Grade the Trade: Spurs give Wembanyama perfect running mate in mock deal with Cavs
By Dalton Sell
Grade the Trade: San Antonio's perspective on this deal
This deal would help the Spurs form a lethal duo in Wembanyama and Garland, bringing together two players who would feed off of each other's games.
With all due respect to Tre Jones, who has shown signs of being a respectable leading-floor general, Garland would be an immediate upgrade. The one-time All-Star has career averages of 18.4 points and 6.7 assists per game, highlighting his excellence as both a scorer and facilitator. He could add an established star guard to this San Antonio roster.
Garland could serve as a tremendous table-setter for Wembanyama. With this tandem in a two-man game nightly, Garland might hypothetically be an early candidate to run away with the assists leader title next season. Yet, he's certainly no slouch when it comes to scoring, and he could take pressure off of Wemby, taking this offense to new heights and giving him an excellent co-star guard.
These two also line up quite well timeline-wise. Wembanyama is 20, while Garland just turned 24, so they are still both fairly young and could grow together. Garland is under contract until 2028, so the Spurs would have that security if they were to bring him aboard, allowing these two to grow alongside one another for several years at the bare minimum.
It would show that the Spurs are ready to make a leap and possibly sneak their way into legitimate contention from the jump next season.
San Antonio Grade: B+