3 Backup centers Spurs should pursue to cap a perfect trade deadline

Time to address the other needs

Day'Ron Sharpe, Brooklyn Nets
Day'Ron Sharpe, Brooklyn Nets | Sarah Stier/GettyImages

The San Antonio Spurs pulled off a blockbuster trade for De'Aaron Fox Sunday night, and now it's time to make the rest of the roster up to snuff.

Backup center stands out as a glaring weakness, made even more so by the trading of Zach Collins -- he wasn't a particularly good backup center, but he was a warm body. Charles Bassey had some early-season flashes but turned back into a pumpkin, and Sandro Mamukelashvili is undersized an a problem defensively even if his offensive skill is helpful.

Can the Spurs find the answer on the trade market? Let's look at three options of varying costs and abilities and see who might fit the Spurs the best.

No. 3: Larry Nance Jr.

Part of the beauty of a backup is lining up their skillset with the starter so that the team can play the same style no matter who is on the court. Teammates don't have to learn a completely new set of plays for when they are paired in a lineup with the backup.

That's most difficult with a team like the Spurs whose center is 7'5" and shoots 3-pointers like he's Danny Green. But finding a backup who can also get up 3-pointers could keep things flowing when Wembanyama is off the court. Just ask the Boston Celtics how valuable it was having Al Horford, another stretch 5, when Kristaps Porzingis missed time in the playoffs last season.

Enter Larry Nance Jr., currently the third center on the freefalling Atlanta Hawks. They are quickly going to realize prioritizing winning for this season is not in the cards, and moving on from a veteran like Nance who is not a part of their long-term core makes a lot of sense.

Nance is shooting 45 percent from deep this season on top of his always-solid playmaking, defense and rebounding. He could play a small-minute role behind Wembanyama and provide that same floor-spacing for a roster that remains shooting-challenged.

The difficult piece is that Nance makes $11.25 million this season, and the Spurs just jettisoned much of their ideal matching salary. A trade involving Malaki Branham and Julian Champagnie would work, but may be too much for the Spurs to pay.

No. 2: Day'Ron Sharpe

The Brooklyn nets understood their mission: offload the most important players to their winning ways, then lose as many games as possible to maximize their lottery odds to land a true difference maker.

There is still work to be done, however, and that includes trading away Day'Ron Sharpe if a team comes and offers them something of value. The Spurs could very well be that team.

Sharpe, in his fourth year out of North Carolina, is an attractive trade candidate because he only makes $3.98 million this season, making it a lot easier for the Spurs to acquire him. The 6'11" big man is a bruising rebounder, averaging 16.5 points and 13 rebounds per 36 minutes. Put it another way, his 21.9 percent career rebounding percentage would rank second on the Spurs this year, ahead of Wembanyama, Zach Collins and Jeremy Sochan, among others (and behind only Charles Bassey).

A player inexpensive enough to acquire but with enough talent and impact to potentially be a long-term keeper? That's worth tossing a small asset to the Nets to bring him aboard as the primary backup to Wembanyama.

No. 1: Guerschon Yabesele

What about a countryman, mon ami?

Guerschon Yabusele was dominant alongside Victor Wembanyama for Team France in the Paris Olympics last summer, and it earned him a contract in the NBA with the Philadelphia 76ers. Yabusele was supposed to be firmly ensconced at power forward, but with continual injuries to both Joel Embiid and Andre Drummond he has been forced into action as a smallball 5.

The results? Not too bad. On a team that is well under .500 and losing to all manner of opponents, lineups where Yabusele plays center have a positive scoring differential at +0.3 points per 100 possessions. Those groups are mediocre on defensively -- unsurprising given that the Dancing Bear is 6'8" and not blessed with a sky-high vertical for deterring shots -- but supercharged on offense.

Yabusele has reinvigorated his career this season, but he is set to hit unrestricted free agency this summer and the 76ers will struggle to retain him. They are actively shopping him, and the Spurs could make a call and see what the cost to acquire him would be.

It's always nice to see Wembanyama play with a fellow Frenchman, and Yabusele would be an intriguing option of a very different style to try backing him up in San Antonio.

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