3 Trades the Spurs can make on NBA Draft night

The San Antonio Spurs are expected to be very busy on NBA Draft night, not only with their four selections but also potentially negotiating trades. Trades happen all the time during the draft, and those picks give the Spurs a golden opportunity to try and improve the team.

There could be some pretty big names available too, with several teams looking to shake things up, and the Spurs should try to take advantage. Now, let’s look at three teams the Spurs could trade with on draft night.

The Portland Trail Blazers have made the seventh pick available to add more talent around superstar Damian Lillard. That asset is likely to draw plenty of interest from other teams, possibly even the Spurs, who could make a competitive offer. 

The Spurs have two valuable veterans to offer in Doug McDermott and Josh Richardson, both of whom could be worth a late first-round pick on their own. Meanwhile, the Blazers have Eric Bledsoe and Justise Winslow who will make a combined $23.3 million next season, but neither figure to play a big role for their team. Therefore, swapping Bledsoe and Winslow out for McDermott and Richardson for what amounts to a trade back from seven to 20 seems like good value for the Blazers.

After all, they'd be adding two good players and a promising young prospect, possibly giving them three new rotation players. It won't exactly put them in title contention, but it's a good start, and they'll have max cap space in free agency to continue to build around Lillard.

For the Spurs, acquiring the seventh pick would allow them to select another top prospect with Keegan Murray or Dyson Daniels being possibilities. In fact, they've been rumored to be interested in trading up for Murray but could take Daniels if he's gone, so a trade for the seventh pick means they could select one or the other.

As for Winslow and Bledsoe, they could waive Winslow and possibly use Bledsoe's big expiring contract in a sign-and-trade for, say, Deandre Ayton.

Another trade could bring an already-established player to the Alamo City by way of Toronto, which I'll examine next.