The San Antonio Spurs were one of only three teams not to make a trade this season, and after their first-round win over the Portland Trail Blazers, it's clear that was the right call.
Last season, the San Antonio Spurs flipped draft picks, Tre Jones, Zach Collins, and Sidy Cissoko for De'Aaron Fox, who made the second All-Star game of his career this year. Even though Fox will likely be passed by Dylan Harper in the distant (or not-so-distant) future, the Spurs didn't know that Harper would fall into their laps when they made the deal.
All in all, they got an All-Star point guard for a few draft picks. Not a bad deal!
As the Spurs hoped to open their title window this season, they spent the summer linked to Kevin Durant, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Trey Murphy III, and Lauri Markkanen. After the season started, those rumors didn't fizzle out.
Even without adding established star power, the Spurs are one of the best teams in the NBA and have punched their ticket to the second round for the first time in nine years. After his first playoff series, Victor Wembanyama took a moment to praise the team's roster construction.
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The Spurs' success starts and ends with Wembanyama, and any player they brought in would have been tasked with maximizing him.
Instead, the existing role players and young core stepped up and did exactly that, propelling the Spurs from a rebuilding team last season to an outright contender this year.
According to Wembanyama, that was the plan all along.
"I wasn't really speculating about anything or by getting any player," said Wembanyama on Tuesday. "I know Brian knows who we are and trusts the process. And he should get Executive of the Year for not making a move."
Of course, it was Brad Stevens who took home Executive of the Year, with Brian Wright only receiving two first-place votes.
The Spurs have ample draft capital moving forward and could use their assets to trade for a win-now veteran. This summer, Harrison Barnes and Kelly Olynyk will be free agents, opening up some salary for San Antonio. However, Castle and Wembanyama's extensions are coming up, and Fox is already on the books for $229 million, so maybe saving those assets to add cheap, young players to round out the bench is prudent.
Eitehr way, it seems that the Spurs have the buy-in from their best player.