By the time the next NBA season tips off in October 2025, the San Antonio Spurs could look like a much different ball club. The way the team fell off this season was concerning, and this was a year when everyone needed to step into their roles with confidence to secure their future with the franchise.
Coach Popovich is known for basically saying that the players will tell you how much time they get and how long they'll be a part of the organization. They do that by how they conduct themselves as men and as basketball players. If they aren't showing improvement at the right pace, they have to go, and as Victor Wembanyama ascends into superstardom, the pressure will be on for his supporting cast to perform.
With that being said, there hasn't been as much consistency on either defense or offense on any given night. This team hasn't been able to string together any consistent production since January began, so they'll need to look elsewhere to improve the roster. The first call they should make when the season ends is to the Brooklyn Nets to see what it would take to acquire Cam Johnson.
Acquiring Cam Johnson is a no-brainer for the Spurs
The value of shooters has never been higher, and it's one of San Antonio's biggest needs. Bleacher Report crafted lists for every team in the NBA, predicting the top three players most likely to be traded. Johnson topped the list for Brooklyn, and it's easy to make that connection based on all the rumors that they wanted to move him around the trade deadline.
Cam is a sharpshooting forward who went to college at the University of North Carolina. That gives him a connection to current Spurs forwards Harrison Barnes and Harrison Ingram and former Spurs guard and 2014 champion Danny Green.
Barnes, like Green once did, is making himself known around the 210 for his three-point acumen—among other things. Johnson should be the next Tar heel to join the ranks and showcase his range in a silver and black uniform. He's a 40% shooter from deep, and at 6'8", he has the size to play the three or the four. He's quick enough to switch on defense, and long enough to contest shots when they rotate.
Some may wonder why in the world the Nets would want to trade a player so useful in today's NBA, and the answer could easily be explained by one simple sentence: It's the Nets. Don't look a gift horse in the mouth. If they put a marksman like Johnson on the market, San Antonio shouldn't hesitate to make a trade for him.
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