Reggie Hildred-Imagn Images It would be a surprise if the Spurs made a move any time soon, but some intriguing names have recently become trade-eligible. After Dec. 15, 85 players became trade-eligible. Is there anyone on that list that is a realistic target and could help the Spurs? Marilyn Dubinski: I am not a Zach Collins hater, but it does feel like the Spurs need an upgrade at backup center behind Victor Wembanyama. (And some may say go with Charles Bassey, but he’s inconsistent and offensively limited, so he’s still more of a glorified third stringer in my mind.) One name that has stood out to me since this summer is Jonas Valanciunas. I was genuinely surprised at what a friendly contract he signed with the Wizards (3 years, $30 million). They’re in the tank and willing to move almost anyone, and Valanciunas would be an upgrade in almost every way at 60% of the cost of Collins. He can shoot from anywhere inside the arc, pass, rebound, and is a big body who won’t be bullied. (Not to mention, he’s always been a Spurs killer, so there’s nothing wrong with having him on your side.) He’s expected to be a hot commodity, so anyone who is actually interested in him may need to act sooner rather than later. Mark Barrington: Obviously, as Marilyn said, the big name for the Spurs in this list would be Jonas Valančiūnas, who would be an upgrade over Zach Collins, at significantly lower salary. With his offensive talent, Valančiūnas could even play in a twin towers concept some of the time alongside Wembanyama. The biggest hurdle would be figuring out what the Wizards would want in order to take on Zach’s contract and lose one of their better players who’s on a team-friendly deal. The Spurs won’t be the only team interested in him, and that’s a bidding war I don’t expect the Spurs to win. Jesus Gomez: Valanciunas would be great and a three-team deal that nets the Spurs the big man and someone else Tre Jones could work in theory. Other than that, Simone Fontecchio from the Pistons could be a good target as a shooter with size that can come off the bench and space the floor. He’s having a down year, but he’d be an upgrade over Malaki Branham. Kris Dunn is another name that would make sense, as he’s a great defensive guard who can hit an open look and offer some ball handling at a low price. I don’t expect the Spurs to go hard after anyone, because they have been patient with the development of their young talent, but those names intrigue me and seem realistic. Devon Birdsong: The way I see it, the Spurs really have four areas of need in order of current priority: 1. Backup Center, 2. More Shooting, 3. An Upgrade At Starting PG, 4. One More Starter Quality Player. The reason I’m lumping 3 and 4 near the end of the list is mostly based on likelihood. The Spurs have never been trade-happy in the PATFO era and I think (like many) they see this as a weaker trade class. The likelihood that a player of that quality will be made available (much less that the Spurs will be willing to bid against a lot of trade market interest) seems highly unlikely. I think the Spurs will continue with the development experiment unless they’ve made some sort of deal with Chris Paul to ship him out. Valanciunas does in fact seem like the most realistic target, and he’d be a great get culturally and skill-wise, but I expect his market to be white hot. A name I did notice on the list, who might also be a quality fit is Nicolas Batum. Batum is affordable, versatile, and seeing his lowest number of non-injury-season minutes since his rookie season. It doesn’t hurt that he’s shooting 38% from three, and has a long history of doing so. Or that he’s French. There will be 17 players who will become trade-eligible on Jan. 15. Is there anyone on that list who is a realistic target and could help the Spurs? Dubinski: Fewer players from this list stand out as being the right combination of filling a need and being a realistic target for the Spurs. Because these are mostly players who just signed extensions, they’re not cheap, plus a lot of them are forwards, which the Spurs aren’t in desperate need of with Jeremy Sochan, Julian Champagnie and Harrison Barnes all arguably playing above their pay grade. Another thing I would look for in a trade is more shooting, and there really isn’t much of that in this list outside of players who likely aren’t going anywhere (like Tyrese Maxey and Emmanuel Quickly). Nothing jumps off the page here. Barrington: Nic Claxton is another attractive center target, and he’s younger than Jonas, but he’s too expensive to play as a backup. I don’t expect the Nets to accept less than a King’s Ransom for Claxton, and the salary fit isn’t great, so that’s another unlikely trade scenario in my opinion. Precious Achiuwa is likely to be moved by the Knicks and he’s on a reasonable salary, so that’s a more likely target. There’s some overlap between his skillset and Keldon Johnson, so I’m not sure the Spurs would make a move for him. Most likely, we’ll see the same players on the roster at the end of the season that were there at the start, with the possible exception of Chris Paul, who might be traded at the deadline to a contender. Gomez: The idea right now is to buy low, so there are not a lot of names that make sense. Goga Bitadze would definitely help as a backup center, but the Magic won’t give him up. Haywood Highsmith is a nice forward, but the Spurs have a bunch of those, so spending assets on him doesn’t make sense. Aaron Wiggins would be a perfect backup wing but the Thunder have him locked up on a very team-friendly contract. Just to offer a name, I’ll take a page out of Doc Rivers’ book and say maybe try to get Johnny Juzang from the Jazz, only because he played well and couldn’t miss during some games against the Spurs. Birdsong: Honestly, I don’t see a single realistic, helpful, fit in this list of names. Which feels like it all but guarantees that if the Spurs do target someone, it’ll be someone from this list. There’s a reason they haven’t been courting me to come work for them as a talent scout. Still though, there’s no doubt that this Spurs bench in particular has needs. Sitting 25th in net rating, they’ve been dragging the team down against deeper squads, and any real help would be a big win for a group of players who seem frustrated by their own uneven performances. Chris Paul, Charles Bassey and Sandro Mamukelashvili became trade-eligible. Rank them on how likely they are to be traded. Dubinski: I don’t know if I’d rank them as much as just put them in tiers of unlikely (Paul) and less likely (Bassey and Mamu). Although the Spurs have been more open to trades in recent years, I’m not sure how anxious they are this year unless an offer too good to pass up comes to them. There was speculation when they signed Paul that it would be short-term before they traded him to a contender, but now I’m not so sure. The CP3 Effect is in full swing, and the Spurs are competing for a postseason spot, so it’s not like they’re bad and need to do Paul a courtesy and trade him. (Plus, if he wanted a ring first and foremost, he wouldn’t have signed here.) I believe they’ll stick with him. As for Bassey and Mamu, they wouldn’t bring anything special back on their own — maybe second round picks — so if they are traded, it’s likely as filler or to make room for a much bigger deal. Barrington: Nobody is going to give up trade assets for Bassey or Mamukelashvili. They were picked up on waivers by the Spurs, and while they have been doing nice things as backups for the Silver and Black, they aren’t going to be in high demand by other teams. Chris Paul is a proven winner, and I could see a contender making a run for him if they need an additional piece for the playoffs. The problem is that many of the candidates (Warriors, Suns, Clippers, Thunder, Rockets) have already had Chris Paul on the roster and probably don’t want to try again. The Lakers are desperate to be relevant before LeBron loses his competition with Father Time, and they might try to make an offer that the Spurs cannot refuse. But do they have anything that the Spurs want? ... Yes, his name is Austin Reaves, but they’re never going to give him up. Gomez: I’ll go Bassey, Mamu, Paul. If the Spurs decide to go for an upgrade at backup center, they might need to include Bassey in the negotiations so that the other team gets a big body back. I can also see the Spurs trying to find Mamu a new home if they can’t give him minutes. I just can’t see them trading Paul. The only scenario where it would make sense is if a contender loses their starting point guard to injury and can offer him the opportunity to fight for a championship while still getting plenty of minutes. The problem is most contenders have star point guards, so Paul would be a massive downgrade at this point. Maybe the Timberwolves, if Mike Conley goes down, would be a fit, but I feel like CP3 won’t leave San Antonio this year. Birdsong: I really thought that a Chris Paul deadline trade was the most likely outcome until his recent interview with Tony Parker, but it sounds like Paul is most interested in playing time, which may lead to him playing out the rest of his season (and longer) in San Antonio. As far as Bassey and Mamu are concerned, I’d say it really comes down to contract value in the event of a larger trade, and that makes it Bassey by a nose. At this point all three scenarios seem unlikely, but I’d rank them: Bassey, Paul, Mamu, in that order.