With the point guard situation failing in San Antonio, the Spurs should look to trade for one during the 2023-24 NBA season.
The San Antonio Spurs’ 2023-24 NBA season revolves around Victor Wembanyama’s rookie season. Every Spurs game will highlight and showcase the French phenom’s spectacle. This team has no intention of competing. Though Wembanyama’s talent alone can win them some games and put them in the running for a play-in tournament spot, the Spurs will be doing more learning than winning this season. And it has been evident in recent weeks.
Since starting out the season 3-2, which included two impressive wins over the Phoenix Suns, San Antonio has lost six games in a row and is now 14th in the Western Conference.
As currently constructed, it’s clear that this Spurs team is very flawed. For starters, they have a player — Jeremy Sochan — who has never played point guard before, actually starting at point guard for their team. While Sochan has been decent in that role, it certainly isn’t ideal, especially since one of San Antonio’s goals is to get Wembanyama up to speed with the NBA game as much as possible.
Therefore, Wembanyama could probably develop and learn the game better if he’s playing with an actual point guard who knows when to find him in his spots. The Spurs could look to the trade market to get an upgrade at the perimeter. With that said, here are three trades the Spurs could target this 2023-24 NBA season.
The Spurs already have younger bro Tre Jones on the team. Why not bring in big bro Tyus Jones to man the point in San Antonio? At least Jones’ gifts as a facilitator won’t get wasted with a losing franchise like the Washington Wizards. With the Spurs, Jones will be there to set the table for one of the game’s elite young talents in Victor Wembanyama.
As someone who was incredibly efficient in spot starts with the Memphis Grizzlies last season, Jones would be an ideal veteran guard to pair with Wemby in his first NBA season. In 22 starts, Jones averaged 16.4 points and 8.1 assists while shooting 50.0 percent from the field and 41.1 percent from beyond the arc. He also committed just 1.5 turnovers, which gave him an 5.26 assist-to-turnover ratio.
Quickley and the Knicks were unable to reach an agreement for a contract extension. As such, the 6-foot-3 guard will enter restricted free agency next summer. It remains to be seen just how much money Quickley will command this summer. But several reports claimed that he could earn up to $100 million for his first big paycheck. Perhaps New York may look to move him in case the organization does not want to give him that amount of money. Regardless, several teams will undoubtedly look to pry away Quickley from the Knicks.
With that, the Spurs could check in on New York to gauge his availability. Obviously, he’s still playing a huge role for the Knicks as they look to compete in the East. But it would be worth wondering just how high Quickley’s ceiling could go if he is the main ball handler and creator for his team. Perhaps he would thrive in San Antonio alongside Wembanyama.
If Monty Williams doesn’t see Ivey in that light, perhaps San Antonio can give him that chance. He could thrive playing alongside Wembanyama and would grow under the tutelage of legendary coach Gregg Popovich.
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