Should the San Antonio Spurs be active at the NBA trade deadline?

Last year, the Spurs failed to reach the NBA Playoffs for the first time since 1997. Since February 25th, they are back in action, currently taking over the sixth seed in Co. -West speakers, and they are 16-12.

If the last 20+ years are any indication, the Spurs are not tankers. The group would much rather postseason the postseason than play for ping-pong balls, which is still commendable.

That said, the group is moving toward a roster with more youth compared to previous reports. Of the players who get more than 10 minutes per game, eight are under 30, and five are under 25.

With just a month to go before the March 25 trading deadline, the Spurs have some decisions to make.

The future of the former All-Stars

First up is DeMar DeRozan, who is currently having one of the best seasons of his career. The 12-year-old veteran gets an average of 19.8 points and 6.9 assists per game on a TS.3 of 60.3 while he is a top starting starter. Under normal circumstances, it wouldn’t make much sense to trade DeRozan – especially since its yield and impact are directly related to winning – but the 31-year-old man’s contract is up in the end this season, after that the Spurs are in danger of losing for nothing.

Will they hang on to and stay with that risk, or will they move it to return to the playoffs down the line, instead of this year?

Ultimately, the answer to that question boils down to where you get the most value. With its upcoming free agency, it is a reason why its trading value will not be high. So the Spurs would get more value by just hanging on to it and yielding to it at its current level.

Of course, some team could make a play for DeRozan and hope that their inning would be maintained after the season, where he will be one of the most attractive pieces. on the market. However, any deal would have to make sense for the Spurs in terms of getting fair value, which seems like a long view.

The same logic can be applied to LaMarcus Aldridge, although the 35-year-old is suffering a rather difficult recession this season. Aldridge won’t come close to sniffing his current $ 24 million payout next season, so it won’t be a priority for outside teams unless he gets it as a contract that is coming to an end.

There is also a chance that San Antonio want to hang on to both, hoping to lock them into the offseason again, albeit for much cheaper money for Aldridge.

Depends on the young

One could argue that the Spurs could go the other way and bring in money for their young players, but that seems to be a long way off as they have been in the last few years. to make it a priority to be younger. Plus, would the young players of the Spurs even get something that makes them much better for now?

The Spurs have been without Derrick White for 20 games this season, as he has been in and out of the line. It should be back on a more permanent footing, and perhaps rediscovering part of its success in the Orlando bubble (18.9 points, 39.3 3FG% on eight attempts) should be to good as the steady production injection for Spurs offense.

Dejounte Murray, now removed from the ACL tears that caused him to miss the entire 2018/2019 season, has posted career highs of 15.6 points, 7.3 rebounds and 5.1 helps, while remaining as pesky as ever to defense. Murray, who is still just 25, could get a good return with his combination of productivity, age and a small contract of $ 16 million per year on average. But these types of players are attractive for a reason, largely because the financial compensation makes it easy to build around them. And the Spurs do just that.

Keldon Johnson and Lonnie Walker have also taken steps. Johnson puts up 14.5 points and 7.0 rebounds per night as a second-year draft drafted late in the first round. That means his current production is largely out of reach of his contract, suggesting once again that the Spurs have stolen their hands. For Walker, his progress is slower, but there is confidence in playing a bigger role in Spurs offense. His 10.8 points and 3.0 rebounds are nothing special, and given that his progress seems to have been made step by step, teams are currently unlikely to stand by his services. , meaning they are more likely to be worthwhile for the Spurs on the court, than on the trading market.

In the end, the Spurs are unlikely to be active. They are rare at this stage of the season, and the franchise does not like mid-season crafts in general. They may take calls, and only communicate if someone out there gives them a chance to be stronger for this season, while at the same time maintaining the long – term outlook. But with all the teams wanting that, that is unlikely to happen.

Much action from the Spurs next month is expected to be impractical.