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This shouldn’t come as much of a surprise to anyone, but as is the case nearly every year, it is being reported that the Spurs could be open to trading Dejounte Murray and/or Derrick White. This time, it’s coming from Zach Harper of The Athletic.
Dejounte Murray and Derrick White could both be gettable from the Spurs, sources tell @talkhoops, making them a team to keep an eye on around the draft.
— The Athletic NBA (@TheAthleticNBA) July 9, 2021
NBA Mock Draft: https://t.co/sz3uYkNdCB pic.twitter.com/bhXp8MHPoj
There’s two things to keep in mind here. One is while this sort of thing comes up every year, this shouldn’t be too surprising to anyone since no one on the current roster should truly be considered untouchable. None of the young players are stars — or even All-Stars, if you consider the two to be different — so if the right offer came along, the Spurs should most certainly consider it.
Of course, there’s a key phrase in there that leads me to the second point: the right offer. Murray and White are still the closest thing the Spurs have to “untouchable” players, so if another team is truly that interested in one of them, they better come out with the best offer they can. My guess is for the Spurs, that would not only require an equal or better player in return, especially one that fills a positional need and would theoretically make them better, but it would probably also require a draft pick that would give the Spurs a significant jump up the pecking order, where they could get a player they want who otherwise might have been off the table by 12th. Maybe a top 5 pick? Murray is about to enter the second year of a four-year, $62 million extension, and White is entering the first year of a four-year, $72-year million extension.
In the end, this is just one of those rumors that pops up every year and usually doesn’t amount to anything. So fans who don’t want either Murray or White traded can take solice that the odds are probably in their favor, and those who believe the Spurs should be open to anything can be assured that they are, especially if it means getting out of their middling state.
What side of the isle do you stand on, and what type of package would you consider acceptable to pry away either of those two players? Feel free to discuss in the comments below.