Philadelphia 76ers: 3 potential landing spots for Zhaire Smith

3. San Antonio Spurs

For much of the 2020 offseason, there have been rumors that the San Antonio Spurs were up to something big. They had a pair of big-money players entering the final year of their contracts in DeMar DeRozan and LaMarcus Aldridge, who could certainly be moved, and a fair bit of salary cap space to make some moves in free agency.

But then… Nothing.

Sure, the Spurs landed a quality player in Florida State forward Devin Vassell – their first time picking in the lottery since 1997 – and Duke point guard Tre Jones at 41, but neither is expected to be a franchise-altering addition right away. In free agency, the Spurs kept things largely in-house and opted to retain their own players over chasing external stars.

Could the team still make a monster move and pull off a star-studded trade? Sure, I guess anything is possible, but it seems far more likely that Pop and company will instead focus their energy on developing in-house talent for future runs.

What better situation for Zhaire Smith than to return to his home state to play under one of the best coaches ever?

With Bryn Forbes and Marco Belinelli gone in free agency, the Spurs do have a spot on the wings for a younger guard with upside. Though his minutes wouldn’t be particularly expansive stuck as the Spurs third SG behind Derrick White and Lonnie Walker, he’d at least be in a position to succeed moving forward under a head coach with a similar philosophy to the one that drafted him.