Three nights earlier, in a room not far from that practice court, all the members of the Spurs’ brain trust sat around a different table and came to a consensus. They were ready to draft a player at No. 8. They’d agreed on a prospect. And they were prepared to keep him.
But with seconds ticking away just before their pick was due, they received exactly the kind of offer they hoped would materialize Wednesday. The Minnesota Timberwolves wanted the Spurs’ selection, and they were willing to give up an unprotected 2031 first-rounder and the right to swap first-rounders in 2030 to get it.
Over the phone, the Timberwolves gave the Spurs a name — Rob Dillingham of Kentucky. Just beating the buzzer, the Spurs passed Dillingham’s name along to the league.
As one member of the team’s front office put it, San Antonio has a “whole big chest of stuff” it can use in the coming years to acquire high-profile, long-term Wembanyama running buddies. And as another Spurs official noted, a 2031 pick from a current contender like the Timberwolves is more attractive than a 2025 selection would’ve been, because it allows time to “capitalize on chaos.”
by sewsgup
9 Comments
>capitalize on chaos
is the perfect way to describe Minny’s picks, Dallas and Boston swap in the future
I wonder what player they’d focused on before selling the pick. Also sounds like Minny wasn’t decided on who they’d take until the draft itself, which is a bit weird, but maybe I’m reading the timeline wrong.
Sometime in the future when there are trade rumors surrounding All NBA talent, because of this trade and the others before it, expect the Spurs to be right in the thick of it all cause they have so many assets and can outbid pretty much anybody. People were/are upset, but it’ll all be worth it, just you wait.
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10000% Rich Paul maneuvered this trade. He ultimately said if the spurs are unwilling to take him, I need to get him on a team that protects him from potentially failing before he reaches his second contract. There aren’t many teams that can protect him and be a fit at the same time especially defensively in the nba.
This right f’n here!
>”Why didn’t the Spurs seize what looked like an easy opportunity to add some young, relatively inexpensive help for Victor Wembanyama?
>Why did they trade for a pick they won’t be able to make for seven years when they already have too many draft assets to use on their own before then?
>The answer is complicated, but it boils down to one motivating principle behind a trade like this:
>Greed.
>Simply put, the Spurs don’t want a sixth Larry O’Brien trophy. They want an eighth, a ninth, a tenth. Their goal is not to win a championship in 2027. Their goal is to win EVERY championship from 2027 until, oh, 2035 or so.
>That might sound unrealistic. It might sound certifiably insane. But blessed with the miracle that was the Wembanyama lottery, the Spurs consider it sacrilege to think small.”
Alot of fake fluff to cover up the fact that basically another team drafted a player they wanted before their draft came up, so they went with Plan B and traded their pick to Minny.
But, but everyone in here has been telling me that Wright is a moron who should be fired! There’s no way they could be wrong, right? Right?
Oh, so it wasn’t exactly what people were speculating regarding ‘Salaun or nothing.’ Interesting.