3 best trades Spurs must make before 2025 NBA trade deadline
01/20/2025 02:24 PM
The San Antonio Spurs are slowly getting better. With Victor Wembanyama having another solid season, supported by more veterans, the team is in good hands to finally become a playoff contender again. Although it’s yet to be known when coach Gregg Popovich will return to the sidelines, after suffering a mild stroke, Mitch Johnson has done a respectable job in filling in. Currently, San Antonio sits at the 12th seed with a 19-20 record which should still put them in the Play-In Tournament conversation. In order to push for a playoff spot, the team can engage in some roster moves before the trade deadline. For this piece, let’s take a look at the best trades Spurs must make before 2025 NBA trade deadline.
Spurs’ trade with Toronto Raptors
Spurs receive: Jakob Poeltl ($19.5 million)
Raptors receive: Zach Collins ($16.7 million) and Blake Wesley ($2.6 million)
The Spurs could really use a backup center for Victor Wembanyama, especially with Zach Collins having the worst season since joining San Antonio. Collins is only averaging 5.2 points and 3.1 rebounds per game on 44.4% shooting from the field. To make matters worse, he also isn’t impressing defensively. As a result, this should prompt the Spurs to finally move on from Collins to get an upgrade for their frontcourt. One of the best ways to do so is to trade for a familiar face in Jakob Poeltl.
Poeltl should be a familiar face for the Spurs fans, having played for the Spurs for more than four seasons. Today, the 7-foot-0 center has blossomed into a solid big man for the Toronto Raptors. He is having the best season of his career with averages of 14.9 points and 10.6 rebounds per game. He should easily be a reliable center reliever when Wembanyama is not on the floor. Otherwise, he should also perfectly pair with the reigning NBA Rookie of the Year which should form a formidable twin-tower combination.
To get the Raptors big man, San Antonio can move on from Collins. Furthermore, they will also be able to unload a slumping Blake Wesley. Given that the Raptors are aiming for a rebuild, unloading a veteran like Poeltl is a priority for the team. Moreover, Collins and Wesley fit their timeline better. A change in scenery could also get these players back into their respective grooves.
Trade with the Brooklyn Nets
Spurs receive Cameron Johnson ($22.5 million)
Nets receive: Keldon Johnson ($19 million), Julian Champagnie ($3 million)
The Spurs system relies heavily on outside shooting. With more shooting, this should also provide more space for Wembanyama to dominate in the paint. Currently, the Spurs rank 23rd in the NBA in the three-point shooting department, converting 34.3% of their shots. Adding a shooter like Cameron Johnson should provide the team with a better shooter.
As effective as Keldon Johnson has been in the past few seasons, the 6-foot-5 forward has also shown that he isn’t the ideal wing alongside Wembanyama. In fact, Johnson is only shooting 28.3% from downtown, which hurts the team. As a result, replacing him with Brooklyn’s Johnson should be what the doctor prescribed for the Spurs. Unlike the San Antonio wing, the much taller Johnson is hitting 42.8% from beyond the arc, while also putting up a career-best 19.6 points per game.
But given that the Nets realized that their forward has a high trade value, the Spurs must not only give up their starting forward but also add in sharpshooting 23-year-old Julian Champagnie. Although Champagnie has been playing well, a veteran shooting forward like Johnson is just too difficult to pass up.
Trade with the Sacramento Kings
Spurs receive: De’Aaron Fox ($34.8 million)
Kings receive: Devin Vassell ($29.3 million), Malaki Branham ($3.2 million), Sandro Mamukelashvili ($2.1 million)
Wembanyama has proven that he is a generational talent, especially after winning NBA Rookie of the Year. In order to support his rise, the Spurs went to work in the offseason, capped off by the acquisition of 12-time NBA All-Star Chris Paul. But while CP3 is an elite guard, he’s also already 39 years old. As a result, the team needs to look for another star to pair with their seven-foot phenom. With De’Aaron Fox rumored to be requesting a trade, according to a report by Bleacher Report, the Spurs should give the Sacramento Kings a call.
Fox is one of the best-rising stars in the NBA. He also proved to be capable of running a team’s offense. The quick-cat guard is averaging 26.5 points, But more importantly, with the way he plays, Fox looks like an ideal fit to pair with the French sensation. The addition of Fox should ultimately elevate San Antonio into a legitimate threat in the Western Conference. Furthermore, it’s arguably the best move the team can make to supplant Wembanyama’s rise to superstardom.
The biggest catch to acquiring Fox will be possibly giving up one of the Spurs’ main guns in Devin Vassell. Vassell has established himself as the team’s main offensive weapons. However, it’s hard to see his production being enough to be a stable secondary option that Wembanyama needs to be in the championship conversation. Moreover, his need for improvement on the defensive end doesn’t help either. In order to further entice the Kings, San Antonio might also need to throw in another youngster in Malaki Branham and Sandro Mamukelashvili.
Fox is the face of the Kings franchise, so it’s only natural that Sacramento will demand a hefty price for their star. But for the Spurs, it should be a win-now move to trade for the Sacramento star in order to maximize Wembanyama’s window.
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