the Spurs can rejuvenate a star that's slowly fallen out of the rotation on a Kings team in complete carousel. Plus with Hield's strong work ethic, he'd embody the Spurs championship mantra.
Malachi Flynn
With it becoming more and more likely that the Toronto Raptors will be picking a guard in this year's NBA draft, this may be a sign that Malachi Flynn could be moved out of the Raptors rotation. Especially since the Raptors would have an overcrowded backcourt that wouldn't be able to properly split minutes between Fred VanVleet, Kyle Lowry, and their next rookie.
On the Spurs, Flynn would find plenty of opportunities to prove himself as a starter and develop into the kind of well-rounded two-way player that San Antonio has seen many times in years past. This would also give the Spurs a great young core to build around with Dejounte Murray, Derrick White, Drew Eubanks, Lonnie Walker, Jakob Poeltl, and Malachi Flynn. The addition of Flynn gives the Spurs a very bright future and great potential as an upstart lower seed in the western conference that nobody wants to see in the first round.
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