Spurs can solve all their problems with 2 obvious trade deadline moves

Long-time Spurs writer Paul Garcia put together a comprehensive article detailing specifics for which players across the league could be available to the team via trade based on their needs. It's great work that you should check out (paid). We know this team needs shooting and frontcourt depth, so two names stood out to me. Luke Kennard and Guerschon Yabusele.

Both players are rumored to be available ahead of the February 5 trade deadline, and the Spurs would do well to make moves to acquire them both before the home stretch of the 2025-26 campaign. Kennard is on a one-year, $11 million expiring deal and is shooting 49% from three.

Yabusele isn't having his best shooting year, but I believe he'll play better in a different situation. We've seen that from him. That's not all he brings, though. The French big man plays with energy and physicality. This team needs some extra toughness just as much as they need shooting, and he can supply that.

Spurs don't have to be that patient

San Antonio's three-point shooting hovered around the middle of the pack for the first couple of months of the season, even rising into the top 10 briefly, but they've now plummeted into the bottom 10. Guys have been struggling to find the bottom of the net—some longer than others. The former Blue Devil can help with that.

Kennard is currently in Atlanta. Brian Wright finessed them in the Dejounte Murray trade, but for their side of it, they obviously didn't feel that way. They were excited to pair Murray with Trae Young. Unfortunately, it didn't work, but that's not the Spurs' fault, so coming to the table for another deal shouldn't be an issue.

ESPN's Bobby Marks recently wrote that he believes the Silver and Black would be smart to be conservative at the deadline in favor of waiting to see what Victor Wembanyama's first playoff experience looked like before making any adjustments.

While I wouldn't completely hate the decision to stand pat, I definitely wouldn't prefer it at this point. That's an evolved position on my part because I didn't want them to touch the roster at all a couple of months ago, but we've gathered more information as the games have been played, and it's enough to understand what would benefit this team. More shooting and toughness.

There's a blueprint for Yabusele's resurgence

I know Yabusele doesn't have the best reputation right now, but that just means the Spurs should be able to get him on a discount. He's only making $5.5 million, and getting him to the right situation would likely be a game-changer for his career. We saw what he could do in the Paris Olympics and in Philly as a backup/starter for Joel Embiid.

I find it hard to believe that he's just forgotten how to play basketball, and if he's out of shape, he can be San Antonio's new version of Boris Diaw. Tony Parker famously had a long relationship with Diaw, both being from France and coming up in the same circuits.

Boris was waived by the Charlotte Bobcats after an unsuccessful stint there, where he became out of shape. The Spurs signed him a day later. He got back into shape the following season, and the rest is history. Bobo is now one of the most beloved players from the 2010s era.

Yabusele could follow a similar path, and the fact that he and Vic are both French makes the comparison too perfect to ignore. We don't need to wait to see opponents suffocate the paint in April before realizing more space would be helpful, and I'd rather not keep having conversations about physicality. Finding a way to add these two would give the Spurs a better look at what they should do this summer.