according to ClutchPoints\u2019 Brett Siegl<\/a>. Since they have Derek Lively around, moving Gafford, who dealt with injuries last season but is used to playing heavy minutes, would help them avoid a logjam while moving up a few spots from 30th.<\/p>\nFor the Spurs, the move is all about getting more athletic and upgrading their backup center position. Kornet was solid in the regular season as a rim protector, screener, and rebounder, but he struggled in the playoffs. Gafford offers most of what Luke does while also being a much more dangerous lob threat and a proven postseason contributor on some Mavericks teams that went deep in the playoffs. The trade would involve adding salary, but San Antonio is not close to the aprons, so it wouldn\u2019t be a major issue this season, and if Gafford doesn\u2019t work out, he\u2019s on a movable contract. Brian Wright would also have the 30th and 35th pick if someone drops, and he wants to move up a couple of spots in the first round.<\/p>\n
Assuming the Spurs consider Gafford an upgrade and try to get him, the issue is that they could have competitors. The Hornets seem like a prime destination for a big man, since they lack a starting-quality veteran, and they have the 18th and 14th picks. The Bulls also have a hole at center and have the 15th pick. The Raptors, picking 19th, could offer their pick and some talent back. It might be hard to get the deal done even if San Antonio is motivated, but it could be worth trying, especially if Dallas values Kornet as a good stopgap option as a backup.<\/p>\n
Spurs send the 20th pick to the Bucks for Bobby Portis<\/p>\n
The Bucks are going to trade Giannis Antetokounmpo. If they go with the Heat\u2019s offer and opt to rebuild, they would have no use for Portis, who is a fan favorite and still productive, but will turn 32 during next season. A first-rounder should be enough to entice them to trade him, especially while taking no salary back. Portis seems to really like Milwaukee, but if they opt to go young, he\u2019d likely see a change of scenery with good eyes. And landing in San Antonio, where he would play with and back up Victor Wembanyama, would surely interest him.<\/p>\n
The move couldn\u2019t be completed until the new season, because the Spurs would be using their mid-level exception to absorb his contract. The reason for San Antonio to go through with this is that Portis seems to fit what they need in terms of big man depth perfectly. He can play power forward and center on small lineups, hit threes at a high level, and bring toughness and rebounding.<\/p>\n
Will there be a better option in free agency to use the mid-level exception on, allowing the Silver and Black to not have to trade a pick while still heading into opening night without a hole at power forward? It\u2019s possible, but Portis seems like a good option, especially if the Spurs don\u2019t have anyone they love in the 20th pick\u2019s range.<\/p>\n
Spurs send the 20th pick to the 76ers for Dominick Barlow, the 22nd pick<\/p>\n
Barlow, a former Spurs two-way player, had a bit of a breakout season with the 76ers last season. By necessity, Philadelphia gave him almost 24 minutes per game, and he responded by averaging 7.7 points, 4.8 rebounds, and 1.2 assists. He didn\u2019t really make a big leap on his biggest weakness, three-point shooting, but he made a lot of hustle plays and looked good on defense. He was impressive enough that they converted his two-way contract into a standard deal.<\/p>\n
Now, Barlow is cheap and was reasonably productive, so why wouldn\u2019t the 76ers just pick up his cheap option for the 2026\/27 season? Well, Daryl Morey, who signed and converted Barlow\u2019s contract, is gone, replaced by Mike Gansey. Gansey might not be a Barlow fan, and if he\u2019s presented with the opportunity to climb two spots to make sure he gets the player he likes by trading a player he doesn\u2019t consider a part of the future of the team, he\u2019d likely pull the trigger.<\/p>\n
Is Barlow good enough to solve the Spurs\u2019 depth issues at the big forward\/center spots? Not really, but he\u2019s just 23 years old, knows the franchise, and is likely more ready to contribute than most rookies would be. And since in this scenario he\u2019d only cost moving down two spots and would be absorbed using an exception (which again, means waiting a while until the deal can be finalized), it wouldn\u2019t be the worst idea to give him a new opportunity in San Antonio. If whoever Brian Wright wants could be there at 22nd, adding some cheap, young depth in the process could be smart.<\/p>\n
Should the Spurs trade the pick for a veteran or trade down and pick someone up? Who do you think they should target if they are willing to move the 20th pick?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The 2026 NBA Draft is hours away. The Spurs are no longer a lottery team, so there\u2019s not…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":755732,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[574],"tags":[64,63,726,85,357994],"class_list":["post-755731","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-basketball","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-basketball","tag-sports","tag-spurs-draft"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/755731","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=755731"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/755731\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/755732"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=755731"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=755731"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=755731"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}