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The San Antonio Spurs could have some questions to make at the Trade Deadline after a recent winning streak that has put them only two games back from the Western Conference play-in game. Although the season is still early, San Antonio has shown spurts that they can be a competitive team as they do have some wins over some good basketball teams and have a bright future if things are done correctly.
Dejounte Murray has looked great at only 25 years old with 18.9 points per game, 8.4 rebounds, and 8.5 assists this season. Other players like Keldon Johnson and others have looked promising early on. Jakob Poeltl has done an excellent job grabbing rebounds and playing high-level defense against some of the better big men in the league.
The Spurs are in an interesting spot as it seems clear that head coach Gregg Popovich might decide to retire after this season. He has been the head coach of the Spurs since 1996 and has five championships with the organization. When he leaves, it's definitely going to be a tough transition for this team, so they might not look to trade away some young assets to potentially get a spot in just a play-in game this season.
From the Spurs' perspective, there would be no reason to trade a guy like Dejounte Murray, Keldon Johnson, Jakob Poeltl, or maybe even not a guy like Lonnie Walker IV. Unless San Antonio believes that they are going to have a big offseason next year, there would be no reason to trade around their assets as they have some guys who are going to develop in the future and potentially be good basketball players in this league.
There are some areas of need including somebody who can knock down a three point shot and somebody who can come in and facilitate while running the offense. Let's take a look at two players the Spurs might be interested in during the NBA Trade Deadline.
Spurs NBA Trade Deadline
It's clear that whatever is going on down in the Sacramento Kings organization simply isn't working out. They have a lot of talent on their roster including guys like Buddy Hield, De'Aaron Fox, Harrison Barnes, Tyrese Haliburton, and countless others. A team with this much talent should not struggle as much as they have. They have found little to no success in recent years and are playing disappointing once again as they are 11-15.
BUDDY HIELD GAME-WINNING PUTBACK IN OT pic.twitter.com/TjMPu0mQnm
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) December 24, 2020
From the sound of things, Sacramento might decide to rebuild the organization. Buddy Hield was already somebody who would have been traded if the Russell Westbrook deal did not happen for the Los Angeles Lakers. This could be a good time for the Spurs to go out and get a guy who can hit a three-point shot at an above-average rate and also potentially not trade away most of their young assets. If any of the young assets and multiple draft picks need to be included in this deal, it would not be smart from the Spurs' perspective because they are not in a win-now position.
This has been a rumor since the day Ben Simmons reportedly wanted out of Philadelphia. He could be a great player to come in and help this Spurs team. Maybe with Coach Gregg Popovich, he can get his offensive game to where people want it and turn into a very good player in this league. The issue is that Philadelphia wants back a lot more than Simmons is worth. This would cause the Spurs to have to trade probably Murray, Johnson, and countless draft picks. From an organizational standpoint, this wouldn't make much sense as Ben Simmons is nowhere near good enough as his asking price, especially for a team who is not ready to contend just yet.
If San Antonio can find a way to not trade Murray or Johnson, it could be a decent idea. Simmons is somebody who has experience in this league and can also defend at the highest of levels.
The Spurs typically don't make many moves during the trade deadline. They might decide to not make any big moves beside the Young trade and focus on their future because they do have some young talent who can form into very good players in this league and being developed by Gregg Popovich is always something that the Spurs will take advantage of.
From the Spurs' perspective, it wouldn't make much sense to trade some of their team away, They are going to potentially be without Popovich next season so things will be different in San Antonio.
