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As was mentioned in the last Spurs news, the team had agreed to a deal with the Orlando Magic. San Antonio sent fan favourite Wesley Matthews along with their 2017 2nd round pick to the Magic in exchange for former Spur Luol Deng, big man Joel Embiid and the Magics 2017 2nd round pick.
"It was a difficult decision to trade out Wesley as he has been one of my favourites for a period of time" GM Leeroy said earlier. "The issue arises when looking at the cap hit and the contracts that are already on the books for the next season and beyond. We felt it was time to explore some scenarios and while there were other good offers we managed to add a player we have had our eye on for a while. We wish Wes all the best in his recovery and hope he helps the Orlando franchise find some success."
Way back in 2004 the Spurs landed the 3rd pick in said draft, their selection that year, Luol Deng. His first stint with the Spurs as a rookie was short lived, just a year and a half, and through injury Deng played just 80 games for the team before he was traded. Since that time he has played for no less than 8 NLL franchises (Philly, Los Angeles Lakers, Miami, Chicago, New York, Golden State, Atlanta and Orlando). Now in the latter part of his career he is back where it started. Deng will start the season penciled in as the starting Small Forward
Apart from Deng the other key piece that made the deal happen, Joel Embiid. Over the years the Spurs have been somewhat of a treadmill team, as Leeroy has searched for the perfect piece to start next to Anthony Davis. The right player has not presented himself as yet. Embiid's injury worries are well documented and the team is under no illusions of what to expect. The Spurs are one of those teams that are not good enough to push for a deep playoff run (especially with the passiveness of their best player) so it was time to take a risk. If it fails the Spurs are only half a step back, if it pays off and Embiid can get back to health and fulfill his potential it could give the team the best front court in the league and go a long way to making that next step. For now we wait, the season is about to start and attention turns to that.
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