The San Antonio Spurs did not participate in the Play-In Tournament this week. They are not going to the playoffs. Their season legally concluded last Sunday, but it ended functionally when Victor Wembanyama was ruled out for the season with Deep Vein Thrombosis and placed on blood thinners.
That is not to say that the Spurs and their fans have nothing to root for during the Platy-In Tournament. They became ardent supporters of whoever was playing the Atlanta Hawks, as if they were the mid-2000s Phoenix Suns, enjoying the Hawks’ demise. They fist-pumped at the Orlando Magic, who managed to put together enough offense to win. On Friday night, they watched with bated breath as the Miami Heat won in overtime to send the Hawks home.
To their credit, Atlanta came close to winning and qualifying for the playoffs. They returned many times and forced overtime. Young center Onyeka Okongwu had one of his best games of his career, Trae Young hit several critical shots, including the game-tying basket with a second left to force overtime, and Georges Niang scored 20 points off the bench.
Dejounte Murray’s name does not appear on the box score when you scroll up and down. The former San Antonio Spurs All-Star point guard was expected to lead the Hawks into Eastern Conference contention, but his chemistry with Trae Young was poor, and the Hawks released him last offseason.
In a cruel twist of fate for the Hawks, their Play-In loss means they will send a lottery pick to the Spurs this year, and they are only now beginning to pay for a transaction they have already completed.
The Spurs will receive a lottery pick from the Hawks.
The Spurs sold high on Dejounte Murray, trading him in the summer of 2022, just after he made his first All-Star Game and led the league in steals. The Spurs acknowledged that they were not in a position to compete in the coming seasons, and that if they were, Murray was unlikely to be a part of that new chapter.
They made the painful but wise decision to move him while his worth was at an all-time high.
It was the time to bet your future on an All-Star. Rudy Gobert, an All-Defense center, was acquired by the Minnesota Timberwolves via farm trade. The Utah Jazz acquired five draft picks from the Cleveland Cavaliers in exchange for Donovan Mitchell. To avoid missing out on an arms race, the Atlanta Hawks traded three selections to the Spurs for Murray.
Murray played the same position as Atlanta’s current All-Star, Trae Young, so the move appeared strange at the time. They struggled greatly, with the Hawks failing to win in either season.
In a foresighted move, they parted ways with Murray after two seasons, acquiring draft capital and breakout guard Dyson Daniels from the New Orleans Pelicans.
Murray, who now plays for the Pelicans, struggled early in the season before sustaining a season-ending Achilles injury. It’s possible that he’ll never be the same guy who scored big for the Spurs three years ago.
It was a hefty return, and the Spurs deferred the draft pick return, perhaps anticipating that the combination of the two would not last long. The Hawks lucked out in a way that their run up to the No. 1 pick last year did not happen this year—
Although there is a chance it will.
The Spurs will receive either the 13th or 14th lottery slot from the Hawks; Atlanta and Sacramento are knotted at 40-42, therefore the order will be determined by a coin flip. The Spurs will know this well before the NBA Draft Lottery next month, which determines the draft order.
There are two advantages to receiving the Hawks’ choice — and having it go into the lottery. First, it’s a better choice; it may be the 13th rather than the 15th or 16th option. That is a marginal gain, but it is real.
The Spurs also gain a little but significant advantage: they have a better chance of landing a Top-4 choice. With two picks, their chances of jumping up improve; there will be more “lottery balls” in the cage. Their pick has a 26.3 percent chance of finishing in the Top 4, or one in every four. When you factor in the Hawks’ pick, it jumps to roughly 31 percent, and their chances of landing the No. 1 pick (hello, Cooper Flagg) climb significantly, from six to seven percent.
These margins matter; the Spurs have a talented team around Victor Wembyanama, but their future may be transformed once more by landing another generational star like Cooper Flagg.
Even a top prospect like Dylan Harper or VJ Edgecombe would provide a major boost to their young core.
The Spurs continue to expect an unprotected first-round selection swap from the Hawks next year, as well as another unprotected pick the following year. Atlanta is still stuck paying out for a player they should never have traded for.
And the Spurs now have another lottery pick to add to their collection while continuing to build a potential title challenger around Victor Wembanyama.
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