It's been a busy offseason for the San Antonio Spurs, who drafted Dylan Harper with the number two overall pick, which raised some speculation about whether or not they would still want to keep De'Aaron Fox around long term. However, San Antonio quickly answered that question by signing Fox to a max contract extension, giving them one of the deepest guard rooms in the league, including last year's Rookie of the Year, Stephon Castle.
However, San Antonio may not be done adding to their guard depth just yet, per Anthony Irwin of ClutchPoints.
“If/when (Los Angeles Lakers guard Austin) Reaves opts out of his current contract, he'll be an unrestricted free agent with plenty of interest. League sources say the San Antonio Spurs and other teams are keeping a close eye on Reaves' free agency,” reported Irwin.
Irwin also noted that “seeing as LA could potentially lose Reaves for nothing, they'd be remiss not to consider trading him at some point this season, especially if it becomes clear he and (Luka) Doncic's athleticism concerns are too much to overcome in pursuit of a championship.”
At this point, it's unclear what that potential trade package could look like, but there have indeed been concerns that Doncic and Reaves could be a turnstile on defense this year and untenable as a starting backcourt with one another.
An interesting idea for the Spurs
The San Antonio Spurs reportedly had interest in signing Austin Reaves during his last free agency period in 2023 following his breakout year with the Lakers, but he ended up returning to Los Angeles on a new deal.
As previously noted, the Spurs have surrounded superstar Victor Wembanyama with plenty of, and perhaps even too much, depth at the guard position, so it's unclear exactly where Reaves would fit into that lineup.
In any case, the Spurs are currently preparing for their upcoming season, which they hope will be the first of the Wembanyama era in which they experience true success. They will kick things off on October 22 on the road against the Dallas Mavericks.
