NBA Trade Rumors: Spurs eyeing to trade up in Draft for additional lottery pick?
NBA Trade Rumors: Leading up to the NBA Draft, the San Antonio Spurs could be looking to make a move for a second lottery pick.
The San Antonio Spurs have their eyes set on making quite the splash at the 2023 NBA Draft. And it goes well beyond just Victor Wembanyama.
When the Spurs officially won the No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 NBA Draft via the lottery, everything changed for the franchise. The Spurs’ outlook has shifted drastically now that Wemby, a generational NBA Draft prospect, is the centerpiece of their future.
Heading into the NBA Draft, which is now officially less than a month away, the Spurs want to get greedy. According to a recent report, the Spurs are not happy with just the No. 1 overall pick. San Antonio is reportedly interested in acquiring a second lottery pick to address their need at the point guard position.
With Devin Vassell, Keldon Johnson, Jeremy Sochan, and now Wemby, the Spurs have a core 4 to build around moving forward. If they’re somehow able to snag a point guard that they can add to their core 4, the Spurs will be in a great spot rebuilding-wise heading into the future.
What range could the San Antonio Spurs be targeting?
Unless the Spurs are looking to make a huge move for one of the top two point guards – Scoot Henderson or Amen Thompson – there are three second-tier guard prospects that the team could be targeting.
Those three prospects that are likely lottery-worthy point guard prospects are Anthony Black, Cason Wallace, and Nick Smith Jr. The big question that the Spurs would have to ask themselves is how high in the lottery they have to move up to snag one of those three prospects.
That could be difficult to answer, but if they can get in the 8-11 range, they should be able to land one of those players.
There are other point guards that could be worth the gamble that is slated to be selected later in the draft, but this report indicates that the Spurs are targeting a point guard in the lottery. That leaves me to believe that whoever San Antonio is targeting has to be one of these three prospects.
Black and Wallace make a lot of sense for the Spurs. Black is a pass-first point guard that has the skill set to be a good defender at the next level. He isn’t the greatest shooter, but that could come with time.
Wallace is a player you can insert into the rotation now as a good 3-point shooter and one of the best backcourt defenders in this draft class.
Next. Philadelphia 76ers: 3 Sign-and-trade ideas to send James Harden to Rockets. dark
If the Spurs are able to pull this off, they would be in a great position heading into the future. But moving back into the lottery, even in the late-lottery, could end up being easier said than done.