What if? Who would you rather see the San Antonio Spurs trade for: Antetokounmpo vs. Durant

What if? Who would you rather see the San Antonio Spurs trade for: Antetokounmpo vs. Durant

All right. So, let’s just say the Spurs are going to make a trade. Who do you want them to go chase? Giannis or KD. You are Locked on Spurs, your daily San Antonio Spurs podcast, part of the Locked On podcast network. Your team every day. Happy Friday. Welcome back to Locked On Spurs on the Lock on NBA network. I’m your host, Jeff Garcia, sports writer for Kens 5 San Antonio. Glad to have you all back. Hope you’re having a great day. TJF everybody. It was a short work week, right? Wasn’t that was fun. So, you get to the weekend a little bit earlier and we’re going to get you through it right here on Lockdown Spurs. Be sure to subscribe to Lock Spurs where get your favorite podcast, iTunes, Spotify, Kenfi Plus app. You know where to go. Make sure to go subscribe ASAP. By the way, when you’re at the lockown spurs YouTube page, leave a comment. We’ll read in a future episode of Lock Spurs. So, what are we talking about today? You can see in your screen, we’re going to have a kind of a what if scenario. So, what if the Spurs say, you know what, all right, fine. Let’s do this. Let’s swing for the fences. Let’s go bring in Giannis. Let’s go chase KD. But you only got to pick one. So, we’re going to kind of look at that. Who would be the better player to trade for? Giannis. KD. We’re just off with Giannis. Kind of look at the pros, a little bit of the cons, and the same thing for KD, and then kind of come up with a final verdict here. Uh, unfortunately, we’re on a time limit here, so we can’t get to all the cons and all the pros, but we’ll try to hit on a few of each. And then supposedly the Nets are wanting Dylan Harper slash the number two pick. Yeah, what’s that about? We’re gonna discuss that and more. Just going to bring in our guest. He is back everybody to wrap up the week. Mr. Rudy Compos of Sweep the League. Make sure to follow him on Tik Tok. Look at that. Sweep the re. We have Sweep the League radio. So he’s now moving on to where the kids where the cool kids are now apparently I guess. But as always, we got to go to bring them in properly. Lead intro music. The only person on locked on network probably that gets it right. Yeah, I think you are the only one at least on locked on spurs by the way. Um, was it related to you? So, I heard you’re an early bird. You’re up sometimes at 5 6 in the morning. That’s crazy. Yeah. You know, my work day starts pretty early and then my dad life uh ends the night very late. So, I’m Yeah, you know, I’m 40 plus years old, but I’m still living the uh the high school life, you know, just a sleep schedule, man. Man, if I don’t get at minimum seven or close to seven hours, I’m I’m like just a wreck the next day. So, that’s uh I’m ready. I’m ready to man. Uh but again, Rudy, we appreciate you taking time out of your busy schedule to hop on here with us at Locked On Spurs. Get everybody. He is with Sweep the League. This has a show on YouTube. We’ll talk about that in just a few seconds. So Rudy, you heard the scenario to start off the show. We’re going to dive into the what if world if this person say, you know what, screw it. Let’s make a deal. Let’s swing for the fences. Let’s go for KD. Let’s go for Giannis. We got to pick one of them. And it’s not out of the room possibility. Those two names been popping late and connected to San Antonio. ESPN mentioned, oh, you know, the Spurs and KD, there was mutual interest. Giannis, well, everybody’s talking about him landing in San Antonio. Pick an outlet, major sports media outlet. They’re talking about Giannis and the Spurs. So again, this is not uncommon to hear about. But if we’re going to do it, if the Spurs are going to say, you know what, let’s put something together. Let’s see if Milwaukee will bite or Phoenix will bite. What would that look like? Let’s start off with Giannis. So let’s just say this first. All right, let’s bring in the Greek Freak here. Let’s pair them up with Wimi. Let’s do this. All right, so let’s let’s look at the pros. So I got a few a couple pros here. Again, we can’t get into all of them. We’re short on time here. So, we’ll pick a couple of them. Uh, my first two pros, Rudy, is this instant connection. It’s going to be instant. That Wimby Giannis pairing is going to be devastating. You got Wimby, he’s an upand cominging mega star in this league. Giannis, who is already an established uh champion, allstar, a name. He’s just in his prime peak of his years. This could vault the Spurs into just not even just the Western Conference Finals. Title contention almost ASAP, almost immediately. 30.4 points per game last season for Giannis. Close to 12 rebounds per game. We know what a Wimby can do. Averaging those double figures, hitting those threes, being just a menace on defense, protecting the rim. These two guys have unique skill sets that will just blend just like that in the snap of a finger. I think what you do here is you got a couple players, Rudy, that are just going to be a formidable duo, perhaps the best duo in the NBA. You got to go for it. That instant connection will vault the Spurs out of the rebuild and into playoff contention slashNBA title contention. My second pro, uh, Rudy, is this. You’re you’re maximizing Wimy’s start of his career. you’re he’s not languishing in another down season. Uh he’s not not making the playoffs. He says he wants to win. He wants to win an NBA title. You got to make the franchise guy happy. What better way to do that than with bringing in Giannis. I think that helps as well for a long-term future for Wimi. Let’s just say Giannis is short term, but nevertheless, it shows to Wimi that the Spurs are willing to bring in a mega star like Giannis. just the core of him and Giannis not only will be just formidable on the court but off the court as well attracting solid free agents to build around those two guys. I got those two reasons my big reasons why the Spurs should do it. Maximizing Wimy’s window and then instant connection. Your thoughts? So I like both of those reasons. You know maximizing Wimy’s window is definitely huge. I mean, you’re you’re talking about a guy who, you know, is already the centerpiece for the San Antonio Spurs and giving him a what, twotime NBA MVP, perennial allstar, you know, one of the faces of the league if you want to per say, uh, always in the top three when it comes to MVP candidates year in year out. That’s just going to help when we grow even more. It puts it bolts the Spurs up into definitely in the playoff contention because then you’re talking about a pretty massive big three with Fox, Antidmpo, and Victor Wimmanyama. So the the you know the sky’s is the limit with that kind of trio there. You know, you’re also talking about a guy who’s averaging what 30 points uh 30 plus points the last three years or four years in Milwaukee. uh double double, you know, he’s averaging 11 rebounds just about every year for the past four years, four or five years. So again, you’re getting a dominant player when it comes to Giannis onto Takmpo. For me, the biggest thing that I see is that your already defensiveminded young Spurs team becomes that much better and you’re probably looking at one of the top three defensive teams in the NBA. Something that Spurs culture knows as a reason for them winning five NBA titles was because of their defensive presence. Guys like TMPO and Victor Romanyama protecting the paint, able to guard the perimeter. It, you know, again, it puts them in, it catapults them into the top three on the defensive side of the ball. That’s the massive part for Giannis. Also, it’s the veteran leadership and also the playoff experience that he brings. I mean, he’s already talking about a guy who’s won an NBA title at his age at 30 years old, I believe. So, I mean, there’s so many positives with Giannis, but let’s not forget there are also some negatives to it. Yeah, they are. There are. And again, you know, we wish to get into all the positives and all the negatives, but just real quick other positives. The Spurs do have enough to pony up any sticker price and pay it for Milwaukee. More on that in just a bit. And of course, just Giannis’s fit, not just with Wimi, but with an elite guard like a Fox or Castle or possibly Harper. He’s done that in Milwaukee with Dame Lillard. We’ll see if he can he’ll likely do that again with those guys. So again, a lot of positive, but as Rudy, you mentioned, there are some negatives. The big one for me is just the sticker price. It’s probably gonna cost the Spurs a lot and that could possibly be Harper slash the number two pick, the number 14 pick and possibly Steph Castle. Uh they’re probably going to want some draft picks, that being Milwaukee. Milwaukee is going to demand a lot a lot. And although the Spurs can do that, you’re looking at a cost hit. You’re looking at a roster reduction. You’re looking at possibly mortgaging the future a little bit with all the draft picks they got. and you don’t know uh how Giannis and Wimi are going to really turn out. On paper, it looks good, but it may be an issue. So, that’s a huge sticker price they’re going to have to likely play. You can definitely hear Milwaukee saying, “Okay, give us the number two pick and we’re going to possibly want Castle as well.” That already I’m like, “Whoa, calm down. Let’s relax a bit.” That’s a no. Yeah, I’m ready to pump the brakes a bit. So, and here’s the thing, too. Yes, Giannis is in his peak years, but he’ll have a he’ll have not a medium short life in San Antonio. Not near a short short life, but he won’t be there for maybe a longer hall as perhaps uh Wimi will be obviously in San Antonio. So, my first uh concern is just the cost and the just the gutting of the roster if that happens. Other thing, too, and you know, I kind of alluded to it is just again that unproven chemistry. We don’t know how it’s going to work. Giannis is the man in Milwaukee. What if he wants to be the man in San Antonio? This is Wimy’s team, not Giannis’s team. How will that fit? Now, sure, you can point to the fact that he coexisted with Dame Lillard, but again, Dame was already, you know, he’s already at the back end of his career, so perhaps he’s going to defer to Giannis. But again, this is Wimi. They’re paying almost the same position. They’re going to want to, you know, have touches. You know, it’s not just Wimy’s gonna want the ball, but it’s also Fox, Castle, Andor, Harper, and of course, there’s Giannis. So, for me, it’s a lot of unproven chemistry, not just with the Wimi and Giannis, but the team, the ripple effects on that, and the sticker price. What are your thoughts? Yeah, you know, you brought up the sticker price and, you know, I I’ll get to that in a second. My my glaring my glaring negative before I get into that is the fact that you know you’re not answering one of the biggest needs for the Spurs and that’s shooting. I mean Riannis is not a great shooter at all. 28% career three-point shooter and you know he does shoot about 55% from the field but a lot of that is dunks and layups, you know, put back stuff like that. So, you’re not answering the shooting need for the Spurs, and you’re going to, like you said, more than likely it’s going to be either Stefan Castle or the number two pick for Giannis. It won’t be both. There there’s no way the Spurs ultimately give up both. They they don’t have Nico Harrison running that show right there. So, um but you know, the thing is is that you’re going to need shooting. So I think if you’re able to trade Dylan Harper for Yiannis the Kmpos Stefon Castle isn’t exactly a knockdown shooter just yet. I mean he is improving. So you look at last year’s Spurs teams you did you had not a lot of shooters. Harrison Barnes is a great shooter. He’s still on the team but Deon Bell is kind of you know if here and there and Kell can knock down the three can knock down some jumpers but he goes cold for a while. So shooting is the biggest factor. you’re going to see a lot of zone defenses when it comes to the San Antonio Spurs. But you hit on something and that is the price tag. Now, where you hit on the draft assets and the trade assets to get him, I’m going to hit on something else. Giannis is still in his prime to where he’s going to command another Max deal. Now, think about this. You’ve got Giannis, you’ll have to max. Darren Fox, I think, is about to get his Max. Victor’s coming up for his Max. You’ll have three Max guys on the team with the intention of still trying to sign either Dylan Harper when he’s ready for a Max or Stefan Castle. So, you’re going like, “Okay, we’ve got, you know, three Porsches, possibly four in the garage, but we’re going to have to get a couple of bicycles in the on the bench side of things.” So that to me, maxing out a player like Giannis, hey, you do it no matter what, but again, it’s the cost. Somebody’s going to have to go eventually or you’re going to have four max deals in the long run, which for San Antonio that doesn’t like to pony up a whole lot of money, that is asking a lot of them. Yeah. Yeah. Historically, this is a team that doesn’t really splurge like your Knicks or your Lakers or your Warriors. Yeah. is not and then you know sure Michael Dell’s on board has some Dell money there but he hasn’t really been there yet to see well not just him but the rest of the ownership group if they can fork over a lot of money to keep this team around now if they want to win in the very very short term then sure go for it you know you’re likely going to have either a deep playoff run maybe an NBA Finals appearance and or a title but for the long haul that might that might be the undoing of this is just the the financial side of things. Now we got the aprons and this and that and you look what happened in Boston. You know, the the ownership left Boston, right? Then they just dump to get out. They had to pay. So they left in a hurry and they want to break it up in Boston. So I mean, you know, real quick, you got to think a lot of people point to Stefan Castle. A lot of people point to Dylan Harper. I I don’t want to do this because I advocated and you know, here at Sweep, we called this, you know, last year before the season even started last year. where we called Darren Fox come to San Antonio cuz we had a little insider obviously with Dererick Irvin but you know with Darren Fox San Antonio people forget that the chance of them trading Stefan or Dylan Harper are great when it comes to Giannis but if you’re a Spurs front office you might dangle De’Arren Fox instead because then your back court could be Harper and Castle. Yeah. And then the money works because he got two max deals. So, I mean, I’m not saying you do that cuz I would rather have De’arra in San Antonio. But if some front office guy in the Spurs says this is what needs to happen, I mean, it could be thrown out there. Let’s just say I’m not throwing it out there, but it’s more of the idea of keeping a younger back court and a more athletic, you know, two one two guy and Harper and Castle playing next to Giannis and Victor. Yeah. But again, we don’t know what’s going to happen. It’s just a lot of max deals, man. Exactly. All right. So, those are some pros and cons if the Spurs were to trade for Giannis. But what about Kevin Durant? We’re talking about that coming up next. We’re here on Lockdown Spurs, joined by Rudy Kapos. He is on Tik Tok at sweep the league radio. You want to follow that account asap. But first, I want to talk to you about Door Dash. NBA fans, you know what time it is. Playoff season means big performances and even bigger rewards. Store Dash is bringing you the heat with a slam dunk deal for Dash Pass members during the 2025 NBA playoffs. It’s called They Swoosh, You Score. 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That’s Dash Pass. Your door to more savings and more flavor and more ways to win. Terms apply. And we’re back. We’re here on Lockers joined by Rudy Compos with Sweep the League. He is on X at Sweep the League as well as on Tik Tok. You see it on your screen right now. Sweep the league radio. Do that right now. So, we’re talking about a what if world. What if the Spurs were decide to Yeah, screw it. Let’s go go go for broke. Let’s trade for either Giannis or KD. Now, we talked about Giannis. Now, we’re going to talk about KD now. So, again, another player that has been linked to the Spurs, not just this off seasonason, but in years past. This is not new. If you’re a San Antonio Spurs fans, we’ve heard KD to San Antonio numerous times. Here we go again. So, same thing. Again, we can’t get into all the pros and cons because of time situation, but we can highlight some of the good and the bad. So, the first thing I think that is obvious, Rudy, we’re talking about the scoring and the experience. Not just scoring, this is topshelf scoring from KD. Despite his age, 30 plus years old, he is still putting up numbers. a 14time all-star, 2014 MVP, NBA champion, 27.1 points per game during uh last season, I believe, with Phoenix. So, again, putting up the numbers still, he could score at three levels, free throws, at the rim, mid-range. Can we keep keep on going yet? The three shot, the long two shot. He is just the legitimate offensive threat that could help Wimi on that offensive end. Take the pressure off Wimby try to do it all. You got that outside that threat, that offensive threat coupled with Wimby’s defensiveness. Yeah, that’s again another solid one two points. Throw in a Darren Fox, throw in a Steph Castle, pick one, it’s still going to work. That’s a core you can build in the short term. Other thing too is this is just again I want to talk about trade and what the striker price could be. It won’t be as hefty as it would be for Giannis. Giannis, you get it. That’s a generational player. They’re going to want a lot of uh in return. Phoenix is in desperation mode. It’s not working in Phoenix. They’re probably going to ask ask for a package, but it won’t be as you know pricey as a Giannis would be. So, you’re looking at not a gutting of the roster, not a mortgage into the future. Uh, it’ll be a solid package, but again, not as heavy as one you had to do for Giannis. So, you got draft capital. The Spurs had what, 30 picks, 36 picks over the next seven years, something like that. Something ridiculous. So, think that route in a Phoenix that may want to rebuild. So, if you’re Phoenix, you’re looking at San Antonio as that’s the team that has the draft capital. that’s the team you need to talk with so we can get these draft picks, get back in the lottery, and start this rebuild process in Phoenix. They got the number two and 14 picks this uh coming draft. So, there’s that as well. So, I think all in all, you know, a trading partner with Phoenix and vice versa, Phoenix San Antonio will be a lot easier, an easier pill to swallow. You’ll probably have to lose a guy like Kevin or Jeremy or Devin in the process, but again, you’re not looking at a steep price tag as you would for Giannis. So, this Durant Spurs draft, you know, trade chatter continues. Those are my two things that I like uh with the Kevin Durant. Just a lesser sticker price and that offensive impact is going to make on San Antonio. Your thoughts? Yeah, you know, the biggest uh the biggest thing that comes to mind is the scoring. And again, you know, when we talked about Giannis, uh one of the negatives was that he couldn’t shoot. Well, this is the positive with Kevin Durant. Uh you’re talking about a career, you know, almost 40% three-point shooter. Uh he’s at 39% right now for his career, but a gamechanging type of player when it comes to scoring. The mid-range game is there. can get to the basket, you know, gets to the free throw line pretty consistently, shooting about 88% for his career on the three-point ring. I mean, from the free throw line. Uh, what more can you talk about? The other than the fact that, you know, maybe the injury bug gets him from time to time, but that’s what it feels like, but let’s be real. I mean, he’s only had a couple of seasons, I think three to be max, that he’s played under 60 games for the for his uh season. So, not a big deal. I I love Kevin Durant scoring. It’s instant offense. It’s going to catapult them. Uh again, put most of their lineup up to maybe playoff positioning. I mean, I think they can make the playoffs with Kevin Durant. And again, the price tag isn’t so bad. Like you said, I think this time around it would take probably the 14th pick in this year’s draft, maybe a first in a couple of years and a first, you know, few years after that. So, you’re not going to have to give up a whole lot when it comes to him. Phoenix kind of maybe wants to start a rebuild. So again, maybe a guy like you said, Jeremy Devin Vel going that that way. There’s a lot more positives on Kevin Durant coming because of the offensive firepower and that’s that is huge. Again, he needed shooting for the Spurs. That’s something that they needed. They needed scoring. Kevin Durant instantly provides that. But like we mentioned before, so many positives you can’t get to them, but you got to hit the negatives, Jeff. Yeah, we’re definitely down through the negatives. The first negative too is his age. Again, I wish I was still 37. I’ll take it right now. But again, for NBA standards, that’s pretty uh getting up there already. 37 years old, just how much more does he have in the tank? And even if the trade package uh for Phoenix isn’t as bad as it would be for Giannis, it’s still going to be a little bit of a sting nevertheless. So are you willing to give up promising good young players like a Sohan Kellen or Vel or whoever you know in exchange for a guy who may not be here more than maybe a couple of years depending on where his you where his radar is when he’s coming coming to his continue NBA play. So for me again the age is a big thing. uh you know just how long will he be with the Spurs you know so there’s that you know Giannis gives you a few more years than Kevin Durant so there’s that keep that in mind other thing too again and I go back to this is um just again the the chemistry you know you know maybe the chemistry I don’t know where the slot is a negative or a positive so I’m putting the negative side just because again it’s uncertain but again on the positive side though, Kevin Durant has already proven that he can play with the big dogs on the team. He’s played with a Steph Curry, a Klay Thompson, a Draymond Green, and took a role and he netted him a title. I think in this situation, sure, the chemistry might be a concern. There’s only one ball and Dear Fox is going to need his touches. KD, Wimi, Castle, whoever is going to be left on the roster after a deal. But I think it might fit a little bit better because he would understand this is Wimy’s team, not his. But just again, just the the the chemistry as a whole on the team. I think chemistry between him and Wimi would be working well. But again, the touches, somebody’s have to give up some touches. And you’re talking about Kevin Durant. He’s a high usage player. Very high usage player. So you’re going to crowd that department right away. Oh, in the chemistry department, touches department. your thoughts. Yeah, you know, chemistry is going to be huge when it comes to Kevin Durant. And I’m glad you brought up the shot attempts because that was going to be my negative side of things. You know, looking up the shot attempts. KD averages about 18.7 shot attempts a game for his career. Right now, Victor’s at 17.9. I think Darren Fox was at 16.9. So, already you’ve got your three biggest guys that are going to be getting, you know, the most shot attempts on the team. What does that do? Well, when Stefon Castle for his rookie year was only getting 12 attempts a game, you expect that to go down because he’s going to have to go for scraps on rebounds and fast breaks. So, the offense isn’t necessarily going to go through him, but he’s going to get less touches. Also, guys like Harrison Barnes are going to be kind of demoted a little bit to just waiting in the corner, waiting on a three-point r and, you know, just hoping to get a touch here and there off of somebody driving to the basket. So I think attempts are going to be a lot less and you know these days Jeff the 24 second clock players don’t make a move until there’s like five six seconds left on the clock. So attempts are going to go down for a lot of players. I don’t know if that messes so much with chemistry, but you know, the other part is does Kevin Durant want to come in in a Tracy McGrady in a Dominique Wilkins? Guys that used to score the ball at will and used to have the ball in their hand. They’re so used to it towards the twilight of their career came into teams and were used, you know, as scorers, but didn’t get the same shot attempts and looks that they had in their previous seasons in the league. So, it just depends. Is KD willing to just come in and say, “Okay, I’m I’m here to score. I’m here to help. You know, my shot at times may go down to 15 14 a game. I understand it’s Victor’s team. I understand Taran runs the excuse me, runs the team. So, I may get shots here and there. I’m going to be asked to score 25 26 a night every now and then, but I’m okay with the 17 16 points a night as well.” So, chemistry is going to be huge. The other factor is again, you know, he’s at the end of his career basically, does he still want another payday? Because again, it’s it’s about the financials here. Sure, you got great treat trade pieces where you can make the money work, uh, but when Victor’s up for that max, when Steph’s up for that max, you know, will KD be done by then? You know, how are you going to go about that? That’s more of a lesser concern. But for me, it’s the shot attempts. you’re going to see other guys shot attempts go down where you’re hoping that they would either increase or stay at the right at say at the right point right there. So that that’s my biggest one. Yeah. And then one I guess to be negative I suppose and this applies to both KD and Giannis is what if they lose out the Spurs lose out to a Houston in in a trade for either of the guys or Minnesota or you know or picking a Western Conference team. Then again, the Spurs are again that step behind again. So, let’s just pretend it’s Houston. Houston, they’re kind of flipped. They have great young players, minimal draft picks. So, let’s just say Phoenix pri prioritizes young players versus picks. Then you bring in a KD to Houston. That’s a division team right there as a guy a team got to pay about four play times a year and they already got KD. Minnesota, what if they say, “You know what? Ant needs help. we got to trade for somebody Kevin Durant names pops up there’s another Western Conference team you gota face about three to four times a season so and of course and vice versa it’s Giannis and that’s the situation in Houston you know so there’s another reason why if the Spurs want to look at this situation with Katie or Yiannis to make a deal again not keeping up with the Joneses but just staying competitive in a very tight tight west so there’s that as well all right so we looked at both players the good and the bad so how should the Spurs proceed. We’re going to talk about that coming up next right here on Lockoff Spurs with Rudy Compos of Sweep the League. Make sure to follow him on X Sweep the League. You want to do that right now. And we’re back right here on Lockdown Spurs joined by Mr. Rudy Compos of Sweep the League. He is on X at Sweep the League and he has a YouTube show. We’ll talk about that just a few minutes. All right. So, we looked at a little bit of the pros, a little bit of the cons for each players. Should the Spurs proceed? Rudy, you’re the guest. You get the first crack at this. How you how you thinking this should happen? Uh, you know, I’ll just say that if I have to pick one of the guys, which I know I do, I I’ll name him here. But at the end of the day, I’m probably need not trading for neither one. Um, I’m kind of looking elsewhere in my opinion, but for, you know, for lockdown’s sakes, it’s it’s going to be probably Giannis. I think at the end of the day, um, the Spurs, they need scoring, but I think they can get, you know, you’re going to get a full season of Darren Fox who’s who can score the ball. You’ve got a shooter and, you know, Harrison Barnes. I think with Giannis, you’re probably going to give up either Harper or Castle. So, you’re going to give up not the farm, but you’re going to give up a future prospect. So, I’m okay with that. bringing in a, you know, an MVP candidate, a year in year out, I think two-time MVP, NBA Finals player. The defensive side of the ball is what I really like where this team goes because, you know, Giannis and Victor protecting the paint, being a nuisance in the paint, it’ll actually free up Victor to do what he does best or does what he likes to do and that’s shoot the ball from the perimeter. So, I think I’m going more with Giannis because also I can get the longevity when it comes to his career. I still have a lot more years with Giannis than I feel I would with KD. But ultimately, you know, truth be told, Jeeoff, I I would not do a deal for either one, just FYI. Yeah. Yeah. If I had to do it, again, we’re in this universe of a what if right now they if they were going to do it, I’m with you. You go with Giannis as a generational player still at just in his peak, not in Kevin Durant situation may be coming down already. So, there’s that. There’s a little bit more longevity with Giannis. Yes, it’s gonna suck having to pay that sticker price, but for me, the line is they can’t give up both. They cannot get of give up the number two pick, which likely be Harper and Castle. At the moment, Milwaukee brings that up. We’re done. Or at least trying it all over again. I’m hanging up the phone. I’m going to put it down. Say, come back with a better deal. Hang it up. Um yeah, I think that’s the line for me there. I’m okay with giving up multiple picks because those first are not going to use them all. They’re not going to be able to draft every single one first and second rounds they have in the future. So use some of those. Let’s maximize those. Yes. If it cost of the cell Sohan in the process, you do it. This is Giannis at the Takumbo. This is who we’re talking about right here. You bring him, you bring that guy to San Antonio no matter what you’re doing. So again, yes, explore. Be aggressive. Spurs talk to Milwaukee. Yes, get ready to bite the bullet maybe. But if they want Castle and O and number two/H Harper, we’re done. We’re not talking about it. But if I had to pick one, I want to I would go with Giannis. All right, that’s who we think the Spurs should trade if they’re going to make a deal for either one of these two allstars. What do you think? Let Rudy know on X Sweeps League. Let me know by going to Lockdown Spurs YouTube page. Leave it a comment and perhaps we’ll read that in a future episode of Lockdown Spurs. All right, before we wrap up this show, Rudy, you want to talk about this rumor that’s been popping up lately? The Nets trying to get the number two pick for Harper. It It’s starting to feel like to me, Rudy, that maybe Harper is the better prospect than Flag because it seems like teams want Dylan in their team colors. But what do you think about this new rumor that popped up? uh Nets are just pretty much at least according to these rumors, they want Harper in their uh black and white uniform. Yeah. And you know, I think uh it’s safe to say that it’s probably not going to happen. Uh the the Nets would have to give up a lot. And you were talking about I think one of the scenarios was Cam Johnson, the number eight pick, and then either 26 or 27, which wouldn’t be bad. I I mean it wouldn’t be a really bad pick because Cam Johnson does feel a need for the Spurs at the small forward spot and then you’re getting a number eight pick where you may have a chance at a Trey Johnson, you may have a chance at a Coniple or somebody of that plus you got your 14th pick and then another late first round pick. So, you’re really rounding out the whole team. But at the end of the day, it’s a it’s a deal that’s probably not going to happen. I don’t see uh Brooklyn actually I don’t see Brooklyn making that deal at all because the Spurs are going to want a pretty good amount in return. Yeah. Uh but yeah, I mean a lot of people are wanting Dylan Harper on their team. Uh remember Jeff back in October I said, you know, Harper was my number one prospect and it hasn’t changed. Uh it’s Harper Bailey and Cooper Flag right now. So keep in mind, you know, Dallas is set on taking Flag. Their fans are set on taking Flag, but who knows? I mean, they are going to do their homework and do due diligence when it comes to Harper as well. So, a lot of teams want Dylan Harper. You’re going to hear a lot of talk, a lot of chatter, maybe some, you know, goofball trades that we’ll see on X here are going to pop up for this and this. But real quick, at the end of the day, Spurs fans got to keep in mind this team is projecting to be high. They were literally five games out of the last playin spot. A lot of these teams above them are going to get worse in the off season. So, I think getting a guy maybe like Harper, getting, you know, that 14th pick, adding a player and two players in mind. One of them is up for a deal right now. He’s he’s on the block as Vousvich. When it comes to Chicago, you’re talking 18 points, uh, 10 rebound type of guy. Fits perfect right next to Victor. You get Vousvich, you’re talking eight seed, maybe seven seed in the West because you have two big guys. Hello, Oklahoma City. Hardenstein in chat. you know, you you need a two big guy duel that’s very versatile. I think somebody like that makes more sense going after a superstar and you’re winning some of these picks because spurs are tracting very very high. Yeah, exactly. I think a report recently came out saying that a Spurs exec said we are back. So, you can underline that and highlight that if they were to bring in a Vousvich or I even say a Brook Lopez. I think a Brook Lopez would fit in perfectly too as well. There’s a lot veteran, a guy who can be a bruiser and has expanded his game to the three line and he’s not that bad as a three-shot shooter. So, he’s not he’s not Steph Curry, but then again, who is? But again, for a big man, he definitely can stretch the floor. But if you were to say Lopez is coming to San Antonio or Lucy is coming to San Antonio. Oh, no, not that. You know, it’s win-win, you know. So, the fans would hate it, but the true basketball minds would understand that is the perfect move for this team. Exactly. And sort of going back to Harper, you you kind of alluded it, too. Is is it just my feeling that you just feel like everybody’s kind of cooling down on flag? You remember pre-draft, pre-law, it was flag this and flag that, generational, you heard that word slapped on him. Now, it doesn’t feel like it’s there anymore. or it feels like he’s just going to be a pretty good player. No, I we can’t sell it short. He He’s going to be a superstar in the league and there’s no doubt he’s going to be an all-star. He’s going to be a a player that makes a difference and an impact right away. He’s going to he’s going to be a great basketball player. He’s not generational. I mean, we’ve seen his style of play before. you know, you’ve got a lot of guys, including myself, that compared him to, you know, a guy like Andre Karolinko, stuff like that. Guys that don’t, you know, they’re not jumping off the page as, oh my, oh, why are they why are you J number one? You’re talking about him. It’s his style of play. His style of play fits the NBA. He had a great run against the Olympic team when they had those trials and those scrimmages against him. So, he can definitely play. He’s not generational, but he’s going to be an all-star. He might even be a superstar. I think he’ll be superstar at one point, but you know, Cooper Flag is who you get and that’s why I have him at three. I think he has a little bit of improvement. Harper is NBA ready. He’s ready to go now. He’s going to improve some out of the three. Ace Bailey has that, you know, limitless right now. He’s got so much more potential that you can see. But you’re right, the uh the talk on Cooper flag is kind of cooled down and maybe because it’s kind of solidified that Dallas is going to take him. So, there’s really not much more to talk about and all the talk is surrounding Dylan Harper at number two right now. Can you imagine if uh Dallas selects Harper number one and the fan backlash at Nico for not taking Flag? I can. And you know what’s what’s serious about and sad and serious about the same thing here is it makes a lot of sense for Dallas to Harper because Kyrie is injured. He’s out. Dallas has a plethora of big men that would run hand in hand and make life a lot easier for Dylan Harper. I mean, he can get to the basket. He can, you know, pop it out to AD for a three. He can have a lot of guys like Lively cutting to the basket. Remember the old Jason Kid, Tyson Chandler connection back in the day. You would see a lot more of that. Dylan Harper is not Kyrie Irving. He’s not going to look to, you know, dribble the ball 17 seconds out of the shot clock to get to a shot or something like Luca does. He’s a different type of athlete, a different type of player. If Dallas takes him one, the fan backlash is going to be huge, but but it’s a makes sense for the future type of pick. So, I don’t know what’s going to happen. There’s no real clearcut other than, you know, fans and some people saying flag is number one. I still think there’s an outside chance that Dallas may do something crazy. Can you imagine that happens and Flag ends up in San Antonio, a player that you said fits better than Harford does in San Antonio? And but man, I mean, Nico’s going to have to have like roundthe-clock security that happens. I mean, seriously, he won’t be able to alleviate that until the actual ball goes up in the air and then it shows that, hey, Harper does run better with these bigs in Dallas. I mean, imagine him in AD. I mean, that yikes. Yikes. Dylan Harper fits in San Antonio, but between Flag and Bailey, both of those guys feel the the glaring need for the Spurs, and that’s at that small forward, power forward position. You don’t really know what you have in Jeremy right now. You see a little bit of improvement. Uh, but when you get an instant impact, a guy like Harper, I mean, like Bailey or Flag, they both fit in San Antonio system a lot better. But I mean like at the end of the day, you take the best player available, best prospect available, that’s going to help your team. So if it’s Harper, I mean, let me get the box of tissues and wipe away my tears because it’s so sad we got Dylan Harper. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. Oh no, Dallas, you got Harper. No, no, San, you got a flag, you know. But hey, look, crazier things have happened in the NBA draft. You you don’t know, but again, but it looks like Flag was likely to go number one to Dallas. Uh, but man, I can only dream. Can only dream because when I look at Flag, I’m like, “Yeah, he checks more boxes off than Harper does in San Antonio right now.” Not to say Harper’s not a bad player, but it’s to say, you know, if you’re looking at just a smarter pick, it’s flag for San Antonio and a Harper for Dallas. It’s almost flip-flopped. It really is. That should be the order. But, you know, I gotta say that topic about um Bailey because I had some few lockdown Spurs fans leave comments recently saying, “When are y’all gonna do a show about Bailey?” I just didn’t think about him because I don’t think he’s gonna be a number two pick on the I mean, he should be should be. Well, we we’ll definitely save that uh topic for you hopefully next week here at Lockdown Spurs. He is Rudy Compos of Sweep the League. Follow him on X as Sweep the League. Tell us about your show on YouTube. Yeah. So, if you go to YouTube, search the league TV, you can hit that subscribe button. Uh, we’re writing a 24hour type of show. So, all of our past content and then some new content that comes up with grading the market and other shows that we have come up from time to time. We also added our uh soup the league radio on uh Tik Tok, so we’ll be kicking that off. We’re on a little bit of a hiatus, but it’s going to slowly start to come back. trying to get schedules, trying to get other hosts that we are talking to involved so that way the content just comes, you know, at you like a title wave and you’re not missing on anything. So, the best two places to go, YouTube, Sweep the League TV, hit the subscribe and then also on Tik Tok, follow us at Sweep the League radio. Do that ASAP. Everybody follow Rudy. The best way to do it is just on X. There you’ll get all the links and what you need at Sweep the League. Rudy, we thank you for uh closing out the week here. I think you open up the week, right? And then you close it out. Yeah, I did. Yeah, do that. He booked in this week here at Lock on Spurs. Uh again, we always appreciate you coming on here. And by the way, thank you for doing video. So, I didn’t want to jinx it. You know, you notice that in the text. I didn’t I never asked you is it audio or video? I just said, okay, because you said, well, you can go early. I said, “Oh, well, I’m Yeah, early video is difficult during the work week, but and I do have notes, Jeff, just FYI for the comment that was left on YouTube. Uh, I studied all night. I was up till 5 in the morning studying all these notes that I I need to study for. Every time you come on, man, somebody has a fire shot at it every single time. Rudy, again, thank you. We appreciate you as always. Everybody else, we thank you’all for making Lockdown Spurs your first listen every single day. Free available wherever we get podcast, iTunes, Spotify, K5 plus app, YouTube. Leave a comment on the YouTube page. Subscribe as well. We’ll read that comment on the future episode of Lockdown Spurs. And thanks for making lockdown on Spurs your first and only spot for all things San Antonio Spurs. You guys are the everyday. Second listen, check out Locked on NBA big board. NBA draft expert Raphael Barlo rests every workout, interview, rumor leading up to the NBA draft. Find locked on NBA big board on YouTube or wherever you listen to podcast. We’ll be back next week on Monday. Uh talk all things silver black as the Spurs off season continues. So for Rudy Compost, I am Jeff Garcia. We’re going to put a lock on this episode of Locked on Spurs.

If the San Antonio Spurs were to pull off a blockbuster trade, who should the team target: Giannis Antetokounmpo or Kevin Durant?

San Antonio Spurs fans are buzzing with speculation that the team could pull off a potential game-changing move.

Join host Jeff Garcia and guest Sweep The League’s Rudy Campos as they dissect the pros and cons of a hypothetical trade for either Giannis Antetokounmpo or Kevin Durant.

Discover how acquiring Giannis could maximize Victor Wembanyama’s early career window, or how Kevin Durant’s elite scoring might reshape the Spurs’ offensive strategy. The duo also touches on the Brooklyn Nets’ rumored interest in Dylan Harper and evaluates top NBA draft prospects like Cooper Flagg and Ase Bailey.

Will the Spurs make a bold move to elevate their roster? Tune in for an engaging discussion filled with expert insights and strategic analysis.

0:00 Intro: Spurs trade scenarios for Giannis or KD
5:49 Pros of trading for Giannis Antetokounmpo
10:29 Potential negatives of acquiring Giannis
15:04 Analyzing a potential Kevin Durant trade
20:14 KD’s scoring ability and trade value
26:57 How should Spurs proceed with trade options?
32:25 Nets rumored interest in Dylan Harper pick
38:53 Comparing top draft prospects Flagg and Harper

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