It's one thing for San Antonio Spurs fans to ponder the idea of signing All-Star Zach LaVine this summer. It's another for the team's biggest star to publicly endorse his recruitment in late April.
On Thursday night, Dejounte Murray stirred the pot with one simple word, some emojis, and a photoshopped picture of his longtime friend and fellow Washington native.
Hmmmmm ??? pic.twitter.com/PCydm8k1Qh
— Dejounte Murray (@DejounteMurray) April 29, 2022
Because I'm fairly certain Dejounte will end up deleting this tweet within hours, here's a backup screenshot that was taken soon after the tweet went up:
Before he deletes this...
— Thomas J. Henny (@yungpopovich) April 29, 2022
Also, do we think Dejounte does his own photoshopping? pic.twitter.com/qXHngSxM8q
There's no question the 27-year-old scoring phenom would add a whole new dimension to the Spurs and officially give them two All-Stars. After averaging a career-high 27.4 points per game last season, he averaged 24.4 this season while shooting 38.9% from beyond the arc.
As I recently wrote about, the maximum amount LaVine can be offered this summer is $36.6 million. Since he's restricted, he can sign for that amount with any team that gives him such an offer without Chicago having a say. Although the Spurs would need to make some moves to clear up that space, the path to do so isn't too difficult.
Fans are understandably torn about putting all the organization's eggs in his basket, however. LaVine is facing arthroscopic knee surgery this summer and has had a number of health issues in the past. He's also not the tall frontcourt player many feel the Spurs need above anything else. Still, there's a lot to be said about his star power and continued improvement.
Twitter users question Dejounte's tweet
Of course, since teams can't officially start engaging with free agents until June 30th, many in the comments put on their best whistleblower face.
Are you even allowed to do this ?
— Old NBA Tweets (@oldnbatweetz) April 29, 2022
You about to be fined ? pic.twitter.com/0boIB8lS5q
— LeChefCurry (@LeChefCurry30) April 29, 2022
But many Spurs fans didn't really mind it.
yeah we'll pay your fine DJ
— Jordan Spurs (@jordanspurs) April 29, 2022
The NBA has cracked down on teams for tampering in recent years, recently forcing the Chicago Bulls and Miami Heat to forfeit draft picks in an investigation surrounding Kyle Lowry and Lonzo Ball. But I'm guessing there's a huge difference between the situation that needed an investigation and a player sharing a photo on Twitter.
Update: By the time I published this post, Dejounte deleted the tweet after about 40 minutes. It'll be interesting to see if there are any ramifications from the message, but I wouldn't expect anything drastic.