Could Spurs Trade for Booker to Help Wemby?

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Jonah Kubicek | Last updated Jan 2, 2025 11:49 AM ET

As the San Antonio Spurs rebuild around Victor Wembanyama, it's safe to say that they will need to make a trade sooner or later. With 17 first-round picks between 2025 and 2031, the Spurs won't be able to use all of them, making them ripe to be included in a deal for a star.

Devin Vassell, Jeremy Sochan, Stephon Castle, and Julian Champagnie are all excellent young players, but the likelihood of one of them turning into a legitimate All-Star talent alongside Wemby seems far-fetched. The Spurs have been linked to established players like De'Aaron Fox and Trae Young, but they could trade for an All-Star on a struggling rival team.

At 15-17 with no draft capital of their own and severely limited financial flexibility in upcoming free agencies, the Phoenix Suns might have no other option than to blow it up and rebuild. The Spurs could offer quite the package for Devin Booker.

If all goes well, Castle will be a heady defender and solid facilitator on offense, although his scoring punch is severely dampened by his poor 3-point shooting. Adding a walking bucket to the backcourt with him, and allowing Sochan and Vassell to play more natural off-ball roles would help the Spurs create a more idealistic starting five around Wembanyama.

That's a big reason why we’d urged the Spurs to be willing to go all-in should the Suns try and part ways with Booker and Kevin Durant.

Booker is averaging 24.7 points on 34.1 percent shooting from deep, which are solid numbers. They are down from his career bests, and in San Antonio, he would be option 1-A on offense. He is also a capable secondary facilitator, so he and Castle could run the offense once the 39-year-old Chris Paul is out of town.

The San Antonio Spurs would receive Devin Booker in exchange for Keldon Johnson, Zach Collins, Tre Jones, Malaki Branham, a 2025 first-round pick (via CHI, protected top-10), a 2026 first-round pick, a 2030 first-round pick (via DAL), and a 2031 first-round pick.

The Suns would be unsaddling themselves from one of their monster contracts and would receive four first-round picks for Booker. The pick from the Chicago Bulls is expected to convey unless the Bulls make a trade of their own.

Adding Booker while keeping the young core in San Antonio complete would allow the Spurs to improve even quicker than they already are, and if Wembanyama continues his ascent, they might be in the title conversation as soon as next season.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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