NBA insider reveals huge advantage San Antonio Spurs have in free agency, trade talks

Credit: Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports

Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports

The San Antonio Spurs won the NBA offseason last year, winning the No.1. overall pick thanks to the NBA Draft lottery and landing Victor Wembanyama. Heading into the summer, the Spurs could be poised to be one of the biggest winners of the offseason for the second consecutive year.

San Antonio is one of the most intriguing franchises to monitor this summer. The Spurs own a pair of top-10 picks and while the 2024 NBA Draft lacks any elite talent, there’s significant depth and the Spurs draft picks give them ammunition in trade talks.

Related: San Antonio Spurs trade targets to pair with Victor Wembanyama

However, the problem typically for franchises like San Antonio is that top players want to be traded to teams like the Los Angeles Lakers, New York Knicks and Miami Heat. Fortunately for the Spurs, they seem to be viewed as an ideal landing spot among players.

Appearing on The Ringer’s NBA Draft Show, ESPN NBA Draft analyst Jonathan Givony said he’s heard from around the league that players, especially guards, want to land in San Antonio so they can be teammates with Wembanyama.

“Every free agent, every veteran guard, they all want to play with Victor Wembanyama.”

Jonathan Givony on NBA veterans wanting to play with San Antonio Spurs’ Victor Wembanyama

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Of course, having draft capital and cap space doesn’t necessarily guarantee that a front office will be aggressive. Oftentimes, rebuilding teams will take a methodical approach to build around their franchise centerpiece. That evidently isn’t the Spurs’ intention.

“Everything I hear is that they want to be competitive next year, they want to be in the playoffs. They’re not looking to make this a 2-3 year process, where they’re in the lottery again next year. For right now, they want to be competitive next year and that’s why I think they’re going to be aggressive with those picks.”

Jonathan Givony on the San Antonio Spurs’ offseason approach

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Keep in mind, this is a franchise that before its five-year playoff drought had never gone consecutive years without appearing in the NBA Playoffs. Wembanyama and Gregg Popovich are all in on competing now, which could result in the Spurs being one of the most aggressive teams in the NBA this summer.

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