The San Antonio Spurs plan to add several key pieces before the February 8 trade deadline. According to Michael Scotto of The Athletic, the Spurs are eyeing Detroit Pistons small forward Stanley Johnson and New York Knicks big man Willy Hernangomez. Spurs assistant general manager Brian Wright was with the Pistons when they drafted Johnson eighth overall in the 2015 NBA Draft.
The Knicks are reportedly shopping Hernangomez as they have excess depth at center with Enes Kanter and Kyle O’Quinn taking most of the playing time. The Spurs need to beef up their stock at small forward with Kawhi Leonard out indefinitely due to a quad injury and Rudy Gay still recovering from a foot injury. If they make a move before the deadline, this will be the first time that Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich will make a midseason trade since 2014 when they shipped guard Nando de Colo to the Toronto Raptors for 6-foot-11 forward Austin Daye.
Johnson to boost Spurs’ frontline
Earlier, Dan Favale of Bleacher Report said the Spurs might work a three-team trade with the Pistons and Magic to get Johnson and shooting guard Avery Bradley.
However, Bradley was shipped by the Pistons to the Los Angeles Clippers for Blake Griffin. The Spurs also have several players or picks that could entice the Knicks to give up the 6-foot-11 Hernangomez. In 39 games this season, 6-foot-7 Johnson is averaging 8.1 points, 3.7 rebounds and 1.6 assists in 27.5 minutes of action per outing. After playing 72 games last season, Hernangomez, a 2nd-round pick by the Knicks in 2015, saw action for just 25 games this season, averaging 4.4 points and 2.6 boards in 9.5 minutes of play.
Pistons eyeing Danny Green
According to Jake Fischer of SI.com, the Pistons expressed interest in acquiring Spurs shooting guard Danny Green as they wanted to add another wing player.
However, this happened before the Pistons acquired Griffin from the Clippers. Fischer said that aside from Green, the Pistons pursued Jordan Clarkson of the Los Angeles Lakers, Tyreke Evans of the Memphis Grizzlies, and Evan Fournier and Elfrid Payton of the Orlando Magic. This was not the first time that Green was mentioned in trade rumors. In the offseason, the Cleveland Cavaliers expressed interest in trading for the 30-year-old Green, who is also known as a tough defender aside from his three-point shooting. Green has a $10M player option for next season which he can use to stay with the Spurs or decline in order to test the market.