Will it happen?
While the San Antonio Spurs only sit one game out of the playoffs, the front office is coming to terms that the team isn’t going to make the playoffs this year. After acquiring DeMar DeRozan during the summer of 2018, through the infamous trade for Kawhi Leonard; the team felt they had enough talent to compete in the playoffs.
However, with older talent retiring and LaMarcus Aldridge potentially missing his window at a championship, the Spurs are set to reboot their entire team. That begins in the coming weeks, as the upcoming trade deadline approaches. At the moment, the team is aggressively looking to trade both DeMar and LaMarcus, before the middle of February to possible contenders.
A trade for DeRozan is likelier to happen between the two on stats alone; but there’s one major thing holding things up. DeMar has a player option worth $27.7 million for the 2021 season, where he’ll likely exercise this summer. Averaging 22 points a game hasn’t been enough for DeRozan, as he’s been lacking on defense. This has caused friction with head coach Gregg Popovich, for his efforts on the defensive end.
San Antonio has also been struggling to find a taker for the Aldridge; who’s still due $50 million in total, this season and next. We expect San Antonio to look for multiple trade picks in the draft, if they are successful in trading both. Rudy Gay, who’s also due $14 million next year, is another solid role player we expect to see moved from the team.
Expect DeRozan and Rudy to definitely be moved, while Aldridge awaits his fate for a contender.