Rebuild-era Trades: How They Impact The Spurs Today And Going Forward

Since Kawhi Leonard and Tony Parker left and Manu Ginobili retired in the summer of 2018, ending the Spurs’ long era as a championship contender under the Big Three and preventing a Kawhi-led era (or at least ending a short one), there have been several mini-eras. They tried to start a new chapter led by LaMarcus Aldridge and DeMar DeRozan, but it never amounted to anything. After that, they entered a youth movement that quickly switched to rebuild mode through the 2024-25 season, with the major acquisitions that brought them back to title contention being the drafting of Victor Wembanyama, Stephon Castle and Dylan Harper and trade for De’Aaron Fox.

However, there were several other transactions in there that also got them where they are today, some of which still have draft payoff in the future, and that will be huge when the Spurs have to start minding the cap as soon as next offseason. With that in mind, I thought we would go over all the trades of the of the Rebuild Era and see how they are paying off today and what assets the Spurs are still owed in the future, beginning with the trade of DeMar DeRozan in 2021 (which on its own is resolved but still has indirect future pay-off). But first, a few notes:

• Information is courtesy of Salary Swish and Basketball Reference.
• Some trades included multiple other teams, but we’re just sticking to the transactions that involved the Spurs.
• Names or assets in bold are either still pending or turned into meaningful players (of varying degrees) for the Spurs.
• Trades that were simply salary dumps resulting in players waived or no draft capital that paid off anywhere else are not included. (For example: the Spurs sending their 2024 2nd round pick to Boston for Noah Vonleh, whom they immediately waived).
• To save space, if the Spurs acquired a player and later traded him in a smaller trade with minor payoff, that smaller trade is listed under the initial acquisition. (Examples include Juancho Hernangomez and Josh Richardson.)
• A trade status of resolved means it has nothing else to contribute going forward, and a status of pending means it can or will continue to provide for the Spurs in the future.

August 2021: DeMar DeRozan to the Bulls

Bulls receive:

• DeMar DeRozan

Spurs receive:

• Thaddeus Young — later traded
• Al-Farouq Aminu — waived
• Bulls’ 2022 2nd round pick — picked Kennedy Chandler at 38th, traded to Memphis on draft night for the pick that became Harrison Ingram at 48th in 2024
• Bulls’ 2025, 2026 or 2027 1st round pick: top-10 protected in ‘25, top-8 protected in ‘26 and ‘27, would become 2028 2nd round pick if not conveyed — returned to Bulls in 2024 (drafted Noa Essengue at 12th in 2025)
• Bulls’ 2025 second round pick — traded to Kings in 2024 (drafted Maxime Raynaud at 42nd)

Trade Status: Resolved

January 2022: Bryn Forbes to the Nuggets

Nuggets receive:

• Bryn Forbes

Spurs receive:

• Juancho Hernangomez (via Boston) — traded to Jazz a month later for Tomas Satoransky (waived after 1 game) and least favorable 2027 2nd round pick between Thunder, Pacers, Rockets or Heat*
• Nuggets’ 2028 2nd round pick, 31-33 protected — traded back to Nuggets for Tarris Reed in 2026 Draft (and since traded to the Wizards)

Trade Status: Resolved (*the 2027 2nd round pick was a separate trade)

February 2022: Thaddeus Young, Drew Eubanks to the Raptors

Raptors receive:

• Thaddeus Young
• Drew Eubanks
• Spurs’ 2022 2nd round pick — traded to Cavs (drafted Khalifa Diop at 39th)

Spurs receive:

• Goran Dragic — waived (the twice almost-Spur that never was)
• Raptors’ 2022 1st round pick, top 14 protected — drafted Malaki Branham at 20th
• Raptors’ 2023 1st round pick, top 13 protected — returned to Raptors in Jacob Poeltl trade (drafted Grady Dick at 13th)

Trade Status: Resolved

February 2022: Derrick White to the Celtics

Celtics receive:

• Derrick White

Spurs receive:

• Josh Richardson — traded in Feb. 2023 for Devonte Graham, 2026 2nd round pick that became Ja’Kobi Gillespie at 42nd, and Pelicans’ 2028 and 2029 2nd round picks.
  • Graham would later be traded in the summer of 2024 to the Hornets for cash considerations.
• Romeo Langford — completed contract through 2022-23 season
• Celtics’ 2022 1st round pick — drafted Blake Wesley at 25th
• Right to swap Celtics’ 2028 1st round pick, top-1 protected
  • If Celtics pick 1st (highly unlikely), it will convey to a 2nd round pick if it’s between 31-45 (also highly unlikely, so it will more than likely either be a first round pick outside the lottery or nothing).

Trade Status: Pending

June 2022: Dejounte Murray to the Hawks

Hawks Receive:

• Dejounte Murray
• Jock Landale

Spurs Receive:

• Danilo Gallinari — waived
• Hawks’ 2025 1st round pick — drafted Carter Bryant at 14th
• Right to swap Hawks’ 2026 1st round pick — swapped, drafted Jayden Quaintance at 20th
• Hawks’ (via Hornets) 2026 2nd round pick — traded to Kings in De’Aaron Fox trade (drafted Emanuel Sharp at 45th)
  • Originally would have been 1st round pick in 2023, 2024 or 2025 but was lottery protected by the Hornets and never conveyed, so became 2026 2nd round pick
• Hawks’ unprotected 2027 1st round pick

Trade Status: Pending

February 2023: Jakob Poeltl to the Raptors

Raptors Receive:

• Jakob Poeltl

Spurs receive:

• Khem Birch — later waived
• Raptors’ 2023 2nd round pick — drafted Sidy Cissoko at 44th
• Raptors’ 2024 1st round pick — drafted Rob Dillingham at 8th and traded to Timberwovles for their 2031 first round pick (later traded to Kings)
• Raptors’ 2025 2nd round pick — traded to Mavs as small part of a multi-team trade in 2024, eventually turned into Chaz Lanier for Pistons at 37th
  • The Spurs also received Reggie Bullock (waived) and a 2030 1st round pick swap option with the Mavs in this trade, which was included in the Rob Dillingham trade and is now the top-1 protected, most favorable pick between the Mavs and Timberwolves.*

Trade Status: Resolved (*separate trade)

Here we take a minor break from “major” trades to note of some of the relatively small ones the Spurs made in the Summer of 2023, including a 2023 draft-night trade of 2nd round pick Leonard Miller to the Timberwolves for their 2028 2nd round pick. The Spurs also acquired/waived Cameron Payne and the Suns’ 2024 2nd round pick in a salary dump (more in this below).

With Victor Wembanyama now in tow, here is where we start seeing the Spurs acquire talent instead of just draft assets.

July 2023: Spurs acquire Cedi Osman

Heat receive:

• Least favorable 2027 2nd round pick between Spurs, Rockets, Pacers, Thunder or themselves (same pick from the Hernangomez trade)

Spurs receive:

• Cedi Osman — completed contract through 2023-24 season
• Lamar Stevens — waived
• Cavaliers’ 2030 2nd round pick

Trade Status: Pending

February 2024: Doug McDermott to the Pacers

Pacers receive:

• Doug McDermott
• Raptors’ 2024 2nd round pick — drafted Juan Nunez with the 36th pick (still overseas)
  • Nunez was then traded to the Spurs for Johnny Furphy a few weeks later, whom the Spurs had selected at 35th with the pick they got from the Suns in the Payne trade. (Got all that?)

Spurs Receive:

• Marcus Morris — waived (good riddance again!)
• Clippers’ 2029 2nd round pick

Trade Status: Pending

July 2024: Spurs acquire Harrison Barnes

Kings receive:

• DeMar DeRozan from Bulls
• (Spurs gave up nothing in this trade!)

Spurs receive:

• Harrison Barnes — re-signed with Spurs this summer.
• Right to swap 2031 1st round pick with Kings

Trade Status: Pending

February 2025: Spurs acquire De’Aaron Fox and Jordan McLaughlin

Bulls receive (from Spurs):

• Zach Collins
• Tre Jones
• Own 2025 1st round pick that had gone to the Spurs in the 2021 DeRozan trade

Kings receive (from Spurs):

• Sidy Cissoko
• Bulls’ 2025 2nd round pick that had gone to Spurs in 2021 DeRozan trade
• Spurs’ 2027 1st round pick — since traded and top 16 protected for Kings, goes to Thunder if 17-30
• Timberwolves’s 2031 1st round pick from Rob Dillingham trade

Spurs receive:

• De’Aaron Fox — signed 4-year extension in 2025 (kicks in 2026)
• Jordan McLaughlin — re-signed in 2025 and 2026

Trade Status: Resolved

And that pretty much ends all the Spurs’ rebuild era trades! They’ve been a minor part of a few others since then, either taking on and waiving salary or trading 2nd round picks (such as playing a small role in the trade that sent Kyle Kuzma to the Bucks). They also traded Branham and Wesley to the Wizards for Kelly Olynyk last summer (no draft capital received back), but I consider all of those “post rebuild” trades and inconsequential today.

This has been quite the rabbit hole to go down, but it’s a good way to remember how we got here, plus it was funny to see some of the random connections you wouldn’t have otherwise considered. For example, who remembered or even knew that Bryn Forbes indirectly led to Tarris Reed? (Now I need Reed to pay off more than ever.) Or that the original DeRozan trade to Chicago really amounted to nothing for the Spurs, but they benefited greatly from the Bulls moving him to the Kings a few years later? Talk about playing the long game.

To conclude, here are the assets the Spurs currently own or are owed in the future from these trades for future reference:

Players (traded for or drafted)

• Harrison Barnes — for nothing
• De’Aaron Fox — for Zach Collins, Tre Jones, Sidy Cissoko
• Jordan McLaughlin — for Zach Collins, Tre Jones, Sidy Cissoko
• Carter Bryant — for Dejounte Murray and Jock Landale
• Jayden Quaintance — for Dejounte Murray and Jock Landale
• Tarris Reed — (indirectly) for Bryn Forbes

Future 1st round draft picks

• Hawks’ unprotected 2027 pick (reminder, Spurs’ pick goes to the Kings or Thunder, so this is their only pick next summer)
• 2028 swap rights with Celtics, top 1 protected
• 2030 swap rights with most favorable of Mavs or Timberwolves, top 1 protected
• 2031 swap rights with Kings

Future 2nd round draft picks

• Least favorable of Thunder/Rockets/Pacers/Heat 2027 picks
• 2028 Celtics’ pick IF first round swap does not convey and is inside 31-45
• 2028 and 2029 Pelicans’ picks
• 2029 Clippers’ pick
• 2030 Cavs and Kings’ picks