<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nba-rumors-trae-youngs-chilly-trade-market-hit-with-lakers-spurs-updates');   ga('set', 'title', 'NBA rumors: Trae Young’s ‘chilly’ trade market hit with Lakers, Spurs updates');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/7578587430.jpeg"></figure><h1>NBA rumors: Trae Young’s ‘chilly’ trade market hit with Lakers, Spurs updates</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-07-05T10:21:16-07:00">July 5th, 10:21am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-07-05T10:21:16-07:00">July 5th, 10:21am</time><address><a>Zachary Weinberger</a>Zachary Weinberger joined ClutchPoints in October 2023 as a Miami Heat reporter as well as an Associate Editor. He graduated from Florida Atlantic University in 2022 after covering the school's athletic programs since his freshman year at the FAU University Press, where he was a Sports Editor and Editor-in-Chief. He then covered FAU Sports for The Palm Beach Post.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p><a href="https://clutchpoints.com/hawks-news-trae-young-sparks-wild-trade-buzz-with-just-1-emoji">Atlanta Hawks star Trae Young has</a> been in trade rumors since last season where the the team was in the process of splitting the tandem between him and Dejounte Murray. Even with Murray traded to the New Orleans Pelicans, there is still speculation of Young being moved for a rebuild, but his market is in question in terms of a recent report by Zach Lowe of ESPN.</p><p>The two teams that have always been rumored to trade for Young, and even rumored to be his preferred options, have been the San Antonio Spurs and the Los Angeles Lakers, but even they have reportedly shown little interest. Lowe would even go as far as to say that Young’s trade market <a href="https://www.espn.com/nba/insider/story/_/id/40496545/clippers-nuggets-convenient-fear-second-apron-first-week-nba-free-agency" rel="noopener">“is as chilly as it has ever been.”</a></p><p>“The Lakers, too, have shown little recent interest in Young, sources said,” Lowe wrote. “That could change if the price drops to L.A.’s liking. But the market for Young is as chilly as it has ever been.”</p><h2><b>How the Hawks and Spurs view a trade involving Trae Young</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Trae-Young-taking-the-ball-up-the-court-during-a-Hawks-game-on-April-10-2024.jpeg"><figcaption>Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption></figure><p><a href="https://clutchpoints.com/lakers-perfect-trae-young-trade-offer-hawks">The Hawks could potentially</a> be heading towards a rebuild with a younger lineup, even more youthful than Young who is still only 25 years old. Lowe would talk about Atlanta’s viewpoint and how they had the No. 1 overall pick in the last draft where they took Zaccharie Risacher and believe Jalen Johnson, who is 22 years old, to be “untouchable.”</p><p>“The Hawks are resetting their roster and going somewhat younger behind No. 1 pick Zaccharie Risacher,” Lowe wrote. “Trae Young seems perhaps slightly out of place with that direction, but he’s only 25. Jalen Johnson, the team’s one true untouchable, is 22 — between Young and the coming youth movement.”</p><p>While the popular thought was to pair a point guard like Young with a huge talent like Spurs star Victor Wembanyama, the team “has not shown much interest” in trading their bevy of first round picks that they control through 2027. San Antonio could be on the come up and build around their 20 year old player by utilizing the draft than trading assets for an established player like Young.</p><p>“Young is potent enough to keep the Hawks around .500, and they don’t have much incentive to tank so long as the Spurs control their first-round picks through 2027 thanks to the original Murray trade,” Lowe wrote. “The smoothest way to reclaim those picks is trading Young to the Spurs, but San Antonio has not shown much recent interest in that, sources said. The Spurs understand the potential value of those picks, and they (for now) appear to favor holding them hostage over swapping them back to Atlanta.”</p><h2><b>Other teams coming for Trae Young due to trade value decreasing?</b></h2><p>However, with the possible notion around the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba-rumors-why-trae-young-trade-lakers-still-unlikely">league that Young’s trade</a> value could be diminished, it could sprout some other teams who do not have a huge amount of assets to get the Hawks guard at a lower price. One team that comes to mind is the Miami Heat as they don’t have as much draft picks as San Antonio, but have young, up and coming stars to give like a Jaime Jaquez Jr. and Nikola Jovic.</p><p>The problem there is that they would also have to trade a sizable contract since they are near the dreaded second apron and can only give more than they receive in terms of money. Young is in the midst of a five-year, $215 million deal where he will cost around $43 million this upcoming season.</p><p>Still, the Lakers could use a player like Young who is a dynamic scorer, can facilitate the ball, and obviously work well off of players like LeBron James and Anthony Davis. However, they are also in financial troubles like the Heat so they might not believe the hassle is worth it.</p><h2>Trae Young likely staying with the Hawks</h2><p><a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba-rumors-lakers-spurs-among-trae-youngs-preferred-trade-destinations">Last season with the Hawks</a>, Young averaged 25.7 points, 10.8 assists, and 2.8 rebounds while shooting 43 percent from the field 37.3 percent from beyond the arch. He has spent six seasons with Atlanta where he was drafted with the fifth overall pick by the Dallas Mavericks in the famous trade swap for Luka Doncic.</p><p>There has been success with the Hawks where Young led them to the Eastern Conference Finals in 2021 where they lost to the Milwaukee Bucks. Since then, it has been first round exits in the playoffs and even last season where they lost the first play-in tournament game against the Chicago Bulls.</p><p>At the very moment, it seems very likely that <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/hawks-news-zaccharie-risacher-gives-honest-review-potential-atlanta-impact">Young stays with the Hawks</a> unless another team jumps out of nowhere and gets him since he could be at a lower deal. However, depending on Atlanta’s mindset, Young can help out the younger players like Risacher and Johnson in fortifying a foundation for the future as they look to improve after finishing with a 36-46 record which put them at the tenth seed.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

NBA rumors: Trae Young’s ‘chilly’ trade market hit with Lakers, Spurs updates

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nba-rumors-warriors-spurs-among-teams-with-substantial-lauri-markkanen-trade-offers-on-table');   ga('set', 'title', 'NBA rumors: Warriors, Spurs among teams with ‘substantial’ Lauri Markkanen trade offers on table');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Jazz-Warriors-Spurs-Lauri-Markkanen.jpg"></figure><h1>NBA rumors: Warriors, Spurs among teams with ‘substantial’ Lauri Markkanen trade offers on table</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-07-04T07:57:17-07:00">July 4th, 7:57am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-07-04T08:19:13-07:00">July 4th, 8:19am</time><address><a>Sam DiGiovanni</a>Sam DiGiovanni started at ClutchPoints as an associate editor in 2021 and became the site's Philadelphia 76ers beat reporter ahead of the 2022-23 season. He graduated from Marist College in May of 2022 and has written for TheKnicksWall.com and CenterFieldMarist.com in the past.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The most appealing trade candidate in the NBA is currently Utah Jazz forward Lauri Markkanen. With so many big names gone in the free agency pool, the 27-year-old sharpshooter is perhaps the best potentially available player on either the trade market or in free agency.</p><p>The Jazz are in a rebuild, adding several young players to their roster again as Markkanen continues to age into his prime years. To make sure he isn’t lost to another team for nothing next summer, Utah will either have to extend Markkanen’s contract, which expires after this season, or trade him. Given his immense value (he’s making just over $18 million next season) and age, the latter option appears to make more sense, especially with so many suitors lining up.</p><p>According to Tony Jones of The Athletic, the Golden State Warriors, San Antonio Spurs and Sacramento Kings have “substantial” offers for Markkanen. Each of those teams has been <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba-rumors-lauri-markkanen-trade-buzz-grows-with-warriors-spurs-links">linked to a pursuit</a> of the Finnish star previously, but Jones points them out as the teams making the biggest efforts.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">According to <a href="https://twitter.com/Tjonesonthenba?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Tjonesonthenba</a> the Kings the Warriors and the Spurs all have “substantial offers on the table” for Lauri Markkanen. <a href="https://twitter.com/Sactown1140?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Sactown1140</a></p><p>— Kevin Whitey Gleason (@whiteygleason) <a href="https://twitter.com/whiteygleason/status/1808654441551384585?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 4, 2024</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>Jones wrote <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5610621/2024/07/02/lauri-markkanen-jazz-trade-prospect-nba/" rel="noopener">that Markkanen “is a star.</a> The NBA knows this. That’s why half the league is standing in line hoping the Jazz decide to trade him. Out of that number, several reports have teams such as the Golden State Warriors, San Antonio Spurs and Sacramento Kings ramping up interest and preparing offers for the Jazz to mull. The Jazz know this as well, which is why they are hesitant to trade Markkanen, even amid a rebuild that still appears to be in its infancy.”</p><h2><b>Lauri Markkanen receiving massive trade interest</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Lauri-Markkanen-dunks-the-ball.jpg"><figcaption>© Rob Gray-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption></figure><p>After years of being merely a solid player, Markkanen has become a bona fide star in his two seasons with the Jazz, averaging 24.5 points, 8.4 rebounds and 1.9 assists per game while shooting 49.0 percent from the field and 39.5 percent from deep. As a top option, he drew way more fouls and scored more efficiently than ever before, posting true shooting percentages above 63 percent for the first time in his career.</p><p>The Jazz may be approaching decision time with Markkanen soon, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they have to trade him. They can keep him around as a top option in case a star player elsewhere asks out and Utah can trade for him. It would also be nice to support the rookies and second-year players with a floor spacer who can carry the workload on offense. However, if another team goes over the top with a trade offer, it may be best to just add more assets for a rebuild that is still barely getting off the ground.</p><p>Markkanen would be a massive coup for the Warriors, who just lost Klay Thompson to the Dallas Mavericks and have struggled for years to put a reliable second option behind Stephen Curry. Golden State has some interesting young players to dangle in Jonathan Kuminga, Moses Moodey and Brandin Podziemski, though Kuminga might not be on the table. Trying to offload Andrew Wiggins in a trade could also be an option.</p><p>The Spurs aren’t super eager to put a great team around Victor Wembanyama just yet — they may want to stay in the lottery one more time for the chance to land another great prospect like Cooper Flagg. But once San Antonio is ready to start winning again, the front office has picks and young players to offer in exchange for the Jazz star.</p><p>The Kings adding Markkanen alongside De’Aaron Fox and Domantas Sabonis would give them <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba-rumors-timberwolves-kings-emerge-as-potential-lauri-markkanen-suitors">another incredible shooter</a> to utilize in their powerful offense. If they’re somehow able to keep Keegan Murray, it would give them a great core four to build around. Harrison Barnes and Kevin Huerter have been dangled in trades for a while and could be options here, in addition to draft capital.</p><p>Markkanen is far from the only solid player available for trade. The Brooklyn Nets are likely to trade their own sharpshooter, Cam Johnson, plus 3-and-D wing Dorian Finney-Smith as they begin rebuilding. The Washington Wizards could look to dangle Kyle Kuzma, Jordan Poole and Corey Kispert. The Chicago Bulls haven’t had much luck finding a suitor for Zach LaVine, but he has a star pedigree that could make him an intriguing buy-low option.</p><p>The Jazz don’t exactly need any more additional draft picks, even if it’s always beneficial to add as many as possible. They have all of their own picks going forward plus extra unprotected first-rounders and swap rights from the Cleveland Cavaliers and Minnesota Timberwolves. Even though they’re without some of their second-rounders, they have plenty of draft capital to swing more trades and add more young talent.</p><p>Whatever happens (or doesn’t happen) with Lauri Markkanen will have massive ramifications on the rest of the NBA landscape.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

NBA rumors: Warriors, Spurs among teams with ‘substantial’ Lauri Markkanen trade offers on table

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nba-rumors-demar-derozan-reuniting-with-spurs-a-possibility');   ga('set', 'title', 'NBA rumors: DeMar DeRozan reuniting with Spurs a ‘possibility’');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/DeMar-DeRozan-reuniting-with-Spurs-a-possibility.jpg"></figure><h1>NBA rumors: DeMar DeRozan reuniting with Spurs a ‘possibility’</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-07-04T06:58:27-07:00">July 4th, 6:58am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-07-04T06:58:27-07:00">July 4th, 6:58am</time><address><a>Ryan Bologna</a>Ryan Bologna is an author at ClutchPoints. He studied journalism and communication at UConn.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>It is known that DeMar DeRozan has interest in joining the Miami Heat via sign-and-trade with the Chicago Bulls, but with the financial constraints Miami has, there are <a href="https://x.com/flasportsbuzz/status/1808689071746920466" rel="noopener">some other teams in play</a>, like the San Antonio Spurs and Sacramento Kings.</p><p>“Kings have talked to Bulls about DeRozan sign and trade, per source,” Barry Jackson said on X. “Spurs also now another possibility. Despite DeRozan interest in Miami, Heat not in position to give him what he’s seeking at this time… Heat will hope opportunity on some player it wants arises this summer.”</p><p>Much like last summer with Damian Lillard, it seems the Heat have mutual interest with DeMar DeRozan. It just remains to be seen whether or not they will be able to acquire him. Miami is hoping to add an impact player to help the team climb the Eastern Conference standings next season. After a trip to the NBA Finals in 2023, the Heat lost in the first round to the eventual champion Boston Celtics in 2024.</p><p>While it makes sense that the Kings checked in, <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/spurs-news-crazy-chris-paul-stat-will-fire-up-fans">the Spurs would</a> be an interesting fit for DeRozan, as he would be returning to the place he was dealt to from the Toronto Raptors in the trade for Kawhi Leonard. DeRozan would be an experienced player for Victor Wembanyama and 2024 first-round pick Stephon Castle to lean on. He would also join Chris Paul, who joined the Spurs hoping to help them emerge as a playoff contender for the first time with Victor Wembanyama on the squad.</p><h2><b>What would DeMar DeRozan bring to the Spurs?</b></h2><p>DeRozan is entering the later stages of his career, as he will be 35 this upcoming season. Still, he is an effective player and would be an interesting fit with Wembanyama. In 79 games last season, DeRozan <a href="https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/d/derozde01.html" rel="noopener">averaged 24 points</a> with 5.3 assists and 4.3 rebounds per game, according to Basketball Reference. He shot 48 percent from the field, 33.3 percent from three and 50.9 percent from two.</p><p>Of course, DeRozan is known for his midrange game. Hid two point shooting percentage indicates that he can still bring that to a team. <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/spurs-trade-proposal-to-jazz-teams-up-lauri-markkanen-victor-wembanyama">The Spurs would</a> be a tough guard with DeRozan a threat in the midrange and Wembanyama a threat on the inside. The two would undoubtedly be able to play off of each other.</p><p>DeRozan would bring another guard to the Spurs, and while they will undoubtedly want to give Stephon Castle significant playing time, it would not put the pressure on him to start right away in his NBA career. Castle views himself as a point guard, and he could come off of the bench for Chris Paul and potentially play with DeRozan for some minutes.</p><p>That would be a great learning experience for Castle in his first year, learning behind Paul and playing with a veteran like DeRozan.</p><p>It will be interesting to see if the noise with the Spurs and DeRozan picks up. He played in San Antonio from 2018-2021 before signing with the Bulls ahead of the 2021-22 season. He would have the role of helping the young team develop if does end up there.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

NBA rumors: DeMar DeRozan reuniting with Spurs a ‘possibility’

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nba-rumors-lauri-markkanen-trade-buzz-grows-with-warriors-spurs-links');   ga('set', 'title', 'NBA rumors: Lauri Markkanen trade buzz grows with Warriors, Spurs links');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Lauri-Markkanen-trade-buzz-grows-with-Warriors-Spurs-links.jpg"></figure><h1>NBA rumors: Lauri Markkanen trade buzz grows with Warriors, Spurs links</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-07-01T07:26:00-07:00">July 1st, 7:26am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-07-01T07:26:00-07:00">July 1st, 7:26am</time><address><a>Rexwell Villas</a>Rexwell Villas is an experienced sports writer covering a variety of sports, including the NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, and college football. He's a Communications Arts graduate from the University of Santo Tomas in the Philippines, and he claims to have JR Smith's conscience with his shot selection. He has won a basketball, a baseball, and a football championship in fantasy all within a year.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>Utah Jazz power forward Lauri Markkanen <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/best-lauri-markkanen-trade-destinations-if-jazz-make-him-available">continues to generate trade buzz</a> in the offseason. The floor-stretching big man can be perfect on any team mainly because of his size and ability to punish opponents from the perimeter. The Golden State Warriors are said to <a href="https://www.espn.com/espnradio/newyork/podcast/archive/_/id/3634017">have their attention</a> on Markkanen as well as the San Antonio Spurs, according to Brian Windhorst of ESPN</p><p>“<a href="https://basketball.realgm.com/wiretap/276446/Rivals-Expect-Jazz-To-Trade-Lauri-Markkanen-With-Warriors-Spurs-Among-Interested-Teams" rel="noopener">There’s some other teams</a> that are looking at Markkanen,” Windhorst said on Hoop Collective Podcast (h/t Real GM). “I think San Antonio is one of them.”</p><p>Markkanen is still in the fold of the Jazz, who may or may not end up signing the 27-year-old Finnish to an extension. If an extension doesn’t materialize anytime soon, the belief that Utah would send him somewhere else via a trade would very much likely grow even louder. Markkanen only has a year left on his current deal that will pocket him $18.044 million in the 2024-25 NBA season before he becomes a free agent in 2025. Until he puts ink on paper for an extension with the Jazz, he will keep on hearing his name regularly mentioned in trade speculations, especially this offseason.</p><p>“The teams negotiating with the Jazz do think there’s a good chance they’re going to move him,” Windhorst elaborated. “Sometimes, Danny Ainge will act like he’s going to do a trade then there’s no trade. Maybe that will happen again here. But the teams negotiating think so.”</p><p>The Warriors are on the verge of losing Klay Thompson and Markkanen can be someone who could compensate Golden State for such a loss. Markkanen wouldn’t be able to emotionally relieve Dubs fans over the seemingly looming Thompson departure, but his shooting, most especially, would help Golden State keep its offense potent which will continue to revolve around two-time league Most Valuable Player Stephen Curry.</p><p>In two seasons with the Jazz, Markkanen, who also got his first All-Star nod during his first season in Salt Lake City (2022-23), averaged 24.5 points on 49.0 percent shooting from the floor, 8.4 rebounds, 1.9 assists, and 0,8 steals per game, while also making 29.5 percent of his attempts from behind the arc.</p><h2><b>A Lauri Markkanen-Victor Wembanyama Spurs tandem sounds dangerous</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/LM-in-action-for-the-Spurs.jpg"><figcaption>Rob Gray-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption></figure><p>The Spurs are an intriguing potential landing spot as well for Markkanen. For one, that scenario would pair him up in the frontcourt with Victor Wembanyama, who is an incredible talent, to say the least. Markkanen can open up a lot of angles for Wembanyama to attack because of his shooting and the Spurs can also run plenty of offensive schemes focused on using the pair’s strengths and abilities as versatile big men.</p><p>It has been a while since the Spurs last made the playoffs but they should be a much more fearsome squad should they pull off a trade that lands them Lauri Markkanen.</p><p>However, the Spurs and any other team with intentions of negotiating with the Jazz for a Markkanen trade must be wary of the man on the other side of the table AKA Jazz executive Danny Ainge, who knows a thing or two about ending up on the winning side of a swap. Ainge and the Jazz will not just cough up Markkanen for a mediocre package, so a team in pursuit of the sweet-shooting former Arizona Wildcats star has to prepare a pretty compelling trade package.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

NBA rumors: Lauri Markkanen trade buzz grows with Warriors, Spurs links

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nba-rumors-lakers-spurs-among-trae-youngs-preferred-trade-destinations');   ga('set', 'title', 'NBA rumors: Lakers, Spurs among Trae Young’s preferred trade destinations');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Lakers-Spurs-among-Trae-Youngs-preferred-trade-destinations.jpg"></figure><h1>NBA rumors: Lakers, Spurs among Trae Young’s preferred trade destinations</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-06-28T10:14:07-07:00">June 28th, 10:14am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-06-28T12:48:38-07:00">June 28th, 12:48pm</time><address><a>Joshua Valdez</a>Joshua Valdez started his journalism career as the Sports Editor for the Rutgers University newspaper before becoming an associate editor for ClutchPoints. He is a diehard Yankees, Jets, Knicks, Rutgers, and Tottenham Hotspur fan. When Joshua is not either watching a game or writing about one, you can find him in an art-house movie theater or working on a screenplay.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The Atlanta Hawks are starting their new era, but does that mean they’ll show the door to their old guard? <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/lakers-news-trae-youngs-1-emoji-post-jj-redick-hire-has-lakers-fans-thinking-trade">Star guard Trae Young</a> is still just 25, but the squad is rumored to be looking to build around the kids.</p><p>Young is eyeing the New Orleans Pelicans, Los Angeles Lakers, and San Antonio Spurs <a href="https://sports.yahoo.com/brandon-ingram-expected-to-become-available-for-trade-as-wing-market-comes-into-focus-150152771.html" rel="noopener">as potential destinations</a>, via Yahoo Sports’ Jake Fischer.</p><p>“The Hawks are certainly expected to now gauge trade possibilities for Murray, All-Star guard Trae Young, Clint Capela and the rest of their rostered players who aren’t named Jalen Johnson and Zaccharie Risacher, sources said,” Fischer explained. “Young does have the Pelicans in mind of preferred possible next teams, league sources told Yahoo Sports, in addition to the Spurs and Lakers, but Young’s fit has never made much sense for a New Orleans situation that currently features C.J. McCollum in its backcourt.”</p><p>With the Pelicans reportedly looking to deal Brandon Ingram, the two squads could feasibly work out a deal centering around him and Young. However, as Fischer pointed out, <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/3-reasons-pelicans-must-pursue-trae-young-before-other-options">Young teaming up</a> with McCollum and oft-injured Zion Williamson isn’t as exciting as a potential Spurs or Lakers move would be.</p><p>How likely is it that Young finds himself in the Lone Star State or Tinseltown this summer?</p><h2><b>The Hawks would be hard-pressed to get a good enough return from the Lakers</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Trae-Young-fakes-out-Pelicans.jpg"><figcaption>Stephen Lew-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption></figure><p>Young teaming up with LeBron James and Anthony Davis would give Los Angeles <a href="https://www.foxsports.com/stories/nba/trae-young-next-team-odds" rel="noopener">a realistic shot at a title</a>, via FOX Sports’ Colin Cowherd.</p><p>“Trae Young with LeBron James — I’m here for it,” Cowherd said. “I do think he would work here. It would be something [Anthony Davis] would like because Trae Young could space the floor. It would be harder to collapse. It’s very easy for teams to collapse on Anthony Davis because the Lakers don’t have anyone that can shoot the 3. Trae Young is an elite 3-ball, a true point guard and a playmaker. LeBron wouldn’t have to be the overwhelming playmaker every time down the floor. Trae Young can do that and LeBron can play off the ball and conserve some energy.”</p><p>Young would provide the type of backcourt punch that the Lakers wanted from Russell Westbrook when they traded for him in 2021. The difference is that Young is a far superior shooter, and could primarily operate on the perimeter while James and Davis attack the rim.</p><p>“He is exactly what the doctor ordered,” Cowherd continued. “This is exactly the guy that JJ Redick wants to work with. He would be good with Trae Young.”</p><p>However, Los Angeles might not have enough assets to fetch Young in a deal. The organization owns just one first-round pick over the next three years and doesn’t have any rising players with star potential. A combination of Austin Reaves, a bench player, and a boatload of future draft picks could be enough, but there are no guarantees.</p><p>Meanwhile, the Spurs have four first-rounders next year alone, along with two each year between 2025-27. That, along with a player or two, is more than enough to fetch Young and pair him with the league’s most exciting second-year star Victor Wembanyama.</p><p>Regardless, it’s looking more and more like Young’s days in Atlanta are numbered.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

NBA rumors: Lakers, Spurs among Trae Young’s preferred trade destinations

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nba-rumors-spurs-linked-trade-former-all-star-center');   ga('set', 'title', 'NBA rumors: Spurs linked to trade for former All-Star center');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Spurs-linked-to-trade-for-former-All-Star-center.jpg"></figure><h1>NBA rumors: Spurs linked to trade for former All-Star center</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-06-27T18:14:11-07:00">June 27th, 6:14pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-06-27T18:49:53-07:00">June 27th, 6:49pm</time><address><a>Brian Buyawe</a>Brian Buyawe is an NBA, NFL, NCAA Football, and NCAA Basketball writer for ClutchPoints. His advanced knowledge of basketball, football, and Formula One started at an early age, allowing him to provide in-depth analysis.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>There’s a lot happening in the NBA right now. From the rookie draft to the ongoing trades, the offseason is full of head-turning updates. Of course, with all the busy activity comes the rumors. Many speculate about potential trades and free-agent signings, and one of the teams being highly talked about is the San Antonio Spurs.</p><p>The Spurs are currently focused on one task: building around Victor Wembanyama. They <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/spurs-2024-nba-draft-grades-for-stephon-castle-timberwolves-trade">just drafted Stephon Castle</a> on Wednesday, adding another weapon beside their prized Frenchman. And by trading away Rob Dillingham, San Antonio acquired another future pick at their expense. Presently, it looks like the team’s next move might be pairing Wemby with a former All-Star center, namely, Brook Lopez.</p><p><a href="https://www.actionnetwork.com/nba/nba-free-agency-trade-rumors-outlook-30-teams" rel="noopener">An article by</a> Matt Moore of The Action Network brings up the rumor.</p><p>“The Bucks aren’t being secretive about their designs on reshaping the roster, with Doc Rivers believing the core that contended between 2021 and 2024 needs a shake-up,” Moore wrote. “Brook Lopez is most consistently the name brought up as involved in discussions, with San Antonio among the interested teams.”</p><h2><b>How ideal is a Brook Lopez trade?</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Brook-Lopez-scoring.jpg"><figcaption>© Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption></figure><p>Lopez has been a key starter for Milwaukee, averaging 12.5 points and 5.2 rebounds in the recently concluded season. Back during the Bucks’ 2022-23 campaign, the big man was named to the All-Defensive First Team. He was also part of the Milwaukee’s 2021 title victory.</p><p>While this all sounds nice, a potential Lopez trade is still somewhat baffling. After all, if the Spurs want role players that match Wembanyama’s age timeline, then acquiring a 36-year-old isn’t the most ideal decision.</p><p>One could argue that every young team needs a seasoned vet, and how Lopez could be just that for San Antonio. Still, what would it cost the Spurs to get the center? Lopez will definitely have quite the asking price, looking at how he continues to be productive for the Wisconsin-based squad. If the Spurs make a push for the big man, they’ll have to give up valuable assets.</p><p>All things considered, it remains to be seen how this could possibly play out smoothly.</p><h2><b>The Spurs continue to fortify Wembanyama’s supporting cast</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Former-Connecticut-guard-Stephon-Castle.jpg"><figcaption>Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption></figure><p>Going back to the topic of Wemby’s supporting cast, as mentioned earlier, Stephon Castle just bolstered the team’s backcourt. An NCAA Champion with UConn, Castle averaged 16.4 points, 6.9 rebounds and 4.3 assists with the Huskies. The guard will undoubtedly play a major role in the upcoming season, and many even predict that he’ll be inserted into the starting lineup immediately.</p><p>The Rob Dillingham trade might be questionable to some fans, but adding another future pick gives San Antonio more flexibility for shakeups in the coming years as <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/spurs-news-victor-wembanyama-message-amid-anniversary-2023-nba-draft">Wembanyama continues to grow</a> into his prime. The Spurs have a long-term vision, and Wednesday’s draft marked another step forward.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

NBA rumors: Spurs linked to trade for former All-Star center

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nba-rumors-spurs-increased-donovan-clingan-interest-raises-eyebrows');   ga('set', 'title', 'NBA rumors: Spurs’ ‘increased’ Donovan Clingan interest raises eyebrows');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Spurs-increased-Donovan-Clingan-interest-raises-eyebrows.jpg"></figure><h1>NBA rumors: Spurs’ ‘increased’ Donovan Clingan interest raises eyebrows</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-06-25T06:04:34-07:00">June 25th, 6:04am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-06-25T06:04:34-07:00">June 25th, 6:04am</time><address><a href="https://www.youtube.com/@LedesmaHector">Hector Ledesma</a>Hector Ledesma has been covering the Spurs in San Antonio since 2005, but he has been following them for even longer than that. An award-winning journalist born and raised in San Antonio, Hector has worked across all types of television and radio platforms. His work extends online and through social media (@HectorLedesmaTV) where he continues that work with ClutchPoints.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>Legitimate interest or a head fake? With the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/spurs-players-must-avoid-2024-nba-draft">NBA Draft on the doorstep</a>, the San Antonio Spurs have an increasing interest in getting to know more about Donovan Clingan according to a report headlined by ESPN’s Jonathan’s Givony and Jeremy Woo.</p><p>For all the players linked to the Black and Silver as they look to build around <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/why-victor-wembanyama-deserved-nba-all-defensive-first-team-honors-despite-spurs-poor-season">generational talent Victor Wembanyama</a> with the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/spurs-players-must-avoid-2024-nba-draft">fourth and eighth picks this week</a>, the former Connecticut big man has not been one of them. A look here at why there’s more to the Spurs “interest” in Clingan.</p><h2>What the Spurs are looking for in the draft</h2><p>It’s no surprise given their 22-60 record last season, but San Antonio has several needs. Many say a point guard is a priority. Others are adamant the team needs a wing who can score and work with Wemby off pick-and-roll sets. Some insist a long, athletic big man alongside will serve Wemby well. Because of that, just about every top prospect in the draft has been linked to the Spurs: <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/spurs-2024-nba-mock-draft-roundup-after-combine">Nikola Topic, Stephon Castle</a>, Zaccharie Risacher, Rob Dillingham, Reed Sheppard, Matas Buzelis, Devin Carter, Cody Williams, Dalton Knecht, and on and on.</p><p>Sheppard, Dillingham, Buzelis, Knecht, and others have reportedly been in for workouts. At any given point over the last month-plus, many of these players have projected in and out of San Antonio’s range, like, for example, Risacher, who’s now the analysts’ take at number one to the Atlanta Hawks.</p><p>Alex Sarr is one of the few top prospects who hasn’t been linked to the Spurs. Neither has Clingan. There are reasons.</p><h2>Donovan Clingan’s value to the Spurs</h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Connecticut-Huskies-center-Donovan-Clingan-32-during-the-Mens-NCAA-national-championship-game.jpg"><figcaption>Joe Rondone/The Republic / USA TODAY NETWORK</figcaption></figure><p>Sarr is perhaps the only prospect who hasn’t been projected lower than the top two picks. Slotted by mock drafts to go first for a couple of weeks, those same predictions now proclaim he won’t slip past the Washington Wizards at the two spot. Because of that, there’s been no connection to the Spurs, whose reported interest in the top pick has come because of Risacher.</p><p>Clingan might be the only other prospect that hadn’t been linked to the Spurs, until now. Like Sarr, there’s a belief that Clingan could go first. Unlike Sarr, Clingan’s game is the reason he hasn’t been thought to be on the Spurs’ radar nor has any previous information leaked regarding Spurs’ interest.</p><p>Why now then? Does Gregg Popovich have visions of replicating a <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/reasons-david-robinson-not-tim-duncan-better-victor-wembanyama-rookie-comparison-spurs">Tim Duncan, David Robinson</a> “Twin Towers” pairing with the 7-foot-5 Wembanyama and the 7-foot-3 back-to-back NCAA national champion as a UConn Husky?</p><p>More likely, with Risacher potentially taken first, Sarr at two, and Reed or another wing player going third, Clingan could fall to San Antonio at four according to the latest buzz. Should that happen, GM Brian Wright and company would like the <a href="https://www.espn.com/nba/insider/story/_/id/40403204/2024-nba-mock-draft-latest-first-second-round-predictions-all-58-picks" rel="noopener">option of a potential trade partner</a> who’d be interested in the Bristol, Connecticut native. They’ve gone so far as to interview him in recent days per ESPN.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">The Spurs are showing interest in pairing Donovan Clingan with Victor Wembanyama, per <a href="https://twitter.com/DraftExpress?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@DraftExpress</a> </p><p>“San Antonio has expressed increasing interest in Clingan as of late, even going as far as interviewing him in recent days to get to know him better. Some think this might be a… <a href="https://t.co/PA9p3bFSPu">pic.twitter.com/PA9p3bFSPu</a></p><p>— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) <a href="https://twitter.com/TheDunkCentral/status/1805224250845827164?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 24, 2024</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>Like with everything else the Spurs are approaching the 2024 NBA Draft with diligence. That doesn’t mean they’re above playing a couple of games in the process.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

NBA rumors: Spurs’ ‘increased’ Donovan Clingan interest raises eyebrows

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nba-rumors-why-spurs-interested-drafting-another-french-star');   ga('set', 'title', 'NBA rumors: Why Spurs are interested in drafting another French star');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Why-Spurs-are-interested-in-drafting-another-French-star.jpg"></figure><h1>NBA rumors: Why Spurs are interested in drafting another French star</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-06-21T01:46:59-07:00">June 21st, 1:46am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-06-21T01:46:59-07:00">June 21st, 1:46am</time><address><a>Brian Buyawe</a>Brian Buyawe is an NBA, NFL, NCAA Football, and NCAA Basketball writer for ClutchPoints. His advanced knowledge of basketball, football, and Formula One started at an early age, allowing him to provide in-depth analysis.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The 2024 NBA Draft commences next week, and one team near the top of the order is the San Antonio Spurs. Coming off a quiet season, the Spurs hold the fourth overall pick, and many analysts predict that they’ll be selecting UConn guard Stephon Castle. However, Sam Vecenie of The Athletic thinks that San Antonio <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5571609/2024/06/20/nba-mock-draft-hawks-donovan-clingan-bronny-james/" rel="noopener">could be interested</a> in French prospect Zaccharie Risacher — the potential top pick of this year’s draft. A recent article by Vecenie indicates that Risacher’s age — which is nearly identical to Victor Wembanyama’s — and productivity with a professional team are possible reasons why the Spurs have taken a liking to him</p><p>“Risacher remains firmly in the mix to go No. 1 overall, and his name remains connected with Atlanta,” Vecenie wrote. “However, if he is not the No. 1 pick, it’s plausible he drops into the No. 4 or 5 range if the Rockets and Wizards like Sheppard and Sarr. League sources believe the Spurs are interested in Risacher as a player who fits Victor Wembanyama’s age timeline, but was also productive in a real professional environment this season for France’s JL Bourg.”</p><h2><b>What Zaccharie Risacher brings to the table</b></h2><p>Considering how both Risacher and Wembanyama hail from the same country, chemistry between the two won’t be hard to come by. And as stated, Risacher’s age perfectly complements his fellow Frenchman’s; the forward just turned 19 years old last month, and putting him alongside Wemby for the long run is arguably a step forward in the rebuilding process.</p><p><a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba-rumors-the-loose-ends-potential-no-1-pick-2024-nba-draft-must-tie-up-in-france">Risacher can develop</a> into a formidable two-way wing, looking at his stature. Standing at 6-foot-8 with a long wingspan, the prospect’s physical attributes help a lot in scoring and defense. Risacher uses his length to get good looks and finish over defenders. On the other side of the ball, that same length, coupled with his athleticism, allows the forward to be a versatile perimeter defender.</p><p>Risacher is confident with his shot as well. The forward doesn’t hesistate to fire away from downtown when open. While there are concerns surrounding his 1-on-1 shot creation, that’s something that NBA trainers can polish over time.</p><p>Last year, he played 32 outings with JL Bourg in the Betclic Elite, averaging 10.1 points per game. He also suited up for the same team in the BKT EuroCup, tallying 13.1 points on a 56.6 field-goal percentage in 17 games.</p><h2><b>Other potential prospects for the Spurs</b></h2><p>Nevertheless, for Zaccharie Risacher to be <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba-rumors-spurs-victor-wembanyama-drawing-attention-free-agent-veteran-guard">embedded alongside Wembanyama</a> and Devin Vassell, he’ll have to get a pass from the first three teams, which is uncertain at present. Still, it wouldn’t be the end of the world for San Antonio. If the Spurs end up with Stephon Castle, they’ll still have a high-quality guard who’s fresh off a National Championship with the Huskies. Castle averaged 11.1 points and 4.7 rebounds in 34 games with UConn last year.</p><p>And not to mention, the Spurs also have the eighth overall pick of the draft. Many predict a Devin Carter selection, considering how the guard reportedly impressed the team during his pre-draft workout in San Antonio. Named the 2024 Big East Player of the Year, Carter tallied 19.7 points, 8.7 boards and 3.6 assists in his most recent campaign with Providence.</p><p>All in all, the Spurs are expected to have a fruitful draft with two top-ten picks at their disposal.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

NBA rumors: Why Spurs are interested in drafting another French star

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nba-rumors-hawks-draft-trade-possibility-with-spurs-gains-buzz');   ga('set', 'title', 'NBA rumors: Hawks draft trade possibility with Spurs gains buzz');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Hawks-draft-trade-possibility-with-Sp1urs-gains-buzz-1.jpg"></figure><h1>NBA rumors: Hawks draft trade possibility with Spurs gains buzz</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-06-19T12:40:18-07:00">June 19th, 12:40pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-06-19T12:57:01-07:00">June 19th, 12:57pm</time><address><a>Joshua Valdez</a>Joshua Valdez started his journalism career as the Sports Editor for the Rutgers University newspaper before becoming an associate editor for ClutchPoints. He is a diehard Yankees, Jets, Knicks, Rutgers, and Tottenham Hotspur fan. When Joshua is not either watching a game or writing about one, you can find him in an art-house movie theater or working on a screenplay.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The Atlanta Hawks hold the No. 1 pick in this summer’s NBA Draft and thus have the most leverage in any possible draft-day trade scenario. With the draft soon approaching, rumors have been flying as the basketball world continues to <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/hawks-news-landry-fields-breaks-silence-no-1-draft-pick-plans">speculate Atlanta’s next moves</a>.</p><p>While it’s not confirmed, the Hawks are reportedly <a href="https://www.espn.com/nba/insider/story/_/page/NBADraft24-40343667/2024-nba-mock-draft-all-58-picks-trade-talks-heat-30-teams" rel="noopener">taking a long look</a> at French prospect Zaccharie Risacher with the top pick, via ESPN’s Jonathan Givony.</p><p>“While it appears the Hawks are far from making final decisions, many teams say their intel indicates Risacher remains the favorite at No. 1, partially because of the dual-track flexibility he offers of either remaining competitive next season or tapping into his upside as the type of big, versatile wing that is difficult to acquire outside the draft,” Givony wrote. “The Hawks will bring Risacher in for a workout Wednesday, his first with the team thus far, which should help add clarity regarding his standing.”</p><p>UConn’s Donovan Clingan is another option, as he reportedly impressed the team during his workout. The two-time NCAA champion averaged 13 points per game on a ninth-ranked 63.9% shooting clip last season, to go with 7.4 boards and 1.5 assists.</p><p>League sources told ClutchPoints’ Brett Siegel that Atlanta is seriously considering Clingan as well, assuming it doesn’t trade down. Meanwhile, fellow French international Alex Sarr is unlikely to be taken there. Siegel had previously mocked him to <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/2024-nba-mock-draft-3-0-donovan-clingan-to-rockets-amid-trade-rumors">the Hawks first overall</a>, but that was before this new intel.</p><p>However, none of this answers the franchise’s most burning question: what will it do with star guard Trae Young?</p><h2><b>A Trae Young trade doesn’t appear likely for the Hawks right now</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Hawks-Trae-Young.jpg"><figcaption>© David Banks-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption></figure><p>With Atlanta failing to reach the Conference Semifinals since its deep run in 2020-21, many have speculated whether it’d deal Young to usher in a rebuild. However, that doesn’t appear to be the type of trade the team’s looking into.</p><p>“The status of Atlanta’s Trae Young is the big question hovering over the franchise,” Givony continued. “One option that has been widely discussed among teams is the possibility of the Hawks reacquiring their unprotected 2025 first-round pick from San Antonio (perhaps in a swap for the No. 4 pick), which would give the team far more flexibility for rebuilding. That would currently be difficult to fathom, with their next three draft picks (2025, 2026 swap rights and 2027) owned by the Spurs.”</p><p>There are conflicting reports, as Hawks general manager Landry Fields has said he intends on <a href="https://www.nbcsports.com/nba/news/hawks-gm-makes-it-clear-he-intends-to-keep-no-1-pick" rel="noopener">keeping the first pick</a>, via NBC Sports. However, that could be a smokescreen.</p><p>“The Hawks worked out Reed Sheppard last week and Clingan before that, two attractive options at No. 4 should they elect to slide back,” Givony said. “Atlanta also brought in Matas Buzelis, Cody Williams and Ron Holland for workouts.”</p><p>While it seems most likely that Atlanta selects Clingan or Risacher first overall, don’t be surprised if the squad works out a deal with the Spurs to replenish its draft capital. This could be a rare opportunity for the Hawks to get one of their picks back from the Dejounte Murray trade, while still getting to keep him.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

NBA rumors: Hawks draft trade possibility with Spurs gains buzz

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nba-rumors-spurs-linked-to-darius-garland-trade-pursuit');   ga('set', 'title', 'NBA rumors: Spurs linked to Darius Garland trade pursuit');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/NBA-rumors-Spurs-linked-to-Darius-Garland-trade-pursuit.jpg"></figure><h1>NBA rumors: Spurs linked to Darius Garland trade pursuit</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-06-10T22:39:42-07:00">June 10th, 10:39pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-06-10T22:42:00-07:00">June 10th, 10:42pm</time><address><a href="https://www.youtube.com/@LedesmaHector">Hector Ledesma</a>Hector Ledesma has been covering the Spurs in San Antonio since 2005, but he has been following them for even longer than that. An award-winning journalist born and raised in San Antonio, Hector has worked across all types of television and radio platforms. His work extends online and through social media (@HectorLedesmaTV) where he continues that work with ClutchPoints.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>For all the names Victor Wembanyama and the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba-rumors-spurs-victor-wembanyama-drawing-attention-free-agent-veteran-guard">San Antonio Spurs have been linked</a> to this offseason–and there haven’t been that many–Darius Garland may be the only potential trade that has seemingly popped up at different points along the way thus far. This time, any possible <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/2024-nba-mock-draft-3-0-donovan-clingan-to-rockets-amid-trade-rumors">deal centers on the NBA Draft</a>.</p><p>“The Spurs would seriously consider pursuing Darius Garland if the Cleveland Cavaliers made him available in trade talks leading up to the draft,” ClutchPoints reporter Bret Siegel reported.</p><p>It’s the latest indication that the Spurs have an interest in the Vanderbilt product who just completed his fifth year in the NBA.</p><h2><b>How a Darius Garland-Spurs trade could work</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Cleveland-Cavaliers-guard-Darius-Garland-10-passes-the-ball-around-San-Antonio-Spurs-forward-Victor-Wembanyama-1.jpg"><figcaption>Scott Wachter-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption></figure><p>Garland’s agent, Rich Paul, said he would speak with Cleveland about trading his client if Cavaliers superstar Donovan Mitchell signs an extension this offseason, that’s according to NBA insiders Shams Charania, Joe Vardon and Jason Lloyd of The Athletic. Early indication is that the Cavs are looking to sign their leading scorer to a new deal.</p><p>A 2022 All-Star, Garland is coming off a year in which he averaged 18 points per game over 57 contests. It followed back to back seasons that both saw him score north of 21 points. Those point totals have been eclipsed with Mitchell on board over the last two years and while the team’s President Kolby Altman has indicated the Cavaliers would like to keep both, Rich Paul’s reported comment would suggest that might not happen. Enter the Spurs.</p><p>With two picks in the Top 10 of this month’s draft, multiple selections through the rest of the decade and with young talent on the roster now, San Antonio can put together an intriguing offer for a Cleveland squad that could pick up a piece or two or three to team with Mitchell, Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley. It’s a possibility that first entered the NBA rumor atmosphere earlier in the offseason in the never-ending chatter of how the Spurs will build around Wemby.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">The Spurs have been listed as the favorite to land Darius Garland from the Cavs in the event of an offseason trade.<a href="https://t.co/ImE4w55j1H">https://t.co/ImE4w55j1H</a></p><p>— Spurs Nation (@SpursNationCP) <a href="https://twitter.com/SpursNationCP/status/1791252569161093329?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 16, 2024</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><h2>How Darius Garland could fit the Spurs</h2><p>Extended following his All-Star season, Garland has four years left on his contract. He’s set to make $36.7 million in 2024-2025 with the deal increasing by just shy of three million per season for the life of the contract. It’s a good thing the 6-foot-1 point guard is still only 24 years old.</p><p>The Cavs second leading scorer averaged 6.5 assists and 2.7 rebounds in addition to those 18 points per game last season. They’re numbers that would give the Spurs a player who can both set up Wemby as well as provide another consistent scoring option. Keep in mind, Devin Vassell, who averaged nearly 20 points per outing last season, is also in the fold.</p><p>Garland shot 44.6% from the field, meaning he’d keep defenses honest as they keep an eye on the reigning Rookie of the Year. His 37.1% shooting percentage from beyond the arc would provide a much needed three-point threat among top rotational players. San Antonio’s best shooters recently have been specialists.</p><p>It stands to reason that San Antonio would have an interest in Garland. The price to get him and the price of his contract will determine whether a deal gets done.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

NBA rumors: Spurs linked to Darius Garland trade pursuit

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nba-rumors-spurs-victor-wembanyama-drawing-attention-free-agent-veteran-guard');   ga('set', 'title', 'NBA rumors: Spurs’ Victor Wembanyama drawing attention of ‘every free agent, every veteran guard’');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Spurs-Victor-Wembanyama-drawing-attention-of-every-free-agent-every-veteran-guard.jpg"></figure><h1>NBA rumors: Spurs’ Victor Wembanyama drawing attention of ‘every free agent, every veteran guard’</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-06-07T09:14:26-07:00">June 7th, 9:14am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-06-07T09:14:26-07:00">June 7th, 9:14am</time><address><a href="https://www.youtube.com/@LedesmaHector">Hector Ledesma</a>Hector Ledesma has been covering the Spurs in San Antonio since 2005, but he has been following them for even longer than that. An award-winning journalist born and raised in San Antonio, Hector has worked across all types of television and radio platforms. His work extends online and through social media (@HectorLedesmaTV) where he continues that work with ClutchPoints.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>ESPN NBA draft analyst Jonathan Givony has been very vocal <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/how-both-spurs-celtics-won-derrick-white-trade">regarding the San Antonio Spurs</a> this week. While on The Ringer’s NBA Draft show, the founder and co-owner of Draftexpress.com said, “Every free agent, every veteran guard, they all want to play with Victor Wembanyama.” Interestingly, LeBron James is essentially a free agent this summer.</p><p>Several superstars like James and Paul George have the option to become free agents, while household names like Klay Thompson, DeMar DeRozan, and James Harden, among other big names, are unrestricted.</p><p>Givony added that the Spurs, who own the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba-rumors-spurs-could-package-top-10-picks-to-trade-up">fourth and eighth picks in this month’s draft</a>, aren’t content with taking several years to build around their generational talent.</p><p>While it’s vaguely assumed that the Spurs will look to make their biggest roster improvements via the draft and possible trades, free agency could prove a fertile ground <a href="https://x.com/KevinOConnorNBA/status/1797710715626942657" rel="noopener">according to</a> Givony.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">“Every free agent, every veteran guard, they all want to play with Victor Wembanyama.”</p><p>–<a href="https://twitter.com/DraftExpress?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@DraftExpress</a> on the San Antonio Spurs’ priorities this summer: They want to win. <a href="https://t.co/izlga6IhY5">https://t.co/izlga6IhY5</a> <a href="https://t.co/rCQidhxrOz">pic.twitter.com/rCQidhxrOz</a></p><p>— Kevin O'Connor (@KevinOConnorNBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/KevinOConnorNBA/status/1797710715626942657?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 3, 2024</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><h2>The case for LeBron James on the Spurs with Victor Wembanyama</h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/San-Antonio-Spurs-forward-Victor-Wembanyama.jpg"><figcaption>Scott Wachter-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption></figure><p>Though no current MVP-caliber guys are on the market, the player widely considered the best of this generation could be. And while what will happen with his son, Bronny James, may determine where LeBron lands, the thought of the “King” in San Antonio hasn’t picked up steam with the talking heads, probably for good reason. But, perhaps that’s a bit ironic considering that James has been loosely linked to the Spurs in the past, pre-Wemby.</p><p>The all-time leading scorer’s love for Spurs Hall of Fame Head Coach Gregg Popovich is well documented. James has never shied away from expressing positive thoughts about the winningest coach in NBA history on or off the court. But while the ‘Would LeBron want to play for Pop and with Tim Duncan?’ rumor mill ran for several off-seasons as the legendary power forward neared the end of his career, it never went beyond that, at least not publicly.</p><p>The Spurs are in a much different predicament now. They have the player most thought to be the most prominent game-changer since James. They are in the process of <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/spurs-news-victor-wembanyama-all-rookie-selection-continues-early-goat-narative">building around Victor Wembanyama</a> with multiple draft picks at their disposal through the rest of the decade, including a pair of top-ten selections and two in the second round later this month. And that leads to Bronny.</p><p>The former USC Trojan has reportedly only agreed to do prep-draft workouts for only the Phoenix Suns and his dad’s current team, the Los Angeles Lakers. Assuming that’s not a smoke screen, that would rule out the Spurs. If that’s the case, Popovich and company have another avenue in which to pursue the player regarded by some as the best to ever play the game.</p><p>The Spurs have tons of salary cap space. They will more than likely spend some money to bolster the roster this summer, but they’re not expected to go on a spending spree – certainly not enough to knock them out of financial contention should the biggest name make himself available.</p><p>Given their multiple paths, there appear to be little limits in how the Spurs can improve their roster. That could include a limitless reach at free agency’s prize.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

NBA rumors: Spurs’ Victor Wembanyama drawing attention of ‘every free agent, every veteran guard’

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nba-rumors-spurs-could-package-top-10-picks-to-trade-up');   ga('set', 'title', 'NBA rumors: Spurs could package top-10 picks to trade up');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/NBA-rumors-Spurs-could-package-top-10-picks-to-trade-up.jpg"></figure><h1>NBA rumors: Spurs could package top-10 picks to trade up</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-06-04T19:27:05-07:00">June 4th, 7:27pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-06-04T19:28:44-07:00">June 4th, 7:28pm</time><address><a href="https://www.youtube.com/@LedesmaHector">Hector Ledesma</a>Hector Ledesma has been covering the Spurs in San Antonio since 2005, but he has been following them for even longer than that. An award-winning journalist born and raised in San Antonio, Hector has worked across all types of television and radio platforms. His work extends online and through social media (@HectorLedesmaTV) where he continues that work with ClutchPoints.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The San Antonio Spurs are reportedly interested in trading their two Top 10 picks in this year’s draft for the top overall pick later this month, according to NBA Draft insider Jonathan Givony.</p><p>“You hear teams like San Antonio possibly exploring the idea of packaging the fourth and eighth pick. Maybe to move up to number one,” Givony, who serves as an NBA Draft analyst for ESPN, said as much on the national network.</p><p>The <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/spurs-2024-nba-mock-draft-roundup-after-combine">2024 draft is widely considered weak</a>, especially when it comes to potentially producing franchise players. In fact, there’s thought that not a single guy taken will turn into the kind of cornerstone that teams covet when picking very high.</p><p>On the “Lowe Post” podcast, Givony said the Spurs’ <a href="https://open.spotify.com/episode/3vGWx4Nd6NzbnP33oTYE2B" rel="noopener">patience on bettering their roster</a> does come with limits.</p><p>“There’s also a sentiment that they might want to accelerate this process and try and be competitive sooner rather than later if they can, if there are good trade opportunities out there for them to add veteran pieces that can help them make a playoff run as soon as next year. I was told that they would look at that,” Givony shared.</p><p>“I’ve been told that they don’t want to be bad (next season).”</p><h2>The benefits of picking at 4 and 8</h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/San-Antonio-Spurs-managing-partner-Peter-J.-Holt-at-2023-Draft-Lottery.jpg"><figcaption>David Banks-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption></figure><p>Since the Spurs aren’t looking for a centerpiece with superstar <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/spurs-news-victor-wembanyama-all-rookie-selection-continues-early-goat-narative">Victor Wembanyama already in the fold</a>, two lottery selections generally presents a dream scenario for building around their generational talent. Picking fourth overall and going again at eight gives San Antonio two big swings at prospects that might wreak havoc with Wemby.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">The Spurs are exploring the idea of potentially packaging Nos. 4 and 8 overall to move up with the Hawks to No. 1, per <a href="https://twitter.com/DraftExpress?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@DraftExpress</a>.</p><p>Hawks head coach Quin Snyder is reportedly a fan of Donovan Clingan, who Atlanta could secure in a trade-back scenario with San Antonio. <a href="https://t.co/sssDUjMUDi">pic.twitter.com/sssDUjMUDi</a></p><p>— Evan Sidery (@esidery) <a href="https://twitter.com/esidery/status/1798077869404623198?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 4, 2024</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>Because of the perceived parity of the players available in the draft, several names have been linked to the Silver and Black. Reed Sheppard and Dalton Knecht are notable shooters. Stephon Castle and Ron Holland have the kind of bodies and athleticism that translate well to the NBA game, while Nikola Topic and Rob Dillingham are projected playmakers–Topic as a creator and facilitator, Dillingham as a slasher and scorer.</p><h2>The possibility of the Spurs drafting Matas Buzelis</h2><p>Another option for San Antonio could be Matas Buzelis. At 6-foot-9, 212 pounds, the forward showed versatility on defense and moved well off the ball offensively during his one year with the G League Ignite. If paired with Wembanyama, another of his strengths may shine for the Spurs. His decisions in pick-and-roll situations were often good ones because he often put defenses in tough situations.</p><p>Buzelis’ three-3shooting needs some work and though the Spurs lost the services of shot guru Chip Engelland several years ago, Jimmy Barron has proven to be a capable shooting coach. He’s worked with young forward Jeremy Sochan and 24-year-old Keldon Johnson on improving their shooting forms over the last couple of seasons.</p><p>Whomever the Spurs pair with Wemby, Jonathan Givony emphasized the reality.</p><p>“Victor Wembanyama, he’s a very competitive guy and he’s not used to losing very much in his career. They understand the urgency of having a generational player like him and to try and tank next year to try to get a Cooper Flagg is not attractive option for them at this point,” Givony said referring to next year’s slam dunk prospect.</p><p>There may not be such a thing this year. The again, the Spurs don’t need one.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

NBA rumors: Spurs could package top-10 picks to trade up

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nba-rumors-spurs-hear-keldon-johnson-trade-offers-catch');   ga('set', 'title', 'NBA rumors: Spurs will hear Keldon Johnson trade offers, but there’s a catch');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Spurs-will-hear-Keldon-Johnson-trade-offers-but-theres-a-catch.jpg"></figure><h1>NBA rumors: Spurs will hear Keldon Johnson trade offers, but there’s a catch</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-05-30T18:56:41-07:00">May 30th, 6:56pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-05-30T18:56:41-07:00">May 30th, 6:56pm</time><address><a href="https://www.youtube.com/@LedesmaHector">Hector Ledesma</a>Hector Ledesma has been covering the Spurs in San Antonio since 2005, but he has been following them for even longer than that. An award-winning journalist born and raised in San Antonio, Hector has worked across all types of television and radio platforms. His work extends online and through social media (@HectorLedesmaTV) where he continues that work with ClutchPoints.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>As the San Antonio Spurs look to improve their roster around generational talent Victor Wembanyama, everything is on the table. That doesn’t mean every player on the team or asset will be part of a trade, but it does mean there is no shortage of options. At the top of that list may be Keldon Johnson.</p><p>With the NBA Draft approaching, Johnson’s name has been one that has come up in trade discussion. While<a href="https://clutchpoints.com/spurs-2024-nba-mock-draft-roundup-after-combine"> the Spurs will listen</a> to offers on the table, San Antonio <a href="https://x.com/BrettSiegelNBA/status/1795168091275657251" rel="noopener">isn’t necessarily rushing</a> to trade away Johnson, via Brett Siegel of ClutchPoints.</p><p>“Coming out of the NBA Draft Combine, the talk around the league is that the Spurs will be open for business with both of their draft picks,” Siegel reported. “In addition to the team being open to discussing trade ideas with both the fourth and eighth overall picks, the Spurs will be willing to hear offers involving Keldon Johnson.”</p><p>“However, the Spurs still view Johnson as a key building block next to Wembanyama, and have given teams no indication that he is currently on the trade block,” Siegel continued.</p><p>There are several reasons the Spurs, and teams around the NBA, <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/spurs-news-keldon-johnson-opens-up-tough-sacrifice-2023-24-season">view Johnson as</a> a potential trade candidate.</p><h2>Keldon Johnson’s contract</h2><p>Though the former Kentucky Wildcat signed his second contract with the Spurs two years ago, the four year extension was front-loaded. <a href="https://x.com/NBA/status/1719582353780347009">After making $20 million dollars</a> this past season, Johnson is set to make 19 million this coming year. He’s then slated to make $17.5 million in each of the next two seasons.</p><p>In other words, his contract his friendly. Especially for a player who’s coming off averaging 15.7 points per game after scoring 22 PPG and 17 PPG the previous two years. Which leads to another reason why San Antonio may get nibbles regarding Johnson.</p><h2>Johnson’s lasting impact</h2><p>In altering his game for <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/spurs-victor-wembanyama-headlines-2023-24-nba-all-rookie-teams">Rookie of the Year Victor Wembanyama</a>, Johnson still ranked third on the team in scoring while giving the second unit a punch. During the season, Hall of Fame head coach Gregg Popovich moved the five-year pro to a reserve role so that offensive production wouldn’t suffer so severely once Wemby, second-leading scorer Devin Vassell, fourth-leading scorer Jeremy Sochan and Johnson left the floor.</p><p>In coming off the bench in 42 of the 69 games he played in 2023-2024, Johnson averaged 5.5 rebounds, 2.8 assists in 29.5 minutes for the season. He shot 34.6% from three-point land and 45.4% from the field. All of his numbers are among or around the middle of the pack in regard to team leaders.</p><h2>Johnson still oozes potential</h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Keldon-Johnson.jpg"><figcaption>Scott Wachter-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption></figure><p>At 24 years old, Johnson is still young.  At a time when rookies are routinely entering the NBA at 19, he’s no longer very young comparatively – as his time as the longest tenured current Spur would suggest.</p><p>That said, barring anything unexpected, Johnson has the majority of his career in front of him, including a couple of seasons that could be among his most productive. Not bad considering he’s already averaged 22 points per contest.</p><p>Though Wembanyama’s place as their cornerstone may be the only certainty for the Spurs, it’s easy to see why they’d like to hold on to Vassell, who’s continued to increase high scoring averages and is 23-years-old, and 21-year-old Sochan, who’s made back to back Rising Stars games.</p><p>For this reason and more, it stands to reason that should a team in trade talks with the Spurs want a current player in addition to a draft pick, Johnson could be a top option.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

NBA rumors: Spurs will hear Keldon Johnson trade offers, but there’s a catch

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nba-rumors-the-uconn-star-moving-up-spurs-2024-nba-draft-board');   ga('set', 'title', 'NBA rumors: The UConn star moving up Spurs’ 2024 NBA Draft board');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/The-UConn-star-moving-up-Spurs-2024-NBA-Draft-board.jpg"></figure><h1>NBA rumors: The UConn star moving up Spurs’ 2024 NBA Draft board</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-05-25T06:41:08-07:00">May 25th, 6:41am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-05-25T06:41:08-07:00">May 25th, 6:41am</time><address><a href="https://www.youtube.com/@LedesmaHector">Hector Ledesma</a>Hector Ledesma has been covering the Spurs in San Antonio since 2005, but he has been following them for even longer than that. An award-winning journalist born and raised in San Antonio, Hector has worked across all types of television and radio platforms. His work extends online and through social media (@HectorLedesmaTV) where he continues that work with ClutchPoints.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>A report by Kelly Iko of The Athletic says the San Antonio Spurs <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5507812/2024/05/21/rockets-nba-draft-no-3-pick-donovan-mitchell/?source=emp_shared_article" rel="noopener">are interested in</a> UConn Huskies standout Stephon Castle. The freshman guard has been gaining steam leading up to <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/spurs-early-2023-nba-free-agency-targets">the NBA Draft</a> where the Silver and Black have the <a href="https://twitter.com/spurs/status/1789747263146746046" rel="noopener">fourth and eighth selections</a> in the first round. Castle helped lead Connecticut to the 2024 national title, upping his play in the Final Four.</p><h2><b>Why the Spurs might be interested in Stephon Castle</b></h2><p>At 6-foot-6, 210 pounds, Castle has a frame that already translates to the NBA. The 19-year-old out of Covington, Georgia earned Big East Freshman of the Year honors this past season en route to earning the league’s Freshmen of the Year. In 34 games, he averaged 11.1 points, 4.7 rebounds and 2.9 assists in 32 minutes per contest. Castle shot 47% from the field and 76% from the free throw line.</p><p>The 2023 McDonald’s All-American saved his best for when it mattered last month, leading the Huskies with 21 points in the national semifinal win vs. the Alabama Crimson Tide. He followed that performance with another night that came in well about his average with 15 points and 5 rebounds in the championship match-up against a Purdue Boilermakers squad that also earned a number one seed <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7a8I8dxdL_M" rel="noopener">in the tournament</a>.</p><p>Since early April, Castle has been measured with a 6-foot-9 wingspan and a standing reach of 8-foot-6. That’s according to basketball database manager Michael Visenberg.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">NBA Draft Combine Measurements for Stephon Castle: 6'5.5" w/o shoes, 210 lbs, 6'9" wingspan and 8'6" standing reach. Grew an inch, +2 pounds, and everything else on the nose from almost two years ago.</p><p>Averages for top end SG: 6'4.9" in shoes, 211.3 lbs, 6'8.4" WS, 8'5.2" SR <a href="https://t.co/Ki2zdOa8Io">https://t.co/Ki2zdOa8Io</a></p><p>— Michael Visenberg (@NBADraftMikeyV) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBADraftMikeyV/status/1790457351377678437?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 14, 2024</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><h2><b>Where Castle fits within the Spurs needs</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Connecticut-Huskies-guard-Stephon-Castle-5-shoots.jpg"><figcaption>Patrick Breen/The Republic / USA TODAY NETWORK</figcaption></figure><p>The talking heads seem to be agree that San Antonio is targeting a point guard. Interestingly enough though, Castle wasn’t necessarily a classic point guard for the Huskies. ESPN’s Jonathon Givony reports the UConn product is turning down workout invitations with teams that have a starting point guard in place. If true, the Spurs would generally fit that preference.</p><p>Perhaps not the team’s biggest problem, the “one” position was most in flux for the better part of the season. After they started the year with natural forward Jeremy Sochan there, about a month in they pivoted to a rotation that consisted of Malaki Branham and Cedi Osman for a couple of games before <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/spurs-news-tre-jones-drops-truth-bomb-promotion-starting-point-guard">they settled on  Tre Jones</a>. While a good player, Jones, who averaged 10 points and team high 6.2 assists per game, is considered a back-up in the NBA.</p><p>Enter Castle. Possibly. And where?</p><p>In citing his Final Four stats above, it should also be noted that he dished out a pedestrian three assists through 34 minutes in the title clinching victory. Teammate Tristen Newton led the champs with seven that night. Castle had two assists in the semifinal. Additionally, the Huskies fifth leading scorer shot just 27% from three-point range for the season.</p><p>With defensive skill and length to match, Castle may be more effective on the wing in the pros – even in this day and age of position-less basketball. It is perimeter play in which the Spurs lack. Second leading scorer Devin Vassell is their best option in terms of slashing into the lane and creating opportunities for others, but it’s an area of his game he openly admits could and has improved.</p><p>While it appears Castle could be a fit in the Alamo City, how might be the better question.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

NBA rumors: The UConn star moving up Spurs’ 2024 NBA Draft board

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nba-rumors-spurs-eyeing-victor-wembanyamas-ascending-fellow-frenchman-no-8');   ga('set', 'title', 'NBA rumors: Spurs eyeing Victor Wembanyama’s ascending fellow Frenchman at No. 8?');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Spurs-eyeing-Victor-Wembanyamas-ascending-fellow-Frenchman-at-No.jpg"></figure><h1>NBA rumors: Spurs eyeing Victor Wembanyama’s ascending fellow Frenchman at No. 8?</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-05-16T18:47:40-07:00">May 16th, 6:47pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-05-16T18:47:40-07:00">May 16th, 6:47pm</time><address><a href="https://nextmanupblog.medium.com/">Jay Postrado</a>Jay is a sports writer for ClutchPoints, with expertise in covering the NBA, NFL, MLB, Tennis, and Formula 1. He is a lifelong motorsports and tennis fan. Jay's need for speed may no longer be on the grid or courts but has stayed with him through writing.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The usual secret to Gregg Popovich starting a dynasty is having two insanely talented big men. Victor Wembanyama is already projected to be one of the greatest players of all time if he continues his upward trajectory. So, who’s next? The 2024 NBA Draft brings the San Antonio Spurs a lot of options. But, another French phenomenon seems to be a standout among the rest. He goes by the name of Tidjane Salaun.</p><p>Another French prospect might land in the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/spurs-top-trade-targets-no-4-8-picks-2024-nba-draft">hands of the Spurs.</a> Yes, it could all be a possibility that Gregg Popovich assembles yet another duo like David Robinson and Tim Duncan. They currently have the eighth overall pick and there have been increasing beliefs that Tidjane Salaun could be the next big thing <a href="https://www.espn.com/nba/insider/story/_/page/NBADraft24-40145332/2024-nba-draft-combine-prospects-workout-highlights-measurements-stats-more" rel="noopener">for the</a> team from Texas, via ESPN.</p><p>“After talking with numerous NBA teams about Salaun this week, it seems he’s much closer to being a top-10 pick than the late lottery candidate he is currently ranked in the ESPN Top 100 at No. 10. Several teams are flagging the San Antonio Spurs at No. 8 as a real landing potential spot for Salaun,” reports said.</p><p>Gregg Popovich’s type of dynasty is not the only thing that ties this all together. Victor Wembanyama knows Tidjane Salaun well. They both share the same agent and their sisters have been teammates for France’s FIBA Under-16 squad.</p><p>The two are able to complement each other very well. Coach Pop knows how defensively versatile Wemby is. The same goes for Salaun but his offensive arsenal is the one that is most elite.</p><h2><b>Spurs have a golden opportunity in the NBA Draft</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/San-Antonio-Spurs-forward-Victor-Wembanyama-1-and-teammates-react-1.jpg"><figcaption>© Scott Wachter-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption></figure><p>The first thing that they have to address in acquiring a new player is the fit. One glaring spot that they need to improve on is either another center or a better power forward. Wemby can play drop coverage very well and it was evident in his rookie campaign where he got a Defensive Player of the Year finalist nod. So, they may need a roamer that acts as a primary rim protector whenever The Alien is drawn out of the paint. Zach Collins and Dominick Barlow have not yet come into form with the Spurs. So, Salaun would be a big help.</p><p>Offensively speaking, he can also shoot the lights out. <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/spurs-news-san-antonio-top-2024-nba-draft-lottery-targets-bolster-victor-wembanyama-era">While the NBA Draft</a> Combine was going on, Salaun was blazing it up at the LNB Pro A. He notched an insane stat line of 19 points, eight rebounds, and three assists. His defensive prowess was also on display as Salaun anticipated the movements of the primary ball handler well to get a steal.</p><p>He will still have to duke it out with top NBA Draft pick Zaccharie Risacher in the quarterfinals. Here, these two will get to test each other to the limit before they step into the league. The focus will be on their matchup for draft enthusiasts and European fans.</p><p>The Spurs may already know who they’re picking if someone falls to them at number eight. Will any squad try to steal Salaun from them?</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

NBA rumors: Spurs eyeing Victor Wembanyama’s ascending fellow Frenchman at No. 8?

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nba-rumors-why-spurs-hawks-trade-trae-young-victor-wembanyama-unlikely');   ga('set', 'title', 'NBA rumors: Why a Spurs-Hawks trade to team up Trae Young, Victor Wembanyama is unlikely');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Why-a-Spurs-Hawks-trade-to-team-up-Trae-Young-Victor-Wembanyama-is-unlikely.jpg"></figure><h1>NBA rumors: Why a Spurs-Hawks trade to team up Trae Young, Victor Wembanyama is unlikely</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-05-13T10:53:51-07:00">May 13th, 10:53am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-05-13T10:53:51-07:00">May 13th, 10:53am</time><address><a>Matt Wadleigh</a>Matthew Wadleigh is the lead NCAA Football and NCAA Basketball editor for ClutchPoints, and he also specializes in MLB and NFL coverage. He was born and raised in Oceanside and resides in Fresno with his wife and two dogs. Matthew is a huge Southern California sports fan and a retired member of the Fresno State drumline.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba-news-fans-go-wild-hawks-win-draft-lottery-pistons-move-down-four-spots">2024 NBA Draft lottery</a> worked out incredibly well for the Atlanta Hawks, who ended up with the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/hawks-news-atlanta-secures-no-1-pick-overall-after-winning-nba-draft-lottery">top overall draft pick</a>. As a result, trade rumors have begun as Alex Sarr is almost certain to be the first player selected this year. One rumor that has begun to circulate is a potential San Antonio Spurs pairing of Victor Wembanyama and Trae Young.</p><p>Young, whose name will be in <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/trae-young-drops-hints-on-possibly-leaving-hawks-as-trade-rumors-swirl">plenty of trade rumors</a> this summer, would be an intriguing fit next to Wembanyama. However, those talks might not <a href="https://hoopshype.com/lists/nba-draft-lottery-intel-whats-next-for-each-team/" rel="noopener">be very likely</a>, per a report from Michael Scotto of Hoops Hype.</p><p>“While some have floated the idea of the Spurs trading for Young in the media, league sources said the Hawks and Spurs didn’t have substantive conversations about such a trade before the deadline. Time will tell in the coming months if that changes. However, heading into the lottery, those same league sources cast doubt regarding that changing in the future.”</p><p>So, anybody thinking of what a Trae Young-Victor Wembanyama Spurs pairing would look like might want to put that dream to bed (although it’s certainly an entertaining idea). Dejounte Murray has also <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba-rumors-lakers-dejounte-murray-trade-suitor">been on the trade block</a> and was during the season, so Atlanta could be opening up shop for Young and/or Murray ahead of the draft as they decide which direction to go in next.</p><h2><b>Trae Young trade buzz picking up </b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Trae-Young-driving-the-lane.jpg"><figcaption>David Banks-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption></figure><p>The Hawks season <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/hawks-news-atlanta-play-in-loss-bulls-starts-nba-draft-buzz">came to an end</a> in the Play-In Tournament, so the offseason began earlier than they were hoping for. And once again, Trae Young is the center of trade discussions. The most likely outcome seems to be a deal that <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/lakers-news-trae-young-to-la-trends-after-hawks-land-top-nba-draft-pick">sends Young to the Los Angeles Lakers</a> to team up with LeBron James and Anthony Davis, although that remains to be seen.</p><p>As for the Spurs, they got the No. 4 pick and the No. 8 pick in <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/spurs-news-san-antonio-top-2024-nba-draft-lottery-targets-bolster-victor-wembanyama-era">this year’s draft</a>, so they have a chance to add two top-10 players or find a way to deal a pick or two to bring in even more talent. Finding a way to give the Rookie of the Year some help on the roster has to be a top priority for the Spurs this offseason, especially after finishing with a 22-60 record, just one game ahead of the Portland Trail Blazers for the last spot in the Western Conference.</p><p>Still, the thought of the Spurs pairing Wembanyama with a player of Young’s caliber is certainly worth considering, but as of now there haven’t been many discussions between the two sides. Things can certainly change over the course of the next few weeks leading up to the 2024 NBA Draft, but those thinking about Young coming to San Antonio might not want to consider it too much of a reality.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

NBA rumors: Why a Spurs-Hawks trade to team up Trae Young, Victor Wembanyama is unlikely

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nba-rumors-spurs-highlight-nikola-topic-zaccharie-risacher-as-nice-fits-around-victor-wembanyama');   ga('set', 'title', 'NBA rumors: Spurs rival execs highlight 2 ‘nice potential fits’ around Victor Wembanyama in 2024 NBA Draft');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/NBA-rumors-Spurs-rival-execs-highlight-2-nice-potential-fits-around-Victor-Wembanyama-in-2024-NBA-Draft.jpg"></figure><h1>NBA rumors: Spurs rival execs highlight 2 ‘nice potential fits’ around Victor Wembanyama in 2024 NBA Draft</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-05-13T10:52:33-07:00">May 13th, 10:52am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-05-13T10:52:33-07:00">May 13th, 10:52am</time><address><a>Benedetto Vitale</a>Benedetto Vitale is an avid sports writer who is an expert at covering the NFL, college football, NBA, and UFC. He graduated from the University of Oregon in 2016 with a film degree but has since dedicated his career to sports writing.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The NBA Draft is right around the corner and <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/spurs-news-san-antonio-top-2024-nba-draft-lottery-targets-bolster-victor-wembanyama-era">the San Antonio Spurs own</a> the fourth and eighth picks overall. It’s not entirely clear what the front office is going to do just yet, however, the rumor mill claims they have two rookies on their radar.</p><p>Victor Wembanyama is a superstar in the making and it’s important for the Spurs to keep building around him. For that reason, recent rumors suggest the <a href="https://www.espn.com/nba/insider/story/_/id/40134868/lowe-latest-draft-intel-trade-buzz-superstitions-nba-secret-draft-lottery-room" rel="noopener">front office is potentially eying</a> Nikola Topic and Zaccharie Risacher in the 2024 NBA Draft, according to Zach Lowe of ESPN. At least that’s what some rival executives seem to believe.</p><p>“The Spurs will surely look at everything, but flipping both picks for veterans only feels a little rash. San Antonio could trade one, or go the other way, and package them to move up. Rival executives in Chicago pegged Serbian point guard Nikola Topic and French forward Zaccharie Risacher as nice potential fits around Wembanyama. They could also keep both and keep building (mostly) organically.”</p><p>A point guard would be a fantastic addition to the Spurs’ lineup. Especially if it’s a facilitating point guard that can feed the rock to Victor Wembanyama. Nikola Topic seems to fit the bill and his height gives him an edge over most point guards in the league. On the other hand, Zaccharie Risacher is one of the more exciting prospects in this years NBA Draft, however, he’s projected to be a top two selection.</p><p>Either way, San Antonio is well on their way to becoming a playoff contender once again. There’s a possibility the front office decides to trade the picks for some veteran players, or even move up in the NBA Draft. Regardless, the Spurs are going to be one of the hottest teams in the rumor mill throughout the offseason.</p><h2>Spurs future outlook</h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Victor-Wembanyama-boxing-out-Paul-Reed.jpg"><figcaption>Daniel Dunn-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption></figure><p>The Spurs have an incredibly bright future. Not only do they have Victor Wembanyama but they already have some decent complimentary pieces around him. Guys like Jeremy Sochan, Devin Vassell, and Keldon Johnson are great rotational options. However, San Antonio would largely benefit by acquiring another star player.</p><p>That star could be found in the NBA Draft or free agency. There’s even a possibility <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/trae-young-trade-hawks-must-consider-after-winning-2024-nba-draft-lottery">the Spurs make a trade</a> now that they own the fourth and eighth picks overall. Either way, San Antonio’s future looks bright. But they must add the correct pieces around Victor Wembanyama.</p><p>Adding a talented point guard would go a long way in unlocking the Spurs’ potential. The superstar combination the Denver Nuggets have in Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray is one of the best in the league. San Antonio would be smart to replicate that for themselves. So, hopefully they can find that star point guard this offseason. If they do, the Spurs could show vast improvements next year.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

NBA rumors: Spurs rival execs highlight 2 ‘nice potential fits’ around Victor Wembanyama in 2024 NBA Draft

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nba-rumors-spurs-seeking-veteran-and-rookie-point-guards-to-help-victor-wembanyama');   ga('set', 'title', 'NBA rumors: Spurs seeking veteran and rookie point guards to help Victor Wembanyama');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/NBA-rumors-Spurs-seeking-veteran-and-rookie-point-guards-to-help-Victor-Wembanyama.jpg"></figure><h1>NBA rumors: Spurs seeking veteran and rookie point guards to help Victor Wembanyama</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-05-12T13:47:29-07:00">May 12th, 1:47pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-05-13T07:46:43-07:00">May 13th, 7:46am</time><address><a>Nayan Brahmbhatt</a>Nayan Brahmbhatt is a recent graduate from Queen's University's Smith School of Business living in Toronto, Ontario. He is passionate about and has been involved in sports since a young age, and continues to reminisce about the (brief) time Kawhi spent in Toronto. Although he can talk shop about the Raptors and Ravens all day, what's really always on his mind is having finished his undergrad without having won a single fantasy or intramural league.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The San Antonio Spurs are reportedly in the market for both a veteran point guard and a rookie to bolster their lineup around their standout star, Victor Wembanyama, as they prepare for the upcoming NBA season. This strategic move aims to support the development of a young point guard while also providing seasoned leadership to <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/spurs-news-victor-wembanyama-rookie-of-the-year">guide Wembanyama</a>, who has just come off a historic rookie season, winning Rookie of the Year by a landslide.</p><p>During the ESPN <a href="https://twitter.com/TheSteinLine/status/1789734604800135323" rel="noopener">lottery broadcast</a>, per Marc Stein it was mentioned that the Spurs are considering adding a veteran point guard to mentor a younger counterpart in the team. This approach is not just about strengthening their current roster but is also a clear investment in the future, ensuring that their young talents, particularly Wembanyama, have a solid foundation and leadership to thrive in the competitive landscape of the NBA.</p><p><a href="https://clutchpoints.com/spurs-news-alien-victor-wembanyama-proves-hes-truly-from-space-with-dark-matter-quip-in-roy-presser">Victor Wembanyama’s rookie season</a> was nothing short of spectacular, setting him apart as one of the most promising talents in the league. His ability to impact games on both ends of the floor, coupled with his unique skill set for someone of his height, has already made him a central figure in the Spurs’ long-term plans. The addition of experienced and capable point guards could be pivotal in maximizing his potential and smoothing his transition into NBA stardom.</p><h2>Speculations Swirl on Social Media</h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Wembanyama-rookie-of-the-year.jpg"></figure><p>Fans and sports enthusiasts have taken to social media to speculate on who the potential veteran point guard joining Victor Wembanyama could be. Names like Chris Paul (CP3) and D’Angelo Russell (DLo) have been tossed around frequently. Tweets from users like @_JustinAbraham and @1ndecipherable1 suggest a strong leaning towards CP3, given his extensive experience and proven leadership. Meanwhile, others like @daboirafiki3 also bring Russell into the conversation as a viable candidate.</p><p>The prospect of Chris Paul joining the Spurs has particularly excited fans, with @gary_guillory sharing a graphic of Wembanyama and Paul in a jersey swap, imagining them as future teammates. This enthusiasm reflects the high regard in which Paul is held and the perceived value he could bring to a young Spurs team.</p><p>Conversely, other social media users have approached the rumor mill with humor and nostalgia. For instance, @BostonKnick floated the idea of Tony Parker coming out of retirement to join the Spurs once again, a nod to the franchise’s golden years. @igzilla83 even quipped about LeBron James partnering with Wembanyama, although in jest, highlighting the buzz and excitement surrounding the Spurs’ future moves.</p><p>The role of a veteran point guard in this scenario cannot be overstated. A seasoned player like Chris Paul, known for his basketball IQ, leadership, and ability to control the pace of the game, would not only serve as a mentor to a younger point guard but also as a stabilizing force for Wembanyama. Learning from one of the best point guards in the history of the game could significantly accelerate the young star’s development and adaptation to the NBA’s rigorous demands.</p><p>Moreover, integrating a veteran with championship experience and a track record of elevating the play of his teammates could prove crucial for the Spurs as they look to rebuild into a championship-contending team. The mentorship provided on and off the court would help inculcate a culture of professionalism and winning, essential for a young team with high aspirations.</p><p>While much of the focus has been on the acquisition of a veteran, the development of a rookie point guard is equally significant. This player would ideally grow under the tutelage of the veteran, gradually taking over as the team’s primary playmaker. The Spurs would benefit from cultivating a young talent who can grow in sync with Wembanyama, forming a core that could define the team’s future.</p><p>The dynamic between the veteran and the rookie will be crucial. It offers a unique blend of immediate impact and long-term development, ensuring the Spurs remain competitive while also building towards a more sustainable future.</p><p>As the San Antonio Spurs actively seek to add both a veteran and a rookie point guard to their roster, the overarching goal is clear: to create an environment where Victor Wembanyama can flourish and lead the team to new heights. The speculation and excitement among fans underscore the significant interest in how the team shapes its roster around such a transcendent talent. With Wembanyama already proving his mettle as an NBA standout in his rookie year, the decisions made this offseason could well determine the trajectory of the Spurs for years to come.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

NBA rumors: Spurs seeking veteran and rookie point guards to help Victor Wembanyama

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nba-rumors-spurs-not-interested-trae-young-trade-fit-concerns');   ga('set', 'title', 'NBA rumors: Spurs not interested in Trae Young trade due to fit concerns');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/NBA-rumors-Spurs-not-interested-in-Trae-Young-trade-due-to-fit-concerns.jpg"></figure><h1>NBA rumors: Spurs not interested in Trae Young trade due to fit concerns</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-04-22T19:39:21-07:00">April 22nd, 7:39pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-04-22T19:39:21-07:00">April 22nd, 7:39pm</time><address><a>Peter Sampson</a>Peter Sampson is ClutchPoints' Portland Trail Blazers reporter and also serves as an Associate Editor. He has been covering all things sports (with a focus on the Blazers) for more than a decade, most recently hosting "The Pulse with Peter Sampson" in Afternoon Drive for 750 The Game. Prior to that, he hosted an NBA wrap-up show that aired immediately at the conclusion of every Trail Blazers game. Peter had previous stops at Blazer's Edge and XRAY.FM - where his show "Blazer's Edge Radio" was named "Portland's Best Sports Radio" in the 2017 Willamette Week reader's poll. When he's not telling the stories of your favorite sports team, Peter can be found recording the next garage rock classic in his basement studio, whipping up an authentic Italian meal in the kitchen, or trying to figure out the appeal of Minecraft with his 9-year-old son in the living room.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>It’s no secret that the San Antonio Spurs are hunting for a point guard/lead ball handler to pair with Victor Wembanyama next season, but <a href="https://www.nbcsports.com/nba/news/rumor-chris-paul-could-end-up-with-spurs-this-summer" rel="noopener">don’t expect</a> that player to be Trae Young – even if the Atlanta Hawks look to trade their star – according to Kurt Helin of NBC Sports:</p><p>“One other note. Spurs fans have been buzzing about the team getting in the mix for a Trae Young trade this summer, as he is the most acclaimed point guard likely to be available. League sources have told NBC Sports not to bet on that happening, as San Antonio doesn’t see Young as a fit with Wembanyama going forward. The Spurs might be more interested in the Hawks’ Dejounte Murray if he is available.”</p><p>Chatter has intensified around the possibility of Atlanta preferring to trade star Trae Young over Dejounte Murray. As one league source well-versed in the Hawks’ dynamics revealed, there’s a “growing belief” that the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba-rumors-growing-belief-hawks-would-prefer-to-trade-trae-young-over-dejounte-murray">Hawks might lean</a> towards trading Young. This speculation is underpinned by the team’s on-court dynamics when Young and Murray share the floor, which, statistically, hasn’t been very effective.</p><p>But if the Spurs don’t believe that Young is a good fit, who else could they go after? Keep an eye <a href="https://marcstein.substack.com/p/the-nba-playoffs-are-here-and-so" rel="noopener">on Chris Paul</a>, per Marc Stein.</p><p>“A potential team to watch, should Paul and the Warriors part ways, is San Antonio. Among the early personnel rumbles in circulation: The Spurs could emerge as a Paul suitor if they decide to pursue some veteran know-how on a short-term contract basis to furnish presumptive Rookie of the Year winner Victor Wembanyama with more seasoned help in Year 2.”</p><p>While Paul isn’t a long-term solution, he’ll likely be available as the Warriors look to cut salary. He could be a cost-effective fit until a more permanent solution presents itself to the Spurs.</p><h2><b>Spurs’ Victor Wembanyama is the future of the NBA</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Victor-Wembanyama-2.jpg"><figcaption>© Scott Wachter-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption></figure><p>Following an <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/spurs-news-what-victor-wembanyama-most-proud-spectacular-rookie-season">outstanding first season in the NBA</a>, here comes the recognition. The league announced Sunday that Spurs generational talent Victor Wembanyama is <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nikola-jokic-victor-wembanyama-headline-nba-award-finalists">one of three finalists</a> for both Rookie of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year awards.</p><p>Virtually a lock to win ROY, the Spurs superstar’s odds of taking home the DPOY aren’t as high, though several national figures have either said they voted for him and/or that he deserves serious consideration.</p><p>Wemby led the league with 3.6 blocks per game, but team record matters in awards like this. Interestingly, however, Wembanyama finished at the top of The Athletic’s annual anonymous NBA players’ survey for “Best defender.” 15.2 percent of players polled <a href="https://theathletic.com/5433545/2024/04/22/nba-player-poll-2024-lebron-jordan-goat-celtics-nuggets-rudy-gobert-timberwolves/">selected the Spurs big man.</a></p><p>“He just makes it so hard to finish at the rim,” one opponent said of Wembanyama.</p><p>Another player said: “He’s changing the game. Players — you can’t say ‘scared’ — but he’s changing their shots. He deserves it.”</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

NBA rumors: Spurs not interested in Trae Young trade due to fit concerns

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nba-rumors-spurs-linked-to-potential-chris-paul-pursuit-if-he-leaves-warriors');   ga('set', 'title', 'NBA rumors: Spurs linked to potential Chris Paul pursuit if he leaves Warriors');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/NBA-rumors-Spurs-linked-to-potential-Chris-Paul-pursuit-if-he-leaves-Warriors.jpg"></figure><h1>NBA rumors: Spurs linked to potential Chris Paul pursuit if he leaves Warriors</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-04-22T09:25:51-07:00">April 22nd, 9:25am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-04-22T09:25:51-07:00">April 22nd, 9:25am</time><address><a href="https://letterboxd.com/splooshpuhrty/films/by/your-rating/">Jedd Pagaduan</a>Jedd Pagaduan is a certified Clippers and Gunners fan, which means he's a very sports-traumatized individual. He now writes about sports instead as a form of therapy.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>Victor Wembanyama has done nothing but surpass expectations despite being in only his rookie season. The San Antonio Spurs may not have improved their win total from last season even with Wembanyama being a two-way monster <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/spurs-news-victor-wembanyama-makes-history-with-unreal-nba-awards-finalists-selections">who’s well on his way</a> to becoming an unstoppable force, but it’s clear that the Spurs are on track to re-assuming their place at the apex of the Western Conference.</p><p>The next few years will be crucial in terms of how the Spurs build around Wembanyama. Some have floated the idea that they could go all-out and trade for Trae Young, but that doesn’t appear likely. Instead, they <a href="https://marcstein.substack.com/p/the-nba-playoffs-are-here-and-so">could be in the market</a> for a veteran point guard who won’t command a pretty penny like Young would. Enter Chris Paul.</p><p>“A potential team to watch, should Paul and the Warriors part ways, is San Antonio. Among the early personnel rumbles in circulation: The Spurs could emerge as a Paul suitor if they decide to pursue some veteran know-how on a short-term contract basis to furnish presumptive Rookie of the Year winner Victor Wembanyama with more seasoned help in Year 2,” NBA insider Marc Stein wrote.</p><p>The Spurs have a few holes to fill still in their roster as they aim to return to contention. Acquiring a playmaker who is a threat on the outside is a must; Tre Jones, while a smart and willing passer, is someone defenses tend to ignore from beyond the arc. The Jeremy Sochan <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/spurs-news-jeremy-sochan-admits-breathing-little-easier-natural-position">point guard experiment</a> didn’t exactly work wonders as well.</p><p>Chris Paul is approaching his 40s, so it’s fair to wonder how much gas he has left in the tank. But Paul has helped most of his teams assume winning ways, turning around the New Orleans Hornets, Los Angeles Clippers, and Phoenix Suns, taking the Houston Rockets to a near-championship level, and then helping maintain a transitioning Oklahoma City Thunder team remain competitive.</p><p>He should have value for the Spurs. The question now is, can San Antonio find a way to acquire the famous Point God?</p><h2><b>What will the Warriors do with Chris Paul’s contract?</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Warriors-guard-Chris-Paul-3-left-shakes-hands-with-San-Antonio-Spurs-center-Victor-Wembanyama.jpg"></figure><p>It’ll be interesting how the Golden State Warriors approach the offseason. Chris Paul is slated to make $30.8 million next season, but his contract is completely non-guaranteed. The Dubs can either keep him, <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/player-warriors-must-trade-2024-nba-offseason">trade him to a team</a> in need of cap relief so they could bring in additional help, or completely wipe his contract off the books to reduce their cap burden.</p><p>Given where the Warriors stand in the league these days, it’s unlikely that ownership will be willing to continue shelling out record luxury-tax payments. But therein lies the problem; the Warriors will be deciding on whether or not they would want to bring Klay Thompson back, and if they do, it will be inevitable for them to pay the luxury tax if they keep Paul around.</p><p>It’s also worthwhile to point out if bringing back the band is what’s best for both Chris Paul and the Warriors. Paul put up career-low numbers off the Warriors bench after being a starter for most of his career, and with Stephen Curry still locking down the point guard position, the Dubs will have to sacrifice size yet again if they want to give Paul minutes alongside Curry.</p><p>A parting of ways seems to be the wisest course of action, which could open up the possibility that the Spurs pair him up with Victor Wembanyama.</p><h2><b>The Spurs’ point guard situation, a rundown</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/head-coach-Gregg-Popovich-of-the-San-Antonio-Spurs-talks-with-guard-Chris-Paul.jpg"></figure><p>The Spurs began the 2023-24 season with Jeremy Sochan as the nominal point guard. Sochan has good ball skills for his size, but a point guard he is not. The experience sharpened Sochan’s court vision and passing, but exposed his weaknesses as well. He doesn’t have dynamic ballhandling that allows him to dissect defenses like a modern floor general, and he tends to get tunnel vision at times.</p><p>Tre Jones soon <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/spurs-maligned-point-guard-position-providing-bright-spots-down-stretch">returned to the starting lineup</a>, and the Spurs’ lineup regained some sense of normalcy. Jones played well, averaging 11.3 points, 4.3 rebounds, and 7.0 assists in 48 starts. Jones should be a quality player for some time. But his scoring game is limited, and his defense at the point of attack isn’t exactly top-tier.</p><p>San Antonio will have money to spend this offseason, so they could bring in Chris Paul, not just so the team’s young guys could learn from him, but because there are few players as accomplished in working with talented big men than he is. Paul made Deandre Ayton look like a million bucks. Ditto for DeAndre Jordan. David West had the best years of his career playing alongside Paul.</p><p>Even in his declined state, Paul can help bring out the best in Wembanyama, paving the way for the Spurs to develop the league’s next unstoppable force for the next decade or so.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

San Antonio
Spurs RUMORS

SAN ANTONIO

SPURS

San AntonioSpurs RUMORS

SAN ANTONIO

SPURS

San Antonio
Spurs RUMORS