San Antonio Spurs Receive: Dejounte Murray and Garrett Temple
San Antonio Spurs Lose: Doug McDermott, Devonte' Graham and a 2026 first-round pick (for Murray, which Atlanta would re-route to Toronto)
The Spurs have already seemingly abandoned (or at least put on hold) one experiment for the sake of Wembanyama's development.
After playing him at the 4 for much of the early portion of their schedule, they've moved Wemby to center, where he's been legitimately dominant.
Since December 8 (when Zach Collins left the starting lineup), Wembanyama has put up 20.5 points, 11.1 rebounds, 3.9 blocks, 3.6 assists and 0.9 steals in just 26.6 minutes. That's absurd production, especially when you consider the ongoing no-point guard experiment.
On the season, he's played 420 minutes with either of Tre Jones or Graham on the floor. His true shooting percentage in those minutes is 61.1. He's played 552 minutes with both of those guards off the floor, and his true shooting percentage in those lineups is 50.5.
Bringing Murray back to increase those minutes when Wembanyama plays with a real distributor is a no-brainer. The Hawks guard averaged 9.2 assists in his last season with the Spurs. And in the season and change he's been with Atlanta, he's averaging 7.6 assists per 75 possessions when Young is off the floor. He can still set up teammates and get them the ball in positions to score.
And while it's too late for any kind of trade to push San Antonio toward the play-in mix, Murray is on a pretty team-friendly contract through 2027-28 (when he has a $31.6 million player option). Having him around for the next few years will boost Wembanyama's production and expedite his development.
Temple, meanwhile, is here largely for salary-matching purposes and the need for every team to be connected in a three-team trade, but his experience wouldn't hurt in a third-stringer's role.
All of that for a couple veterans role players and one first-rounder feels like a win for San Antonio, especially since the Spurs would still be in the black on total picks dating back to the Murray trade. In fact, if any team might need to kick in a little more draft consideration here, it might be the Spurs. And they can probably justify it.
