Victor Wembanayma 'Intrigued' By Idea Of Playing With Trae Young

[RealGM Wiretap]

The San Antonio Spurs are expected to pursue a point guard this offseason to add alongside Victor Wembanyama, with one potential target believed to be Trae Young. Wembanyama is believed to at least be "intrigued" by the possibility of the Spurs trading for Young.

"I will say I've talked to people who know Wemby who have indicated he is at least intrigued by that idea," said Tim MacMahon on The Hoop Collective podcast. "Now, intrigued by that idea and pounding the table are two very different things. I have no idea whether Gregg Popovich would be intrigued by the idea."

"He's not classically a Popovich player, Trae Young," said Brian Windhorst.

The theory of the Spurs trading for Young is that he would vastly improve their offense, while Wembanyama is a special enough defensive player to help reduce Young's defensive limitations. 

San Antonio is in a unique situation to trade for Young as they own two lottery picks in this year's draft and also control Atlanta's draft for the next three years. 

Via Tim MacMahon/ESPN

[puja21]

"I will say I've talked to people who know Wemby who have indicated he is at least intrigued by that idea," said Tim MacMahon on The Hoop Collective podcast.

This isn't even hearsay.

It's 3rd degree hearsay.

"I've talked to people who told me they talked to him and supposedly he said ____ ... to them, not me"

[pushfloater]

What is a Pop player?

[NoDopeOnSundays]

What is a Pop player?

He doesn't seem to like ball dominant players who can't do anything off ball.

[Cassius]

What is a Pop player?

He doesn't seem to like ball dominant players who can't do anything off ball.

I think “whiny foul merchants who refuse to defend” is a better description. Kawhi is as ball dominant as they come and they had no problems until the injuries crept up.

[Rek]

I can see this happening even if the Spurs aren't known for big trades.

[NoDopeOnSundays]

What is a Pop player?

He doesn't seem to like ball dominant players who can't do anything off ball.

I think “whiny foul merchants who refuse to defend” is a better description. Kawhi is as ball dominant as they come and they had no problems until the injuries crept up.

Kawhi isn't ball dominant in the way Trae is, most importantly when Kawhi doesn't have the ball he will space in the corner or cut to the rim. When Trae doesn't have the ball he's just a spectator.

[beefymajesto]

He doesn't seem to like ball dominant players who can't do anything off ball.

I think “whiny foul merchants who refuse to defend” is a better description. Kawhi is as ball dominant as they come and they had no problems until the injuries crept up.

Kawhi isn't ball dominant in the way Trae is, most importantly when Kawhi doesn't have the ball he will space in the corner or cut to the rim. When Trae doesn't have the ball he's just a spectator.

Ya id say kawhis ball dominate at the end of possessions and trae takes the whole thing, quite a bit diff

[donemilio21]

I think “whiny foul merchants who refuse to defend” is a better description. Kawhi is as ball dominant as they come and they had no problems until the injuries crept up.

Kawhi isn't ball dominant in the way Trae is, most importantly when Kawhi doesn't have the ball he will space in the corner or cut to the rim. When Trae doesn't have the ball he's just a spectator.

Ya id say kawhis ball dominate at the end of possessions and Trae takes the whole thing, quite a bit diff

I think an elite coach would figure out how to maximize the skills of the players he has. Tony Parker could have been a more ball dominant player if he were to play for a different coach and team. That being said an argument can be made that Pop prefers players with certain characteristics, and a player who avoids playing defense and chucks 3s from midcourt may lack those characteristics.

I see the Pelicans as a better suitor for Trae.

[B8RcDeMktfxC]

This appears to be a freakish translation error from French to English. Rather than being "intrigued" Wemby was actually "bewildered" by the possibility of the Spurs trading for Young, or possibly merely "perplexed" depending on how you do the translation.

[Rashidi]

I think “whiny foul merchants who refuse to defend” is a better description.

Trae doesn't refuse to defend; he's just largely ineffectual like most players his size.

He's improved his effort level considerably over the last 2 years (reflected in his steal rate), he's just always going to be the guy teams target on a switch.

It's an important distinction for whether he can fit with a DPOY-quality talent (like a Wemby, Gobert, Jaren Jackson, or Evan Mobley)

[TheCage4]

Wemby is young and doesn't know any better...yet. I think Pop could absolutely get the most out of Trae, but as it was stated in a prior post, Young has limitations due to his physicality, not effort.

I believe the real roadblock is the amount of money Trae has outstanding, as well as how much Atlanta wants in return for him. If a common ground can be found, I do not see why a trade wouldn't be reached.

[Cassius]

Kawhi isn't ball dominant in the way Trae is, most importantly when Kawhi doesn't have the ball he will space in the corner or cut to the rim. When Trae doesn't have the ball he's just a spectator.

Ya id say kawhis ball dominate at the end of possessions and Trae takes the whole thing, quite a bit diff

I think an elite coach would figure out how to maximize the skills of the players he has. Tony Parker could have been a more ball dominant player if he were to play for a different coach and team. That being said an argument can be made that Pop prefers players with certain characteristics, and a player who avoids playing defense and chucks 3s from midcourt may lack those characteristics.

I see the Pelicans as a better suitor for Trae.

His one season in Toronto he was very ball dominant. Nurse talked about running two offenses that season. Partly because of not having a point guard for a few years, he was also very ball dominant with the Clippers, too. I imagine that if Trae had been drafted to the Spurs, learning from three HOFers, Pop would have had him playing more collaboratively.

Trae would be fun in New Orleans, but from a roster balance and cap perspective, I’d rather bring in Murray. I can’t imagine trying to scheme a defense with Zion and Trae that would hold up against Jamal Murray, Ant, Shai and Kyrie/Luka.

[Cassius]

Wemby is young and doesn't know any better...yet. I think Pop could absolutely get the most out of Trae, but as it was stated in a prior post, Young has limitations due to his physicality, not effort.

I believe the real roadblock is the amount of money Trae has outstanding, as well as how much Atlanta wants in return for him. If a common ground can be found, I do not see why a trade wouldn't be reached.

I think the amount of money owed is how the Spurs will get Atlanta to come down on their demands for picks. Vassell isn’t going anywhere, and I don’t think the Hawks would want an expiring Tre Jones with Murray, Bogi and Bufkin already locked up for the next three years. A package centered around Keldon Johnson, picks and filler gives Atlanta a really strong floor to start from. If Sarr produces reasonably well as far as lottery centers go (think Andrew Bogut or Brook Lopez), there might be something there.