The Spurs may look different next year, but will that process start now?

The San Antonio Spurs have uncharacteristically been at the center of trade rumors lately, but that doesn’t necessarily mean anything will happen. The latest rumor was that the Spurs, among several other teams, have trade interest in Nikola Vucevic of the Orlando Magic.

This isn’t the first time this season the Spurs have been mentioned in trade talks. A few weeks ago, Miami was reportedly interested in trading for Rudy Gay, but those talks have since died down.

As fun as being apart of trade rumors can be, it’s probably best Spurs fans keep their expectations low, at least for the rest of this season. There are many reasons there won’t be any midseason trades for the Silver and Black, but here are a few of the biggest ones.

The San Antonio Spurs are exceeding expectations

Right before the All-Star break last year, the Spurs found themselves in unfamiliar territory, eight games under .500. This year, to our pleasant surprise, the Spurs have put together a great start to the season, finding themselves four games over .500 at 18-14, putting them at seventh in the Western Conference and just a game and a half out of fifth.

Most of the talk going into the season was about whether or not the Spurs would move veterans like LaMarcus Aldridge, DeMar DeRozan, and Gay, but instead, the talk was when they would move them. All signs pointed to the team struggling before the All-Star break and thus officially selling all, if not most of their veterans to contenders to get as much value as possible for them in return.

Thanks to some stellar play from DeRozan, Dejounte Murray, and a few others, the Spurs have found the perfect balance of developing young talent while remaining a competitive, playoff-hunting team. However, they only find themselves in seventh place in the ever-so-stacked West.

Less than two games behind fifth place and five games ahead of eleventh, it might still seem wise to get as much value back as possible for the veterans who will be off the books after this season is over.

Some contenders would love to add veteran pieces to help aid them in a title hunt. For the Spurs, however, that is not how they operate. Their goal remains to be a competitive playoff team in the West until they can get back to being a consistent title contender. Exceeding expectations so far this season has only solidified that. It is very likely the Spurs will hunker down and get the most out of the current group.

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