3) NBA Trades: The Spurs take a chance on New Orleans Pelicans star Brandon Ingram.
With San Antonio's biggest flaw being a lack of shooting, they should look to address that in the trade market. One potential option is New Orleans Pelicans star Brandon Ingram.
Ingram doesn't necessarily seem like a Spurs-type of player when you first look at him, but he might be a better fit than initially expected. After all, the Spurs have struggled mightily with shooting this season, and Ingram is a good shooter in both the main range and from three, with him shooting 37% from deep on 6.4 attempts per game this season.
Were he on the Spurs already, he'd be the second most efficient shooter on their team. That will go a long way to improving their offense, which has struggled at times with most of their best shooters in the starting lineup.
That has made their bench less effective, but a potential Ingram deal could change that. One possible trade would see the Spurs dealing Keldon Johnson, Zach Collins, and Chicago's 2025 top 10 protected first, which is also top 8 protected in 2026 and 2027, and Atlanta's 2025 first for Ingram.
Giving up two firsts as well as two rotation players for Ingram may be a lot for a player on an expiring contract. However, both Johnson and Collins don't really fit the Spurs' current roster, with neither of them being good shooters and exacerbating their biggest flaw. Swapping them out for Ingram would be a no-brainer move, especially if it means they can get off of Collins's unsightly contract.
While Ingram may still hit unrestricted free agency this summer, were the Spurs to agree to acquire him, they could work out an extension soon after. Something in the area code of 3 years and $120 million would be fair value and keep him from affecting San Antonio's plans to build around Wembanyama long term.
With him still on his rookie scale contract for two seasons beyond this one, Ingram's extension would only overlap a rookie max extension for one year before San Antonio could reexamine their roster around the best player.
As far as a potential fit, Ingram would slide in alongside Chris Paul, Devin Vassell, Jeremy Sohan, and Wembanyama. That adds more scoring punch to the starting five without sacrificing length or size, with Ingram being 6'9.
It would also push Harrison Barnes to the bench despite him playing well. That may actually be a good thing with San Antonio's bench being full of non-shooters. Their hypothetical bench would consist of Tre Jones, Stephon Castle, Julian Champagnie, Barnes, and Charles Bassey. While that would still feature three non-shooters, they at least would have two good shooters instead of one.
At the moment, outside of Wembanyama, the Spurs don't have a consistent second option, with Vassell being hit or miss, literally, and averaging only 15.2 points per game. Paul, arguably their third-best player, is only averaging 9.6 points per game. That means that the Spurs could benefit from a player who can create shots for himself as well as be able to feast on open looks.
Ingram wouldn't be the missing piece to get the Spurs back into title contention, but he could be a stepping stone to get them back into playoff contention.