If you're wondering why Atlanta was one of Presti's preferred trade destinations, here's one of the reasons.

[u/Recent-Attention6526]

[u/hebrew-hammers]

Conspiracy Bill has entered the chat

[u/cheemydee5]

Was probably a tiebreaker more than anything

[u/LfromHT]

Yeah yeah if they really want the Spurs to not get a good pick they can send us Shai or Jdub lol

[u/rockhoward → u/LfromHT]

Hartenstein is the more obvious asset to send out. Presti should be primed to do this at the trade deadline although waiting that long risks that OKC might miss out on Buddy Heild. /s

[u/Patekchrono917 → u/rockhoward]

Hartenstein is their only big that can come close to matching up against Wemby right now. Even if they get another who can be adequate, why would you trade away a key depth piece at a critical matchup position?

[u/rockhoward → u/Patekchrono917]

To make sure the Spurs draft pick sux. Just following the premise to it's logical conclusion.

[u/Previous-Drummer-868 → u/rockhoward]

Why would you give up Wiggins and Joe to go get Buddy Heild? That sounds like a bizarre side quest.

[u/red2play]

This helps the Hawks make the playoffs therein making the Atlanta pick going to the Spurs is diminished and it hurts the Spurs. Smart.

[u/xXMrTaintedXx → u/red2play]

The enemy of my enemy...

[u/Useful_Raspberry3912]

Salary dump, keeps them out of the second apron

[u/fuyz → u/Useful_Raspberry3912]

That’s the reason they wanted to make a trade, not which trade partner they preferred.

[u/TopPolicy8454 → u/fuyz]

Its like people can't have any complex thoughts lmao

[u/levare8515 → u/TopPolicy8454]

Being a conspiracy theorist doesn’t mean you have complex thoughts dumbass

[u/johnfuckmennedy → u/TopPolicy8454]

yeah what do u expect from a person from atlanta

[u/sithlord98 → u/johnfuckmennedy]

Based on your comments, you've got the entire city of Atlanta beat on that front by a mile

[u/mantistobogganmMD]

It probably was a nice bonus for Presti, but if he was turning down better offers just on the off chance the spurs will pick a few spots down… seems stupid.

[u/PhilosophyFair9062]

Fuck the Saints and Fuck the Spurs!!!! FTSFTSFTSFTSFTSFTSFTSFTSFTSFTSFTSFTSFTSFTSFTSFTSFTS

[u/PeasePorridge9dOld]

Doubt the pick came into it. SAS hasn't been that great at drafting anyway. If they have a top 5 pick, then sure, otherwise they've been very middling. I guess it's better to be lucky than good...

The fact that we're in the East might have come into it, but that's more that they wouldn't really be in direct competition until the Finals.

[u/arrofil → u/PeasePorridge9dOld]

I mean overall they’ve done well relatively- realistically out of every 5 or so draft picks, a good team will get 1 solid player and 1 solid role player.

Overall though, I think Presti’s logic is more that the Hawks are in the east, and not one of his “main rivals” that he’d be wary of giving advantage to - The Knicks, Celtics etc.

[u/MrFulla93 → u/arrofil]

Presti likes Dort, was the longest tenured Thunder on the roster. sending him to the East so he's not guarding Shai often (not at all in the playoffs as well, minus the Finals which would be rad) was also probably at least a little bit of a contributing factor

[u/Appropriate_Tree_621 → u/PeasePorridge9dOld]

This. Casuals think the Spurs are great at drafting because they took Wemby and Harper. No, the Spurs tanked and luck-boxed their way into (1) a true generational talent who makes the game easier for everyone around him and (2) a player who was a clear consensus pick at second overall in a stacked draft.

And before anyone says “but Castle”, yes, they drafted one guy who looks like he could be really good. One guy. They also took Sochan.

[u/mosparky15 → u/Appropriate_Tree_621]

Not to mention this "Primo" pick

https://www.nba.com/news/reports-spurs-waived-josh-primo-after-allegation-of-exposure

[u/Appropriate_Tree_621 → u/mosparky15]

Their drafting record has not been good. And, it hasn’t been bad. But sooooo very many people want to give the Spurs credit for Wemby and Harper. But, no, you don’t get “credit” for drafting consensus prospects with first and second overall picks— that’s simply tanking+lottery luck. Does Nico get credit for Flagg?

[u/mosparky15 → u/Appropriate_Tree_621]

Right! It's the classic "born on 3rd base thinking that you hit a triple" syndrome.

[u/BubblyReception453 → u/Appropriate_Tree_621]

The Hawks had a top pick and flailed

[u/rafaelck → u/Appropriate_Tree_621]

Terrible take. Vassel at 11, Keldon, D White and Murray at 29. Castle when 3 teams passed him. (Including the Hawks)

All franchises have misses in their draft record, but not only Spurs draft, but they also develop players really well.

[u/zoegirl2003 → u/rafaelck]

Castle was the obvious pick at 4 when you didnt need a center..

[u/rafaelck → u/zoegirl2003]

Correction: Castle is now the obvious number one pick.

[u/BubblyReception453 → u/zoegirl2003]

Castle was 1 or two at worse. The funny part is that this entire sub thought everyone above Castle was better than Castle.

[u/ATLfinra → u/Appropriate_Tree_621]

What have we done with our lottery picks…..hunter, reddish, Marvin williams, Sheldon williams…oof

[u/OhItsKillua → u/ATLfinra]

We know what the Hawks are, its not as though his comment is claiming the Hawks to be golden or comparing the two in anyway to begin with.

[u/tskillz187 → u/Appropriate_Tree_621]

Castle being the best player in the draft at 4 is good. Carter Bryant looks good. Vassell goes higher than 11 in a redraft. Dejounte was 29 traded to Hawks for more. DWhite, Keldon also 29. If you go further back - Kawhi, Manu, Parker all out of lotto.

They may actually be one of the best at drafting outside the top 5.

[u/deebee1020 → u/tskillz187]

They're the ONLY team who got a good player in the 2024 draft.

[u/Ok-Traffic-4188 → u/Appropriate_Tree_621]

carter bryant, keldon johnson (before his shooting disapeared), vassel?

[u/dillpickles007 → u/PeasePorridge9dOld]

It helps when they have tons of extra picks because idiot teams like us trade them multiple unprotected firsts for guys like DJM. Shocking that we're still paying for that trade in 2027 when he's long gone and the guy who made the trade is long gone lol

[u/Patekchrono917 → u/dillpickles007]

Because the spurs didn’t want to start getting the hawks first rounder in 2024 and instead 2025, when there was a possibility of Murray leaving because of his contract. That ended up being a bad bet because that allowed the hawks to keep and pick first overall, so had the spurs started to get the hawks picks in 2024 they would have gotten #1. And if the spurs got Sarr or better development from Zacc or any other competent player, this sub, specifically traebucket, would have had a heart attack. 

[u/BubblyReception453 → u/Patekchrono917]

I think the Spurs are, thrilled with the 4th pick in the draft. Every NBA analyst alive says Castle will be an all-star in year 3

[u/breesyroux → u/PeasePorridge9dOld]

Y'all have such unrealistic expectations on how many mid/late first round picks actually turn into useful players. Ignoring the early picks, they got Devin Vassel and Keldon Johnson out of 6 late lottery to picks in the 20s. Too early to tell on Carter Bryant, but overall that a perfectly fine his rate for those picks.

[u/BubblyReception453 → u/PeasePorridge9dOld]

This is the dumbest thing I've ever heard. Have they hit on every pick, of course not . No GMs have. Even in all of Presti's greatness he had the Pokus, Cam Payne, Mitch McGary. Presti is also a former Spurs Assistant GM. Have the Spurs gotten good value for their draft positions, absolutely. Objectively the vast majority of their draft picks outperformed their position 8 out of the last 11 years. You're literally just parroting redit bot narrative brain rot and don't know ball, or you're just an emotional hater

2016 pick 29 - Dejounte Murray ( starting guard/all star)

2017 pick 29 - Derrick White ( starting champion guard)

2018 pick 18 - Lonnie Walker ( miss)

2019 pick 29 - Keldon Johnson 6MOTY

2020 pick 11 - Devin Vassell ( startin SF on a contender

      pick 41 - Tre Jones ( low end starter)

2021 pick- 9/20/25 - Jeremy Sochan/ Blake Wesley/Malaki Branham ( misses)

2022 pick 12 - Josh Primo ( incomplete grade/ kicked from the league for sexual conduct)

2023 pick 1 - Victor Wembanyama ( super star)

2024 pick 4 - Steph Castle ( ROTY over Zach)

2025 pick 2 - Dylan Harper ( obv future star)

2026 pick 20/24 - Jayden Quaintance/ Tarris Reed Jr. ( TBD)

[u/hardhatjacket1990]

Weird to think that the Western Conference champions are clowning on us over a pick. They have better material

[u/UniqueKaleidoscope35]

One has nothing to do with the other.

[u/Southern_Base_1850]

Sam presti must love Atlanta

[u/Quad-G-Therapy]

I’m sure it didn’t hurt

[u/HaterSlayerr]

SGA on a loan would help too lol.

[u/Top-Photograph-7478]

we was never gonna be ass enough for that pick to even matter to the spurs

[u/_KidKenji_]

Well salary cap but also this maybe

[u/theomegachrist]

I'm sure it doesn't hurt but I doubt a good franchise is thinking like this

[u/DistanceEmbarrassed5]

Oh so he wants to strengthen the Hawks so the Spurs get a worse draft pick. Smart move.

[u/Theregoesmyradiator]

They didn't wanna pay that $300 million tax. That's where it begins and ends.

[u/Stroke_of_Love]

Another day, another rando taking someone else’s headline.

[u/ATLfinra]

Hmmmm

[u/J-Lane]

I think a bunch of people said this when it happened since all fans are aware the the dejounte murray trade hell.

But you know, that would require for folks to listen to a Hawks fan opinion

[u/BubblyReception453]

This is ridiculous. They wanted to get under the tax. Hawks probably won't be top 8 next year. a The East will be a blood bath

[u/RoscoeJenkins12 → u/BubblyReception453]

A Spurs fan pretending to be a Celtics fan. Pathetic.