Getty Michael Porter Jr. and Victor Wembanyama during an April 2 game between the Denver Nuggets and San Antonio Spurs.
After a Rookie of the Year awarded season from Victor Wembanyama, the San Antonio Spurs won’t shy away from improving their roster this offseason.
Their greatest need is point guard, and they’ve been heavily linked to Atlanta Hawks‘ star Trae Young. But there are other holes in the Spurs’ roster as constructed.
Greg Swartz of Bleacher Report tried to address them in a May 9 column and trade proposal.
In exchange for Keldon Johnson, Tre Jones, and Zach Collins, Swartz has San Antonio receiving Michael Porter Jr., Zeke Nnaji, and a 2024 first-round pick from the Denver Nuggets.
Porter Jr. finished the regular season averaging 16.7 points, 7 rebounds, and 1.5 assists.
It’s a salary dump in premise, which is why the Spurs receive a first-round pick as extra incentive. But outside of his $33 million salary, there’s a lot to like about Porter Jr.’s fit with Wembanyama.
Porter Jr. a Top 3-Point Shooter
Swartz cited San Antonio’s ability to keep a largely clean cap sheet, and Porter Jr.’s three-point specialist status as motivators.
“San Antonio gets the best overall player in the deal and has a clean enough cap sheet to absorb Porter’s contract and still retain cap space,” He wrote on May 9. “His outside shooting would make a big difference for a Spurs team that ranked just 28th in three-point accuracy (34.7 percent) this season.”
Denver’s starting forward finished the regular season shooting 39-percent on 6.5 three-point attempts per game.
He connected on 220 of his 554 attempts, both of which are leaps and bounds above the Spurs’ top shooter’s marks.
Wembanyama is already an above-average three-point shooter for his size.
He finished his rookie season shooting 32-percent on 5.5 attempts per game.
But after San Antonio traded their best shooter in Doug McDermott, there’s a role to be filled in the team’s top sniper.
Porter Jr. also has what would be rare experience for a young Spurs’ roster.
He has 56 career playoff games under his belt, and is an NBA champion.
The Spurs can use the first-round pick to address the three-point void on this roster, too, and keep a sharpshooter under team control until Porter Jr.’s deal expires in 2025-2026.
The final year of his five-year, $207-million deal is non-guaranteed. Or they can work the pick into a trade for Young.
Or a former first-round pick of their own.
Spurs Named as Fit for Murray
In a May 8 column for Bleacher Report, Greg Swartz again mentioned the Spurs amongst offseason and free agency discourse.
Only in this column, he linked them to a former first-round pick, and Trae Young’s backcourt partner, Dejounte Murray.
“The Hawks should be open to trading Murray to add better-fitting pieces around Young,” Swartz wrote. “A return to the Spurs would make a lot of sense for Murray…”
Taken with the 29th pick in the 2016 NBA Draft, he developed into an All-Star guard over five seasons with San Antonio.
He averaged 22.5 points, 6.4 assists, 5.3 rebounds, and 1.4 steals in 78 games with the Hawks this season.
A deal to the Spurs would be viable on a number of fronts, but primarily their ownership of Atlanta’s first-round picks from 2025 to 2027.
They could relinquish ownership of one, maybe two, and bring Murray back for a reunion, helping the Hawks help themselves.
Acquiring assets is never a bad idea for a team in the middle of a rebuild. If the San Antonio Spurs can do it while also bringing on talent to help Victor Wembanyama along, it’s a win-win.
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