A God Builds a Castle With Barnes and a Vassell While An Alien Looks For His Ship - The Official 2024-2025 San Antonio Spurs Season Thread

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What Spurs' draft-night trade says about their refusal to think small

By Mike Finger,
Columnist
June 29, 2024

General manager Brian Wright and the Spurs chose to focus on a bigger future, rather than work with the No. 8 pick in an underwhelming draft.

Underneath a table on the practice court at Victory Capital Performance Center on Saturday morning, two crisp new white jerseys sat folded and waiting for the fourth and 48th overall selections in the 2024 NBA draft.

There was not a jersey for the No. 8 pick.

But there could have been one.

And there almost was.

Three nights earlier, in a room not far from that practice court, all the members of the Spurs’ brain trust sat around a different table and came to a consensus. They were ready to draft a player at No. 8. They’d agreed on a prospect. And they were prepared to keep him.

But with seconds ticking away just before their pick was due, they received exactly the kind of offer they hoped would materialize Wednesday. The Minnesota Timberwolves wanted the Spurs’ selection, and they were willing to give up an unprotected 2031 first-rounder and the right to swap first-rounders in 2030 to get it.

Over the phone, the Timberwolves gave the Spurs a name — Rob Dillingham of Kentucky. Just beating the buzzer, the Spurs passed Dillingham’s name along to the league.

Minutes later, when details of the trade were announced, fans watching the draft broadcast in the courtyard outside the practice facility had the same one-word question many people across the country did.

Why?

Why didn’t the Spurs seize what looked like an easy opportunity to add some young, relatively inexpensive help for Victor Wembanyama?

Why did they trade for a pick they won’t be able to make for seven years when they already have too many draft assets to use on their own before then?

The answer is complicated, but it boils down to one motivating principle behind a trade like this:

Greed.

Simply put, the Spurs don’t want a sixth Larry O’Brien trophy. They want an eighth, a ninth, a tenth. Their goal is not to win a championship in 2027. Their goal is to win EVERY championship from 2027 until, oh, 2035 or so.

That might sound unrealistic. It might sound certifiably insane. But blessed with the miracle that was the Wembanyama lottery, the Spurs consider it sacrilege to think small.

Yes, the tall Frenchman is good enough to start winning now, at age 20. Absolutely, if they wanted to, they could get aggressive and assemble a team that could make the playoffs this season.

But the objective isn’t a quick postseason run. The objective is a dynasty.

And in a vacuum, forward-thinking moves like Wednesday’s are a shrewd way to make that happen. Stocking up on draft capital years in advance allows good teams flexibility to add superstars, and allows great teams to replenish rosters with talent even in the new era of extra-punitive salary cap restrictions.

Let’s say, two summers from now, the Spurs want to make a deal with a team starting a rebuild. That team won’t want Dillingham just as he starts to get expensive. Instead, that team will covet the types of assets that fit its own timeline. Like, say, a 2031 first-rounder.

That’s the method to the madness here. In the years to come, that 2031 pick only will appreciate in value. Had they taken a used the No. 8 pick on the wrong guy in an underwhelming draft, there’s a good chance the market for that player would never have been higher than it was Wednesday.

So the Spurs jumped at the chance to accept Minnesota’s offer, viewing the distant timing of the pick as a positive. As one member of the team’s front office put it, San Antonio has a “whole big chest of stuff” it can use in the coming years to acquire high-profile, long-term Wembanyama running buddies. And as another Spurs official noted, a 2031 pick from a current contender like the Timberwolves is more attractive than a 2025 selection would’ve been, because it allows time to “capitalize on chaos.”

Granted, as smart and as forward-thinking as that sounds, there are no guarantees it will work. There are huge risks associated with moves like this, and the Spurs know it.

For one, you’re counting on Wembanyama to see the endgame, and to support it. So far, he has. So far, he’s been completely, enthusiastically, unshakably on board. And he hasn’t shown the slightest hint he'll ever make any demands suggesting otherwise.

Still, the Spurs know all too well how quickly that can change. All it takes is one moment of doubt, or one outside voice from a family member, and suddenly there’s a trade demand. To be sure, nobody in the building expects that to happen with Wembanyama.

Back in 2016, they also never expected it from Kawhi Leonard.

Even if Wembanyama remains committed, there’s another factor to consider when we talk about patience. In the next year or so, the Spurs are likely to announce plans for a downtown arena. Presumably, they will want public funds to help them build it.

Might it be easier to muster political support for such a request if the team is not mired in its sixth or seventh losing season in a row? Might showing some real progress on the court engender a little more goodwill than saying, “Trust us, we’ll be winners when the thing gets built?” Remember, the last time the Spurs asked the public for a new arena, they had the good fortune of doing so right after their first championship.

In other words, extreme patience has its potential long-term downsides, too.

So is there a middle ground here? Perhaps. With No. 4 pick Stephon Castle of Connecticut in the fold, the Spurs already added one potential impact player. Now they can use the cap space that would have gone to No. 8 to help acquire a free-agent shooter, plus a versatile, productive veteran leader (old friend Kyle Anderson, maybe?). And if there’s a chance to pounce on a deal that makes sense for a young All-Star like Utah’s Lauri Markkanen or Cleveland’s Darius Garland, future picks should help facilitate those deals.

The Spurs need to do something besides adding Castle and two second-rounders this summer. They almost certainly will.

And when they do?

The pick they almost made might lead to something better.
 
NoMorePie

NoMorePie

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Love this signing. Sure he's almost bout to hit 40 but it's a 1 year deal. He'll help out the young guys. And he checked his ego at the door in GS by coming off the bench, he can do it here too.

Then next year in the draft or offseason they can find their PG of the future. Keep all the picks for now
 
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