TRADE: Suns And Spurs Reportedly Agree To A Deal

According to Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium, the Phoenix Suns and San Antonio Spurs have made a trade.

Cameron Payne is coming off a solid season where he averaged 10.3 points, 2.2 rebounds and 4.5 assists per contest while shooting 41.5% from the field and 36.8% from the three-point range in 48 games for the Phoenix Suns.   

On Sunday morning, Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium reported that the veteran point guard is being traded to the San Antonio Spurs. 

Via Charania: "Phoenix is trading G Cam Payne, a second-round pick and cash to San Antonio, sources tell @TheAthletic @Stadium."

Phoenix is trading G Cam Payne, a second-round pick and cash to San Antonio, sources tell @TheAthletic @Stadium.

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) July 16, 2023

Payne had spent four seasons with the Suns and was part of their resurgence into becoming one of the best teams in the league. 

After a ten-year playoff drought, the Suns made the NBA Finals in 2021 and have been to the postseason each of the last three years. 

This past season, they were the fourth seed in the Western Conference and beat the Los Angeles Clippers in the first round (before losing to the Denver Nuggets in the second round). 

Love you Phx! 🙏🏽

— Cameron Payne (@campayne) July 16, 2023

In addition to the Suns, Payne has also played for the Oklahoma City Thunder, Chicago Bulls and Cleveland Cavaliers (he was the 14th pick in the 2015 NBA Draft out of Murray State). 

His career averages are 8.0 points, 2.2 rebounds and 3.4 assists per contest while shooting 42.0% from the field and 36.3% from the three-point range in 327 regular season games (he has also appeared in 53 NBA playoff games). 

By my count, the Spurs had just over $6.5M in cap space remaining. That was just enough to take in Cameron Payne's $6.5M contract.

Spurs can now move forward with re-signing Tre Jones and Sandro Mamukelashvili.

If he sticks, Payne gives SA some depth at PG behind Jones.

— Keith Smith (@KeithSmithNBA) July 16, 2023

Meanwhile, the Spurs are coming off a year where they went 22-60, but they selected Victor Wembanyama with the first pick in the 2023 NBA Draft, so there is a lot of excitement around the franchise for next season.