Playing buy or sell with each NBA playoff bubble team

San Antonio Spurs: Buy

You guys didn’t really think the San Antonio Spurs were done, did you?

LaMarcus Aldridge’s recent uptick in 3-point attempts has been huge for San Antonio. After firing only 1.7 triples per game for the first two months of the season, he has hoisted 4.4 per night since Dec. 23. His spacing has made DeMar DeRozan’s —  a 3-point phobe himself — life especially easier. The Spurs’ offensive rating ranks third in the league since that date.

While the Spurs rarely make in-season trades, they’re certainly gunning for that No. 8 seed. That makes them buyers by default, whether they like it or not.

DeRozan’s impending player option screams “sell,” but it’s unclear what they would want back. Youth would be the standard focus for most teams, but as we saw with the Kawhi Leonard trade, the Spurs are sometimes willing to take back less value if it keeps them competitive.

As mentioned earlier the Magic have asked about DeRozan, but they don’t want to lose what they have for marginal upgrades. DeRozan for Evan Fournier and parts would just be trading him to trade him.

Trading one of the young guards doesn’t seem smart right now, at least until DeRozan’s future is sorted out. Smaller upgrades are out there though, such as improving the 4-spot minutes that currently go to Trey Lyles and Rudy Gay.