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The San Antonio Spurs are making moves to try and compete in a very competitive Western Conference. The Spurs recently drafted guard Dylan Harper out of Rutgers to be one of the future stars of the franchise. Now that the starting lineup is set, the team is trying to round out the rest of the roster to form a dynamic team.
On Tuesday night, Shams Charania announced that the Spurs have traded for big man Kelly Olynyk from the Washington Wizards, in exchange for Malaki Branham, Blake Wesley, and a 2026 second-round pick (least favorable of Dallas, Philadelphia, and Oklahoma City).
This trade comes right after the Wizards acquired Cam Whitemore from the Houston Rockets. The Wizards are trying to rebuild, and do not need Olynyk's services any longer. Olynyk will now back up superstar Victor Wembanyama. The Spurs also signed Luke Kornet recently.
Washington also traded away Jordan Poole to the New Orleans Pelicans for CJ McCollum. Washington has been making a ton of moves. It is too early to tell if this trade with the Spurs will benefit them, but Branham and Wesley have shown that they can be assets if called upon.
Branham averaged 10.2 points per game in his rookie season in San Antonio. As for Wesley, he averaged his career high is 5.0 with SA as well. Both Branham and Wesley are from the same draft class and should be role players for the Wizards.
The Spurs will try and squeeze out the last of Olynyk's skillset as he is now 34 years old. The big man does not have too much gas left in the tank, but can still produce at a high level. Olynyk can still score the rock; he hasn't averaged lower than 7.1 points per game for his entire career.
He was a solid role player for the Boston Celtics in his early days and the same with the Miami Heat after that. Last season with two different teams, he averaged 8.7 points. The Spurs will benefit from having him on the court, especially at the same time as Wembanyama.
