4 Potential Trade Candidates Entering 2023-24 NBA Training Camp
For San Antonio Spurs fans, the 2023–24 season promises to be a thrilling one because they will finally get to see their prized prospect, Victor Wembanyama, make his eagerly awaited debut.
For a Spurs team in need of a cornerstone player as they attempt to restore the franchise to its former glory, Wembanyama, the first overall pick in the 2023 NBA Draft, should be a game-changing presence.
In addition, as training camp approaches, Spurs supporters will be interested in Devin Vassell’s continued development after his recent contract extension, while young players like Keldon Johnson, Jeremy Sochan, and Malaki Branham will try to advance in their individual careers.
In the end, though, the Spurs still have a ways to go because their roster is full of sporadic role players who aren’t expected to stick around for the long haul. In order to reduce the roster to 16 players before training camp starts, the Spurs have already started trimming the roster’s excess fat by waiving Reggie Bullock and Cameron Payne recently.
In order to start the season with the required roster size of 15, they will need to cut one more player, perhaps through a trade or waiver claim.
Here are the four players the Spurs are most likely to release before the season starts.
- Doug McDermot.
The ability to spread the floor is Doug McDermott’s greatest strength as a coach.
The Spurs will need this skill more than ever as they attempt to build a cohesive offense around Victor Wembanyama.
Additionally, McDermott enjoys movement because it allows him to shoot while he curls off screens and generally lends weight to the team’s perimeter efforts.
However, McDermott struggles to contribute almost everywhere else, and at 31 years old, he may not exactly be a priority for a Spurs team that wants to give their young players real-world experience.
The Spurs will concentrate on giving Julian Champagnie, a player who stood out during Summer League, minutes at the three, and Jeremy Sochan, who is expected to start behind Wembanyama at the four, will receive a lot of playing time at that position.
The 31-year-old sharpshooter’s contract will expire after the 2023–24 season, increasing the likelihood that he will switch teams, possibly even before training camp even starts.
2.
Devante Graham.
The floor general who could help Victor Wembanyama, Devin Vassell, and Keldon Johnson play to their strengths appears to be the Spurs’ top priority right now.
While Devonte’ Graham is an efficient enough scorer to justify some of the shots he tends to take, Tre Jones isn’t a lethal enough scorer to keep up with the demands of the position in today’s NBA.
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Malaki Branham and Blake Wesley are being developed as potential lead guards, so the team has invested in their progress, so Graham might find himself in the rotation anyway.
Therefore, don’t be surprised if Graham ends up being traded throughout the season.
His contract might also be appealing to teams looking to lessen their financial obligations in the future because it only has a $2.85 million guarantee for the following season.
- Kim Birch.
Khem Birch is expected to be the odd man out in the frontcourt rotation due to the Spurs’ abundance of big men (in addition to Wembanyama and Collins, the team also has Charles Bassey and Sandro Mamukelashvili, not to mention two-way youngster Dominick Barlow).
By all accounts, Birch is a positive influence in the locker room who could impart some professionalism to the young players.
However, it’s possible that the team would benefit more from using this roster spot somewhere else.
It shouldn’t be too difficult to find any willing takers for the 31-year-old big man because his contract is about to expire.
- A Cedi Osman.
Cedi Osman is the player on this list most likely to benefit the Spurs next season and also the player most likely to stay with the team. Osman is a gunslinger from deep who has occasionally demonstrated the capacity to be useful when it comes to defending on the perimeter.
The Spurs may turn to the 28-year-old Turkish international to handle the majority of the backup minutes behind Vassell and Johnson because they don’t have many two-way players on the wing.
Osman, however, is also the player who could be most helpful to teams in contention in that same vein. Osman only contributed significantly to a 50-game winning Cleveland Cavaliers team just last season.
His contract is set to expire after the current season, just like the contracts of three other players on this list, so it shouldn’t be too difficult for the Spurs to find a potential deal that makes sense for them.
