Trade Winds
There was a time where the Spurs used to stand pat at the deadline, or maybe make a small move at the end of the roster. Rarely are big swipes taken because the team simply doesn’t believe in that as a away to seriously compete — at least not with the offers being presented.
This week we learned that Dejounte Murray has been talking some noise because he was hurt with the trade. I get it. The fan base loved them some DJ and it was apparently reciprocated. That Murray has expressed these feelings by talking mess might be familiar to anyone with a family or friends.
Gone also this week is Jakob Poeltl, another very Spursian player who was nearly always in the rumor blogs for his value as a center — analytics loved his modern center skills — and his incongruent timeline. He was older than the rest of the roster and while he fit much better than an Aldridge, he was still not going to be a part of the future Spurs.
Pop loves him some Sochan but with the loss of the previous point guard of the future to scandal, and injuries taking minutes, the Spurs traded for Devonte Graham on a relatively decent deal that netted the Spurs a haul of 2nd-rounders. If it works, Graham can do some of the ball-handing and shooting (he’s good at that, and scored 31 in his debut, a Spurs record) while the squad figures out what to do now that Josh Richardson was finally traded — another long-rumored trade asset.
The end of the season is nigh, and the Spurs’ fate is sealed but for the announcing of the prize of a franchise-changing talent. The pieces for the future are in place — Sochan, et al — and enough trade capital to make a swing for the team that would compliment a guy that can lead the squad to glory.
The competition-loving fan in me would have liked to see the alternative reality where the Spurs tried to trade a DeRozan (he wanted out) for a Ben Simmons or something (might have been too steep) and wold have loved to see a Murray evolution try their hand in a weak West.
There is value in moving on, sure. Look at the Lakers holding on to former greatness for far too long as a cautionary tale. The Spurs spent a lot of years trying to maximize the winning window and with good reason. The Kawhi thing collapsed all of those plans and forced the hand of everyone.
This season would have been more enjoyable with a better squad but it is nice to see the development of some future Spurs. That last part, however, has an asterisk. How many Poeltl fans are there that wanted to see him continue as a Spur? It is hard to love a team when the roster changes so quickly and so much. How much should children invest in knowing about Devonte Graham when he might be trade bait himself?
Anyone can be traded at any time. Sure. But trying to sell a Spurs Family experience is a little counter-intuitive to that notion. It is interesting that as the Spurs’ new ownership group includes more hedge fund money that the Spurs become a little more cold and calculating. Now, no sports organization will prioritize people at the expense of a dollar, but as this Spurs’ 50th anniversary has shown, the valuing of connection helps to make that dollar. That and winning.
Here is hoping all this losing and all these trades bring more of that.