Aldridge not traded as deadline passes
For the first time in seven years, the Spurs made a deadline-day trade Thursday.
It did not involve LaMarcus Aldridge.
As the clock ticked away on the 2 p.m. deadline, the Spurs agreed to take injured forward Marquese Chriss from Golden State in exchange for cash considerations.
Unless “cash considerations” can knock down a corner 3-pointer, the transaction likely won’t shake the Western Conference playoff race.
Chriss, 23, is out for the season after fracturing his right fibula in December. The Spurs sent the rights to Cady Lalanne, a 2015 second-round pick, to the Warriors in the deal.
The move was a financial one for both clubs. In trading Chriss’ $1.8-million expiring contract, Golden State will save money against the luxury tax.
In exchange, the Spurs get a check from the Warriors to add to their coffers. The club saved an additional $7.25-million in reaching a contract buyout with Aldridge, who they were unable to move at the deadline.
The giveback was significant. It helps the Spurs remain under the salary cap line, with enough space to sign a player into the roster spot he vacates if needed.
Aldridge, 35, has not been with the team since before the All-Star break, when he and the Spurs mutually agreed to part ways. The Spurs paid $5.8 million of what remained on his deal to allow him to become a free agent.
The seven-time All-Star is expected to attract a host of suitors on the free-agent market, with Miami believed to be the frontrunner for his services.
The Los Angeles Lakers and Brooklyn Nets also are expected to enter the fray.
In the midst of a season in which he averaged 13.7 points, his least since his rookie season, while shooting 46.4 percent and grabbing a career-low 4.5 rebounds per game, Aldridge nevertheless still has value to championship-contending teams as a complementary piece.
His $24 million salary cap number, however, proved too cumbersome to trade. Spurs players did their best to take a “que sera, sera” approach to what often can be a trying day in NBA locker rooms.
“Whether somebody gets traded or doesn’t get traded, there is no control you have over the business side of it,” point guard Dejounte Murray said. “You got to control what you can control.”
A day before the deadline, coach Gregg Popovich predicted his roster would not change much between Wednesday and Thursday.
He was more or less correct.
The deal for Chriss represented the Spurs’ first in-season trade since 2014, when they swapped Nando De Colo to Toronto for Austin Daye in a move that only was marginally more consequential than the trade they made Thursday.
Popovich said he was eager to continue building around the young core that has played the Spurs into the playoff picture despite a season interrupted by a mid-February COVID-19 outbreak.
“I think the stick-to-itness they have had has been impressive,” Popovich said. “I think they have stuck together in a way that has developed some camaraderie in difficult circumstances.”
The status quo was the expected outcome among Spurs players as well. The Spurs also kept a handful of veterans on expiring contracts, including DeMar DeRozan, Rudy Gay and Patty Mills.
“I am really happy with the squad that we have,” center Jakob Poeltl said.
It is unlikely Chriss plays a game in a Spurs uniform. The No. 8 overall pick in 2016 out of Washington — where he was a college teammate of Murray’s — Chriss has played for four teams in five seasons.
A part-time starter in his first two NBA seasons with Phoenix, Chriss played 16 games with Houston and 27 with Cleveland before landing with the Warriors as a reclamation project in 2019.
The Spurs will have Bird Rights on Chriss when he enters free agency next season, giving them the inside track to re-signing him if they desire.
For now, the Spurs are not expected to pursue Chriss this offseason, though plans can change. With Aldridge off the books, the Spurs could hit the summer with upwards of $48 million in salary cap space.
In the end, the Spurs ended Thursday’s trade deadline swapping out names on their inactive list while adding several zeroes to their bottom line.
The real payoff could come down the road.