Has Brian Wright Done a Good Job as the Spurs' GM?
By Cal Durrett
The Many Moves of Brian Wright
Since taking over as GM, Wright has drafted four players: Devin Vassell, Tre Jones, Joshua Primo, and Joe Weiskamp. So far, all of those picks have appeared to be the right choices. For instance, Vassell has already shown plenty of potential and could end up being one of the best players in his draft class while Primo is looking more and more like a smart selection.
Wright will have three more picks in this year's draft, including a possible top-five pick, which could prove crucial to the team's long-term success. However, given his draft track record, the Spurs have a good chance of selecting a great player either way.
Wright also did well to acquire a second-round pick in the upcoming draft that will likely be a high pick from the Detroit Pistons. Armed with this, Wright could trade up into the late first round and give the Spurs a second first-round pick. Or he could package it with the Spurs' lottery pick to try and move up into the top three of the draft, thus giving the team plenty of options.
Wright has done an excellent job of making deals that pay dividends down the road. For example, take the Forbes trade. He chose to bring back Forbes on a one-year, $4.5 million contract. It made absolutely no sense at the time but the intention was apparently to trade him later to a contender for an asset.
The Spurs got a lightly protected 2028 second-round from Denver, pushing the pick out far enough to increase the chances of it becoming a high second-rounder. Wright also got the Spurs $2.35 million in cash for taking on Juancho Hernangomez, thus wisely using the room under the luxury tax to take on other team's bad contracts for assets.
Now the Spurs have a future second and have also opened up playing time for Primo, who will now be able to ease into a rotation role. While all of those moves were great, Wright has also had a few missteps too.