Grade the Trade: Spurs' leap into three-team deal could solve two problems

The San Antonio Spurs already made the defining move of their offseason. Winning the NBA Draft Lottery gave them a shot at an all-time prospect, and as of last Thursday Victor Wembanyama is officially a member of the Spurs, for now and hopefully the rest of his career.

That doesn't mean there aren't still moves to make. The Spurs don't have any incentive to keeping around massive gobs of cap space beyond the start of the season, so they should look to put it to good use. They also have at least one free agent to bring back in Tre Jones, and a few veteran players that will get looks from other teams in trade offers.

The Spurs have two primary problems

San Antonio has no incentive to rush things as Wembanyama comes along, but their roster as currently constructed does have two big problems. Zach Collins, Khem Birch and Charles Bassey make up the current center rotation, and while Collins has resurrected his career in San Antonio the team could use someone else with size down low. Perhaps Bassey becomes that player, but the Spurs have reportedly been searching for a veteran center to start alongside Wembanyama.

The other big need is at point guard. Tre Jones is a fine caretaker, but the Spurs don't have a reliable table-setter for the minutes when Jones is off the court. They could make a big swing (names like Chris Paul and Damian Lillard have been mentioned) but more likely they're looking for a veteran to come in and help Wembanyama develop by getting him the ball in advantage situations.

One recent bit of reporting could lead to the Spurs killing two birds with one stone. How can San Antonio address a need at center and at point guard in one swing? Let's lay out a three-team trade that brings it all together.

Laying out the trade

Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports is one of the most plugged-in NBA Insiders in media, and he recently published a notebook of rumors he was hearing around the league. In there, he mentioned that the San Antonio Spurs are interested in acquiring Jonas Valanciunas of the New Orleans Pelicans.

In the same piece, he reported that the Pelicans called the Cleveland Cavaliers about All-Star center Jarrett Allen. It doesn't make much sense for the Pels to keep Valanciunas if they add Allen, but the Cavs might be looking to transition to a smaller lineup by shifting Evan Mobley - effectively two years ahead of the Spurs with Wembanyama.

How could the two rumors come together? Well, the Spurs could step in and take back Valanciunas, using a bit of their cap space to reduce New Orleans' salary sheet. That would incentivize the Pels to send back a pair of young prospects to Cleveland, opening up enough space to re-sign Josh Richardson and use the full MLE on a player in free agency.

Here's what the deal would look like:

The Pelicans get their guy in Jarrett Allen, a player who instantly transforms their rim protection. The Cavaliers get a steady backup for Evan Mobley in Zach Collins, a two-way wing to start in Trey Murphy III, and a pair of backcourt prospects in Dyson Daniels and Kira Lewis Jr.

What about the Spurs? Would they make this deal?

Would the Spurs say yes?

In the proposed deal, the Spurs make a couple of additions. First, they add Jonas Valanciunas to be their starting center. Secondly, they bring in Ricky Rubio to back up Tre Jones. In return they give up Zach Collins and around $13.8 million in cap room.

Valanciunas is a burly center who excels at crashing the offensive glass. He ranked seventh in the NBA last season in rebounds per game, averaging 10.2 to go along with his 14.1 points. Specifically, his 13 percent offensive rebounding percentage ranked eighth in the league, sixth among starting centers.

If the Spurs are looking for a double-double machine to come in and take on the opponent's largest player, Valanciunas is the right guy. He can eat up as many offensive touches as a team needs, will do the dirty work on the glass, and makes up for all of the areas that Wembenyama will need to grow in.

As for Ricky Rubio, he had something of a shaky season coming back from an ACL tear, but as recently as 2021-22 he was right there as the best backup point guard in the league. He is relatively inexpensive, is an excellent locker room presence, and still one of the league's better passers. He would be the ideal target to fill the next season or two before the Spurs upgrade more dramatically at the position (or hand the reigns to a developing player).

The loss of Collins is notable, since he is a true success story for the Spurs over the last couple of seasons, but he isn't a player to get in the way of a deal. The cap space could be used elsewhere, but this is a fine use of it, especially when they need to get to the salary floor anyways.

This isn't an earth-shattering trade, but the Spurs don't need one right now. They need to set up their young phenom to develop quickly and properly, and adding Valanciunas and Rubio is an excellent way to accomplish that.

Grade: A-