Yahoo Sports reported Tuesday that the San Antonio Spurs are currently in talks to trade Tony Parker for a high first-round pick in Thursday’s NBA Draft.
The Spurs have spoken to both the Toronto Raptors and Sacramento Kings, who hold the fifth and seventh picks respectively. If Parker was to leave, George Hill would be in line to become the team’s starting point guard. However, it has also been reported that George Hill has been the focus of acquisition for some teams at the back end of the lottery.
Regardless, with this year’s watered down NBA Draft options, I don’t believe either of these trade options would be optimal for the Spurs. Despite Parker struggling through the first round of this year’s playoffs when they were knocked out by the Memphis Grizzlies, he still has more talent than any draft prospect that would be available in the fifth spot of the draft or later.
While Hill is a good player and has a lot of potential, I believe trading him would be the safer, smarter move for the Spurs. But I honestly think the Spurs will make the Parker move, despite the logistics. I believe the Spurs setting their sights to trade Parker have nothing to do with obtaining a better, younger player with potential. Instead, the four year, $50 million contract extension that begins this upcoming season coupled with Parker’s comments earlier this summer to French reporters that he thought the window for the Spurs to win another NBA Championship had closed, may be enough incentive for them to make this move.