San Antonio Spurs: Lowe predicts teams will approach Spurs about guards

Teams around the league could ask about the San Antonio Spurs young core

Throughout their history, the San Antonio Spurs have been one of the less involved teams in the trade market. With the exception of the Kawhi Leonard deal, they typically don’t make big roster moves via trade. It’s just not how they roll.

This is partially why, as much as we talk about it, it’s unlikely that the Spurs move either one of DeMar DeRozan or LaMarcus Aldridge during this offseason. But those aren’t the only two players on the roster who could be on the move, at least according to Zach Lowe.

Zach Lowe believes teams will call the San Antonio Spurs about Derrick White

During a recent episode of his podcast, The Lowe Post, Lowe was talking with his former boss and Ringer founder, Bill Simmons about some hypothetical trades that could take place. Both of them seem dubious of the prospects of one of DeRozan or Aldridge getting moved this offseason. But Lowe did float out the idea of other teams calling and asking about the availability of Derrick White.

“I know a lot of teams are going to call the Spurs about Derrick White, for instance. Because there’s this sense that there’s limited interest in DeMar DeRozan and LaMarcus Aldridge and then there’s this sense that the Spurs have all these young guards and wings and they’re going to eventually trade one of them. So maybe I call about Derrick White and see if I can get him.”

You might not like the suggestion that the Spurs would field calls for White but it’s hard to say that Lowe’s take on the situation is wrong.

Between White, Dejounte Murray, Keldon Johnson, and Lonnie Walker the Spurs do have quite a few young guards and wings. And all of them seem to be in that starter to above-average starter tier of players.

As much as we’d like to believe that one or more of them can become All-Star’s they’re not there yet. And if San Antonio has a strong feeling about which players among the four are least likely to reach that level it wouldn’t be surprising to see them trade one of them away for a forward to round out their team or draft picks down the road.

San Antonio has to have an eye on the situation they could find themselves in in a few years if they’re not careful. They’ve already committed $64 million over the next four seasons to Murray and will likely offer White a similar extension. Add in future extensions for Walker and Johnson a couple of years down the line and all of a sudden the cap space that the Spurs once had is tied up in players who might not ever reach an All-Star game.

The last place San Antonio wants to be is stuck in the bottom of the lottery to the lower end of the playoffs with all of their cap space locked up in four players who can’t take them over the top. There’s a very real possibility that trading away one of the players that we’ve all become fond of is the only avenue to avoid that.

Do I think that the Spurs should trade Derrick Whtie? Absolutely not. But if other teams come calling about White or one of their other young guards or wings they should listen. None of the players on the roster should be considered untouchable right now and the Spurs would be wise to keep all their options on the table.