3 Worst San Antonio Spurs Trade Targets

The San Antonio Spurs have the potential to add a big-name player via the NBA trade market. They have ample cap room, team-friendly salaries to trade, and plenty of draft capital to ship out. As all eyes are on the Spurs and how they plan to build around Victor Wembanyama, the Spurs have been linked to pretty much every available player on the trade market.

However, the direction of their rebuild is pretty clear: add defensive-minded players who can get the ball down low to Victor Wembanyama.

With that in mind, there are three players the San Antonio Spurs should avoid trading for.

1. Zach LaVine

LaVine is an inefficient offensive player who is often injured. He is also owed over $40 million for each of the next three seasons.

LaVine is not a bad player, but his bloated contract would limit the Spurs' flexibility. He needs the ball in his hands to succeed, which would take away from Wembanyama's shot diet. He is also not great on defense, so the Spurs' would have to rely heavily on Stephon Castle.

Speaking of Castle, while he projects to be a good two-way NBA player, there is no guarantee that he will develop into a distributor. If he fails to turn into a true point guard, the Spurs will have to rely on LaVine to conduct the offense, which has never worked out well.

It's true that his value is at an all-time low and the Spurs could get him on the cheap, but there's a reason he's been stuck in Chicago despite the Bulls openly shopping him.

2. Trae Young

Trae Young has long been linked to the Spurs. The Atlanta Hawks gave San Antonio their entire future to try and pair Young with Dejounte Murray, although that experiment quickly failed, and Murray has been shipped to the New Orleans Pelicans.

Young, who is a pass-first guard who can hit shots from anywhere on the court, would actually be a good fit on the roster. His defense leaves a lot to be desired, but his ability to orchestrate the offense and create for himself and his teammates is unmatched.

However, the Hawks sent the Spurs three first-round picks for Murray, including an unprotected pick in the coveted 2025 NBA Draft. Atlanta will likely be very, very bad this season, and the Spurs can use the Hawks' pick to land another franchise-altering player like Cooper Flagg. Even if the Hawks miss out on the top pick, there is a ton of talent to be had, and the Spurs shouldn't part ways with Atlanta's pick, which is certainly what it would take to get a deal done.

3. Julius Randle

The New York Knicks are pretty openly shopping Julius Randle, who has been an All-Star three times in the Big Apple. Much like Keldon Johnson, Randle is a good player who simply doesn't fit their current roster makeup.

Randle is in the last year of his contract with a $30.9 million option for 2025-26, which makes his salary manageable for the Spurs. The Knicks are looking to add depth, particularly at the center position, so while the Spurs could flip Johnson, Zach Collins, and a handful of picks for an All-NBA player, Randle simply does not fit their roster, either.

Since 2021, he has been a 32.6 percent three-point shooter but still shoots at the same volume he did in 2020-21 when he shot 40 percent from deep. That year was likely a fluke, and he is not a floor-spacing threat at all, so the paint would get pretty crowded with him, Wembanyama, and Jeremy Sochan.

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He is also not a great defender, which doesn't fit with the Spurs' makeup. He is also 29 years old and simply does not fit the timeline in San Antonio.

Expect the Knicks to find a suitor, but by all accounts, they won't get the expected return for a player of Randle's caliber.