NBA Trade Speculation: Spurs Expecting Luka Doncic to Leave Mavs?

The San Antonio Spurs seem to be lining up their picks to align with the contract year of Dallas Mavericks' Luka Doncic, and the prime of Victor Wembanyama.

In the year 2030, French center Victor Wembanyama will be 26, which is typically the age that coincides with most NBA player's prime. If Luka Doncic decides to leave the Dallas Mavericks after his contract is up in 2027, the Lone Star State rival could be pushed back to square one as a franchise, with the San Antonio Spurs in the prime position to take a rebuilding Dallas team's first-round pick.

Earlier this summer, the Mavs made a three-team trade with the Spurs and Boston Celtics in order to acquire forward Grant Williams. As part of that trade, the Spurs took on Reggie Bullock’s expiring contract, and the Mavs gave them first-round pick swap rights in 2030 for doing so.

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According to a report from ESPN, the Spurs purposely made sure the pick swap happened after Doncic’s current contract is over. Although this doesn’t guarantee San Antonio anything, it shows that they’re hoping for Doncic to leave the Mavs in ruins around the time the 2030 draft rolls around. If they continue at the trajectory that they ended last season on, that is where they will inevitably be.

This leaves open a strict rivalry between the two teams, one hoping for the other's failure, while the other one hoping to prove them wrong, another reason to make these two Texas squads be at odds. 

This season, which officially begins on Oct. 23, the Spurs will host Doncic's Mavs for the season opener in San Antonio. Wembanyama and Doncic, being two of the most hyped prospects to come from Europe, are sure to give fans what they paid to watch.