WOJ: Spurs draft Rob Dillingham 8th, then trade him to the TWolves for an unprotected 2031 first

[noreaster23]

Time will tell if this was a good trade. Depends on Dillingham's performance and what the Spurs get with the 2031 FRP. Initially I really liked it for the Spurs. Great long term planning.

You have to assume that securing this FRP and trading away KAT were connected. Securing young, cost controlled talent while getting off of KAT's max contract. Ownership clearly wants to avoid the 2nd Apron.

[shrink]

You have to assume that securing this FRP and trading away KAT were connected. Securing young, cost controlled talent while getting off of KAT's max contract. Ownership clearly wants to avoid the 2nd Apron.

For the record, this KAT trade as it stands right now only cuts $1.8 in payroll this year. It was reported as $8.8 in savings, but it doesn’t include the $4.5 mil, 15% trade kicker for Randle, and the later inclusion of Keita Bates-Diop to MIN ($2.5).

Either way, MIN is still a long way over the second apron, but they may be able to duck it next year if they don’t bring back Randle.

[Rust_Cohle]

I’m not a draft guru, but I understand how people could have extreme boom or bust feelings on Rob Dillingham. However, I’m not sure where you did your research, but you’ll find almost overwhelming support for the trade n the Wolves board. You don’t have to wade through all 37 pages to see that most MIN fans are very happy with the trade.

https://forums.realgm.com/boards/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=2389558

Yes, seems less so on Reddit but I can see the argument from both sides:

https://www.reddit.com/r/timberwolves/comments/1frdvf8/woke_up_still_mad/

Sorry, I thought we were still talking about the trade with the Spurs for Dillingham, not the KAT trade with the Knicks.

Oh my bad, I thought we were talking KAT

The more I look at the KAT trade, the flexibility you guys will get down the line could be very valuable.

[hippesthippo]

Wolves dumping KAT, that down the line pick from the Wolves to the Spurs looking better and better for SA.

Isn’t this backwards?

If the Wolves don’t bring back the expiring Randle, this trade creates money to keep Naz Reid. And yes, in 2024, a 28 year old Towns is better than Naz Reid. But that pick is in 2031. Are we so sure a 35 year old KAT is better than a 32 year old Naz? Especially with KAT’s recent injury history?

Part of the justification of this trade is to lengthen the window to win by building around financially prudent deals for Ant, McDaniels and Naz. And lengthening the window is not in the Spurs best interest. Still, none of us can have a whole lot of certainty how any team will finish 7 years from now.

You're ignoring potential effects on the organization's decisions stemming from having a worse player for the next N amount of years. Maybe going from KAT to Naz is worth 5 wins and they end up out of the playoffs.

Point being that it's impossible to say what effect the KAT trade will have on a pick that far away. Financially speaking, it's reasonable to say that it was a move they had to make given the limitations of the apron rules.

[Klomp]

Wolves dumping KAT, that down the line pick from the Wolves to the Spurs looking better and better for SA.

Isn’t this backwards?

If the Wolves don’t bring back the expiring Randle, this trade creates money to keep Naz Reid. And yes, in 2024, a 28 year old Towns is better than Naz Reid. But that pick is in 2031. Are we so sure a 35 year old KAT is better than a 32 year old Naz? Especially with KAT’s recent injury history?

Part of the justification of this trade is to lengthen the window to win by building around financially prudent deals for Ant, McDaniels and Naz. And lengthening the window is not in the Spurs best interest. Still, none of us can have a whole lot of certainty how any team will finish 7 years from now.

You're ignoring potential effects on the organization's decisions stemming from having a worse player for the next N amount of years. Maybe going from KAT to Naz is worth 5 wins and they end up out of the playoffs.

Point being that it's impossible to say what effect the KAT trade will have on a pick that far away. Financially speaking, it's reasonable to say that it was a move they had to make given the limitations of the apron rules.

Swapping Towns for Randle, even if a slight downgrade occurs, is still better for the longterm health of the franchise than letting role players go and depleting all depth, such as the Nuggets have done the past two offseasons.

[hippesthippo]

Isn’t this backwards?

If the Wolves don’t bring back the expiring Randle, this trade creates money to keep Naz Reid. And yes, in 2024, a 28 year old Towns is better than Naz Reid. But that pick is in 2031. Are we so sure a 35 year old KAT is better than a 32 year old Naz? Especially with KAT’s recent injury history?

Part of the justification of this trade is to lengthen the window to win by building around financially prudent deals for Ant, McDaniels and Naz. And lengthening the window is not in the Spurs best interest. Still, none of us can have a whole lot of certainty how any team will finish 7 years from now.

You're ignoring potential effects on the organization's decisions stemming from having a worse player for the next N amount of years. Maybe going from KAT to Naz is worth 5 wins and they end up out of the playoffs.

Point being that it's impossible to say what effect the KAT trade will have on a pick that far away. Financially speaking, it's reasonable to say that it was a move they had to make given the limitations of the apron rules.

Swapping Towns for Randle, even if a slight downgrade occurs, is still better for the longterm health of the franchise than letting role players go and depleting all depth, such as the Nuggets have done the past two offseasons.

Yeah, I agree. The Nuggets did not play this out very well, which is largely why I added the last sentence in my post saying that it was a reasonable move.

[Klomp]

Read on Twitter

[sikma42]

Watching the TWolves this might turn out to be an amazing trade. Two first round picks from the TWolves who look like they are about to implode.


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[vxmike]

Watching the TWolves this might turn out to be an amazing trade. Two first round picks from the TWolves who look like they are about to implode.


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Yup everyone doubted the Spurs but this trade looks genius. They’ll have potentially two good picks from MIN right in Wenby’s prime.

[TimDunkin]

That's a crazy trade for the Spurs. They're going to wait SEVEN years to get some help for Wemby?!

Read on Twitter

Ended up waiting closer to 7 months to use the pick. Still got the swap though.

[Bornstellar]

Spurs now have all of their own picks, 2025/2027 unprotected picks from ATL, 2025 top 10 protected from CHI (moves to top 8 the next two years if it doesn't convey), lotto protected CHA 2025 1st (becomes 2 seconds, which seems likely, and given they suck, could hold decent value), unprotected 2026 swap from ATL, top-1 protected swap with BOS in 2028, unprotected swap with DAL in 2030, top-1 protected swap with MIN in 2030, and MIN's unprotected 2031 pick, not to mention a boatload of 2nd rounders

Not a bad chest of assets to have. Spurs certainly have the picks to put together a godfather package for a star player should one become available

As I said...

Everyone is so desperate to see immediate results. It's clear the Spurs have a plan

[hippesthippo]

It looks like this trade worked out well for the Spurs after using the '31 MIN pick in the deal for Fox. Too early to tell on Dillingham still, so we'll still have to revisit this in a few years.

[GrindCityHustle]

What's this guys cealing anyway?

[shmeakone]

What's this guys cealing anyway?

Lou Will