Subscribe
Follow Us
The San Antonio Spurs dynasty of the 2000s is no more. After hovering around the back of the Western Conference standings for the past few seasons, the Spurs moves for much of the 2022 NBA offseason have signaled that they are gearing up for a full-scale rebuild. All good things must come to an end, and the Spurs winning ways have come to an end for the time being.
San Antonio barely found their way into the NBA Play-In Tournament last season, as they snuck into the final spot as the number 10 seed out West. They were quickly bounced by the New Orleans Pelicans, forcing them to come to terms with what their offseason has eventually become.
But the moves they have made to welcome a rebuild have felt underwhelming to say the least. And their biggest move, which involved trading away their star player who just led them to the Play-In Tournament, left much to be desired. The Spurs rebuild is underway, but the early results aren't very encouraging, which is why their big trade also happens to be their worst move of the offseason so far.
*Watch NBA games LIVE with fuboTV (click for free trial)*
San Antonio Spurs worst offseason move: trading Dejounte Murray
Dejounte Murray emerged from out of nowhere to become one of the best all-around players in the entire NBA last season. He was handed more responsibility with San Antonio's roster becoming more and more barren, and he stepped up in a big way. He averaged 21.1 points per game, 9.2 assists per game, and 8.3 rebounds per game, making him a triple-double threat on a nightly basis.
Without Murray the Spurs would have been among the worst teams in the league last season. He controlled their offense, both by scoring on his own and getting his teammates involved, while also making his mark on the defensive end with a league-leading two steals per game as well.
The Spurs front office decided to cash in on Murray while they could and trade him this offseason to help speed up their rebuild. Murray could obviously bring in quite a haul; he's going to be just 26 by the time the 2022-23 season starts up, and his breakout campaign saw him become one of the brightest stars in the league.
Yet when San Antonio dealt him to the Atlanta Hawks, it felt like a fairly underwhelming return considering how good Murray was last season. The Spurs landed three first round picks, plus a pick swap in 2026 and Danilo Gallinari, in return for Murray and end of the bench player Jock Landale. It immediately felt like the Hawks had won the deal, not just because they got Murray, but because they gave up few assets to get him.
A closer look shows that two of three picks Atlanta gave up are unprotected, meaning that if things go south for the Hawks, this deal will look far better for the Spurs. But considering how the Hawks now have a young backcourt duo in Murray and Trae Young leading the way for the foreseeable future, it's hard to see Atlanta struggling to the point where those picks become lottery selections.
Beyond that it doesn't get much better. The other guaranteed pick is the Charlotte Hornets 2023 selection, which probably won't be very high, and is a protected selection either way. The pick swap in 2026 probably won't be noteworthy because, again, the Hawks are most likely going to be finishing with a worse draft pick than the Spurs, so it would make no sense for them to swap with Atlanta here. The only player compensation for San Antonio was Gallinari, who was quickly waived and picked up by the Boston Celtics.
The Spurs certainly will look to make use of those draft picks in the future, but it feels like they sold low on Murray here. When you also consider the unbelievable haul the Utah Jazz got in return for Rudy Gobert too, it only makes this deal look worse for the Spurs and their upcoming rebuild.
Trading Murray in order to jump start a rebuild isn't the worst idea for San Antonio, but the fact that they got such a limited return for him after a breakout campaign feels like a missed opportunity. They could have gotten considerably more assets, whether it be draft picks or players, in return for Murray, which is especially notable after seeing the Gobert deal go through.
Even though trading Murray accomplished a goal for the Spurs this offseason, the return, and the fact that they lost their best player, makes this their worst move of the offseason. As San Antonio labors through a seemingly lengthy rebuild, it will be worth wondering whether or not they could have helped themselves out by asking for more in return for Dejounte Murray.
