San Antonio Spurs Tried To Acquire Darius Garland And LaMelo Ball To Pair With Victor Wembanyama

The San Antonio Spurs have had Victor Wembanyama for almost two seasons now. And while his pairing with Chris Paul has yielded some positive results, they have wanted a younger, All-Star-level guard around him for quite some time. Jake Fischer of the Stein Line reported recently that the Spurs have made numerous attempts to land Darius Garland and LaMelo Ball in the past, but haven't found success at all.

"It's [San Antonio Spurs] also a destination that Kltuch eyed for Darius Garland during the previous offseason as well when Garland's representatives were said to be lukewarm on the idea of him staying in Cleveland at Mitchell's side."

"The Spurs did call Cleveland on Garland last June, sources said, when San Antonio still had the Nos. 4 and 8 picks in the 2024 NBA Draft available to trade. The Cavaliers did not show much interest in those conversations."

"Another name that's always lingered as a potential franchise point guard of Spurs interest: Charlotte's LaMelo Ball. The Hornets have never welcomed trade inquiries for their eccentric ball handler. And yet the Spurs, sources said, have tried to register their interest in Ball during previous transaction cycles."

Clearly, the Spurs want to go with the age-old formula of pairing a sensational big man with a young, flashy point guard to make a lethal pick-and-roll combination and give them scoring and playmaking on different levels of the court.

Having a scoring threat at the rim and at the perimeter allows teams to create a lot of problems for their opponents. If the Spurs are still interested in bringing in LaMelo Ball, they could pull off this mock trade we designed a few months ago.

Perhaps the Spurs will make a move ahead of this upcoming trade deadline. There are a lot of players available for trade ahead of February 6th. And they have been mentioned a lot when talking about one specific player who is up for a trade.

De'Aaron Fox Wants To Go To San Antonio Spurs

In a report by The Athletic, Sam Amick reported that the San Antonio Spurs are among the many teams that have inquired about the possibility of trading for De'Aaron Fox. He noted that the Spurs are Fox's preferred destination. However, sources in the League are not sure whether the Spurs will make a move within the trade deadline or try to push for a trade during the offseason.

"As expected, league sources say those trade talks include the team that is known to be Fox’s preferred destination: the San Antonio Spurs."

"Yet while it remains to be seen if Fox will become Victor Wembanyama’s co-star in the next week, or if the Spurs might be able to push the negotiations into the offseason as a way to simplify their roster-building process while not losing out on Fox to another team, key factors here will have to be figured out if Fox is going to land in San Antonio."

The deal between the Spurs and the Kings might come down to young rookie guard Stephon Castle. The Kings are big fans of Castle and might try to land him in a deal.

"Chief among them? The possible Stephon Castle inclusion, or potential lack thereof. The Kings are known to covet the Spurs' rookie guard who was taken fourth overall out of Connecticut in the NBA Draft last June, but there is serious skepticism in league circles that San Antonio will be willing to include him."

"If that’s ultimately the case, the Kings would have to determine whether there’s an acceptable pathway to doing the deal without him. That’s not the end of San Antonio’s considerations, either."

De'Aaron Fox has been playing some really good basketball this season, 25.1 points, 6.2 assists, 5.0 rebounds, 1.5 steals, and 0.5 blocks per game while shooting 46.8% from the field, 32.1% from the three-point line, and 82.9% from the free-throw line. He would be a great point guard to pair alongside Victor Wembanyama.

A duo of Fox and Wembanyama would be a great pick-and-roll threat, and give Wemby a reliable co-star. We created a masterplan blueprint for the Spurs to land De'Aaron Fox and Jimmy Butler, one that the Spurs could realistically pull off before the trade deadline on February 6th.