Why The San Antonio Spurs Should Trade Up For Collin Murray-Boyles

The San Antonio Spurs are armed with two lottery selections in this year’s NBA draft, respectively the 2nd and 14th overall.

With the heavy assumption being Rutgers guard Dylan Harper at #2, the waters get much more unclear by the time the Spurs pick again at #14.

Trading up

Collin Murray-Boyles, a 6’8 forward out of South Carolina, is projected to go anywhere between #9 and outside of the lottery.

He’s a lefty power forward with high defensive IQ, quality rebounding (8.3) and playmaking capabilities, and he’s even got a scoring touch (16.8 points), with the outside shot being his biggest area of improvement.

Murray-Boyles is, in some respects, a similar type of player as Jeremy Sochan, San Antonio’s current power forward, but a more refined version.

With Sochan being extension eligible this summer, and still being considered a bit of a question mark around the league, San Antonio should attempt to re-load the position by using their 14th selection to trade up for Murray-Boyles.

Resetting the rookie contract

While the idea of replacing Sochan with Murray-Boyles is overwhelmingly basketball related, there are financial benefits of doing this as well.

A rookie contract allows a team to have a player under cost control for four seasons. With Sochan, the Spurs have just one year left, until an extension or a new contract kicks in.

By acquiring Murray-Boyles, and thus trading away Sochan – be that in the deal that fetches Murray-Boyles, or in a separate trade later – the Spurs carve out significant salary cap flexibility over the next four years.

This isn’t a knock on Sochan, who has been a reliable two-way forward during his first three seasons. But while his defense, along with his 11.4 points, and 6.1 rebounds for his career have been fine, he has yet to take a significant leap. He isn’t the same player as when he was drafted, but it isn’t that far off.

That’s why a replacement like Murray-Boyles makes sense within the grand scheme of things. You can make the case that he’ll have a similar impact as Sochan on Day 1, and it’s fair to expect the 20-year-old to get even better as he ages. The forthcoming draftee has noted himself that shooting is a major emphasis in his training, and with his shot not being remotely broken, there’s logic in expecting improvement in that area.

The trade itself

So, what’s the deal? That’s the big question.

#14 and Sochan for #9 (Toronto) could be a little too aggressive, and lord knows the Raptors aren’t in need of anymore forwards.

The Rockets, who have #10, are presumably interested in packaging picks for a star, meaning they probably have little interest in moving a pick for a worse one, even if they get a little extra sweetener on the side.

At #11, it begins to get problematic, as Portland could be a strong candidate to grab Murray-Boyles. His hard-nosed game fits their schemes, and they’re unquestionably interesting in pivoting off Jerami Grant, thus creating space for a new four-man.

Would the Blazers flat-out demand Sochan and #14 for #11? They probably should, seeing as they’re in full control of the situation at their draft slot.

Alternatively, the Spurs would have to look higher up in the draft, and there’s merit in doing that, as long as they believe Murray-Boyles is going to be worth it.

What happens remains to be seen, and it should be noted the Spurs haven’t been heavily tied to Murray-Boyles whatsoever. But he would make sense in San Antonio, as would his salary for the next four years.

Unless noted otherwise, all stats via NBA.com, PBPStats, Cleaning the Glass or Basketball-Reference. All salary information via Spotrac. All odds courtesy of FanDuel Sportsbook.