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San Antonio Spurs Rumors: DeRozan to Miami a possibility

ByEthan Farina|
MIAMI, FLORIDA - JANUARY 15: Jimmy Butler #22 of the Miami Heat greets DeMar DeRozan #10 of the San Antonio Spurs after the game at American Airlines Arena on January 15, 2020 in Miami, Florida. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
MIAMI, FLORIDA - JANUARY 15: Jimmy Butler #22 of the Miami Heat greets DeMar DeRozan #10 of the San Antonio Spurs after the game at American Airlines Arena on January 15, 2020 in Miami, Florida. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)

More rumors around potential trades for the San Antonio Spurs guard brewing

The next few months are going to be crucial for the San Antonio Spurs. After an impressive stretch of play in the seasons restart, fans of the team have a lot to be excited about, but how the Spurs handle their offseason will still be a major storyline to follow into the fall.

One of the biggest orders of business is how the team decides to respond to DeMar DeRozan’s contract situation. There are questions about his long term fit in San Antonio but you can still make the case that he should still be a building block for the franchise.

DeRozan does have a $27.7 million dollar player option for the 2020-21 season. Some of the quotes he had after the Spurs final regular-season game led us to believe that he would be coming back and that looks increasingly likely, at least according to some reports.

In a recently published piece for CNBC, Jabari Young laid out some of the Spurs plans for the future and touched on what he’s hearing about DeRozan. He believes that DeRozan will “likely decide to pick up his option”, which could open up some interesting possibilities for San Antonio if they decide to try and trade him rather than move forward with him as part of the team.

San Antonio Spurs and Miami Heat could make a deal centered around DeRozan

If the Spurs do decide to try to trade DeRozan, the Miami Heat would make for a good partner. According to Young’s report, that’s one possibility that some agents are talking about. He also noted that DeRozan is already close with Miami’s star, Jimmy Butler.

The Heat have been a team that we’ve talked about as a good destination for DeRozan for a while now. They’re one of the best teams in the Eastern Conference right now but depending on how the rest of their playoff run goes they could be looking to upgrade quickly and bringing in outside help to make a title push has always been an option for Pat Riley.

Miami has the contracts to make any deal work and plenty of young talent that the Spurs might be interested in. But there likely isn’t any overlap in the players that San Antonio should ask for if they’re sending DeRozan to Miami and the ones the Heat would be willing to part with.

Parting with Bam Adebayo is almost certainly out of the question. The young guards, Tyler Herro, Duncan Robinson, and Kendrick Nunn might not be though. Any one of them, plus salary fillers like Andre Iguodala and Kelly Olynyk, could make for an enticing offer.

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Herro is a walking bucket, he’d bring a strong offensive skillset that would go nicely with the defensive-minded guards the Spurs already have on their roster. Robinson has rapidly made a name for himself as one of the league’s best shooters, and Nunn is a Rookie of the Year finalist who, were it not for the outstanding season from Ja Morant, would likely be the favorite to win the award.

But the Heat seem very fond of Herro, you just have to check their social media on any given Tuesday to see them hyping up their rookie on what they call “Tyler Tuesday’s.” Robinson and Nunn also seem firmly entrenched as key pieces for a team that has a great mix of youth and veteran leadership.

But again, we’ve seen Pat Riley put his rings on the table and do what he thinks is necessary to help the Heat hang up another banner. If he truly believes that swapping one of those three for DeRozan will help Miami capture another championship he probably won’t hesitate to pull the trigger.

The San Antonio Spurs typically don’t go for splashy trades like moving DeRozan to Miami but as Young said, it’s a possibility that is being talked about around the league. In any case, DeMar’s situation in San Antonio is one of the must-watch storylines of the team’s offseason.

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