San Antonio Spurs Wiretap

Veteran point guard Chris Paul recently joined Jemele Hill for an interview at the American Black Film Festival. One of the questions Hill asked Paul is how much longer he plans to play.

"At the most a year. You know, I just finished my 20th season, which is a blessing in itself," Paul said. "Yeah. I’ve been in the NBA for more than half of my life which is a blessing, but it’s definitely, these years you do not get back with your kids, with your family. I’m born and raised in North Carolina, so my granny who watches every single game that I play, every single night, I just miss those moments. I just don’t get to see her and hug her along with all my uncles and aunts as much as I love to."

Paul is a free agent after spending last season with the San Antonio Spurs. It's been reported that he would like to play for a west coast team. That would allow Paul to be closer to his family, who are based in the Los Angeles area.

Sandro Mamukelashvili and the Toronto Raptors have agreed to a two-year, $5.5 million deal. Mamukelashvili is represented by George Roussakis.

Mamukelashvili averaged 6.3 points and 3.1 rebounds in 11.2 minutes across 61 games last season of the San Antonio Spurs.

Luke Kornet and the San Antonio Spurs have agreed to a four-year, $41 million deal. The Boston Celtics had hoped to retain Kornet, who emerged over the past few seasons as a key part of their frontcourt rotation.

Kornet, who is represented by Maxwell Wiepking, averaged 6.0 points, 5.3 rebounds and 1.6 assists in 18.6 minutes across 73 games with the Celtics.

Kornet turns 30 in July and is a Texas native.

The San Antonio Spurs have emerged as a suitor for free agent forward Guerschon Yabusele of the Philadelphia 76ers. Yabusele will be an unrestricted free agent on July 1. The Sixers have only non-Bird rights for Yabusele, after he played on a veteran minimum contract with them last season.

Yabusele made a successful return to the NBA after playing for five seasons in China, France and Spain. The 6-foot-8 big man averaged 11 points and 5.6 rebounds in 70 games (43 starts) for Philadelphia. Yabusele also shot 50% from the field, including 38% on three-pointers.

The Spurs recruiting advantage could be the opportunity to play with Victor Wembanyama. Yabusele and Wembanyama are teammates on the French national team. Several other teams are expect to show interest in signing Yabusele too. That includes the Sixers, who would like to keep him in Philadelphia, despite having no more than the Taxpayer MLE of $5.7 million to offer.

Jake Fischer also reports that the Spurs have interest in signing Luke Kornet. Kornet has yet to make more than $3 million in any single season during his career, but is expected to receive a significant raise on the open market. 

Veteran point guard Chris Paul is an unrestricted free agent this offseason, and he plans to extend his career for a 21st season. However, Paul would like to see that happen with a team closer to his family and their Los Angeles home.

Paul started all 82 games for the San Antonio Spurs last season. With the Spurs having acquired De'Aaron Fox at the trade deadline, and drafting Stephon Castle and Dylan Harper in back-to-back years, Paul's time in San Antonio is expected to be over.

A suggested natural transition would have been to the Dallas Mavericks. The Mavs are looking for a veteran point guard to hold down the fort until Kyrie Irving returns from his torn ACL around midseason. Paul would seem to be a perfect fit.

However, 40-year-old is focused on playing closer to home. Paul talked at time last season about how hard it was to be so far away from his family, who have made Los Angeles their home base. That has the point looking at teams on the west coast, which could include both LA teams, as well as the Sacramento Kings or Phoenix Suns.

The Phoenix Suns acquired the No. 31 overall pick and selected Rasheer Fleming out of Saint Joseph's to begin the second round of the 2025 NBA draft.

2025 NBA Draft, Round 1 Results
31. Phoenix Suns: Rasheer Fleming, F, Saint Joseph's
32. Orlando Magic: Noah Penda, F, France
33. Charlotte Hornets: Sion James, SF, Duke
34. Charlotte Hornets: Ryan Kalkbrenner, C, Creighton
35. Philadelphia 76ers: Johni Broome, C, Auburn
36. Los Angeles Lakers: Adou Thiero, PF, Arkansas
37. Detroit Pistons: Chaz Lanier, SG, Tennessee
38. Indiana Pacers: Kam Jones, PG/SG, Marquette
39. Toronto Raptors: Alijah Martin, SG, Florida
40. New Orleans Pelicans: Micah Peavy, SG/SF, Georgetown
41. Phoenix Suns: Koby Brea, SG/SF, Kentucky
42. Sacramento Kings: Maxime Raynaud, C, Stanford
43. Washington Wizards: Jamir Watkins, SG/SF, Florida State
44. Oklahoma City Thunder: Brooks Barnhizer, SF, Northwestern
45. Minnesota Timberwolves: Rocco Zikarsky, C, Brisbane
46. Boston Celtics: Amari Williams, C, Kentucky
47. Milwaukee Bucks: Bogoljub Markovic, PF/C, Mega Superbet 
48. Memphis Grizzlies: Javon Small, PG, West Virginia
49. Cleveland Cavaliers: Tyrese Proctor, G, Duke
50. LA Clippers: Kobe Sanders, SG/SF, Nevada
51. New York Knicks: Mohamed Diawara, F, France
52. Golden State Warriors: Alex Toohey, SF/PF, Sydney
53. Utah Jazz: John Tonje, SF, Wisconsin
54. Indiana Pacers: Taelon Peter, G, Liberty
55. Chicago Bulls: Lachlan Olbrich, PF/C, Illawarra
56. Golden State Warriors: Will Richard, SG, Florida
57. Boston Celtics: Max Shulga, G, VCU
58. Cleveland Cavaliers: Saliou Niang, SG/SF, Trento 
59. Houston Rockets: Jahmai Mashack, G, Tennessee

The Dallas Mavericks have opened up the 2025 NBA draft by selecting Cooper Flagg out of Duke with the first overall pick. Flagg will wear No. 32 for the Mavericks after wearing No. 2 at Duke The Mavericks won the lottery with just a 1.8 percent change, which is the fourth lowest in NBA history.

The San Antonio Spurs selected Dylan Harper out of Rutgers with the No. 2 pick. San Antonio has the two most recent Rookies of the Year in Victor Wembanyama and Stephon Castle.

The Philadelphia 76ers then selected V.J. Edgecombe out of Baylor at No. 3 followed by Kon Knueppel to the Charlotte Hornets at No. 4.

The first real surprise of the draft came when the Utah Jazz selected Ace Bailey. Bailey had an unorthodox lead up to the draft in which he didn't work out for any teams. Bailey had hoped to be selected by the Washington Wizards, New Orleans Pelicans or Brooklyn Nets.

2025 NBA Draft, Round 1 Results
1. Dallas Mavericks: Cooper Flagg, SF/PF, Duke
2. San Antonio Spurs: Dylan Harper, PG, Rutgers
3. Philadelphia 76ers: V.J. Edgecombe, SG, Baylor
4. Charlotte Hornets: Kon Knueppel, SF, Duke
5. Utah Jazz: Ace Bailey, SF, Rutgers
6. Washington Wizards: Tre Johnson, SG, Texas
7. New Orleans Pelicans: Jeremiah Fears, PG, Oklahoma
8. Brooklyn Nets: Egor Demin, PG, BYU
9. Toronto Raptors: Collin Murray-Boyles, PF/C, South Carolina
10. Phoenix Suns (via PHX/BKN/HOU): Khaman Maluach, C, Duke
11. Memphis Grizzlies (via POR): Cedric Coward, SF, Washington State
12. Chicago Bulls: Noa Essengue, PF, Ratiopharm Ulm
13. New Orleans Pelicans (via SAC/ATL): Derik Queen, C, Maryland
14. San Antonio Spurs: (via ATL): Carter Bryant, SF, Arizona
15. Oklahoma City Thunder (via MIA/LAC): Thomas Sorber, C, Georgetown
16. Portland Trail Blazers (via ORL/MEM): Yang Hansen, C, China
17. Minnesota Timberwolves (via DET/NYK): Joan Beringer, C, Cedevita Olimpija
18. Utah Jazz (via MEM/WAS): Walter Clayton Jr., PG, Florida
19. Brooklyn Nets (via MIL/NYK): Nolan Traore, PG, Saint-Quentin
20. Miami Heat (via GSW): Kasparas Jakucionis, PG, Illinois
21. Washington Wizards (via MIN/UTA): Will Riley, SF, Illinois
22. Brooklyn Nets (via LAL/NOP/ATL): Drake Powell, SG/SF, North Carolina
23. Atlanta Hawks (via IND/NOP): Asa Newell, PF/C, Georgia
24. Sacramento Kings (via LAC/OKC): Nique Clifford, SG, Colorado State
25. Orlando Magic (via DEN): Jase Richardson, PG/SG, Michigan State
26. Brooklyn Nets (via NYK): Ben Saraf, PG/SG, Ratiopharm Ulm
27. Brooklyn Nets (via HOU): Danny Wolf, PF, Michigan
28. Boston Celtics: Hugo Gonzalez, SG/SF, Real Madrid
29. Charlotte Hornets (via CLE/UTA/PHX): Liam McNeeley, SG/SF, UConn
30. LA Clippers (via OKC): Yanic Konan Niederhauser, C, Penn State

The San Antonio Spurs have agreed to trade the No. 38 pick in the 2025 NBA draft to the Indiana Pacers for a future second round pick and cash. The future pick is a 2030 second rounder originating with the Sacramento Kings.

The Spurs also own the No. 14 pick in the first round originating with the Atlanta Hawks.

The Pacers recently traded the No. 23 pick in the draft to the New Orleans Pelicans to reacquire their own 2026 first round pick. The Pacers also own the No. 54 pick in the second round. 

The Phoenix Suns and San Antonio Spurs are two teams with potential interest in trading for Kristaps Porzingis. The Boston Celtics are shopping Porzingis as they attempt to balance their salaries. Porzingis is on a $30.7 million expiring contract for the 2025-26 season.

The Spurs have held some exploratory trade conversations with the Celtics for Porzingis. Boston and San Antonio previously conducted business with the Derrick White trade at the 2022 deadline. The Spurs, however, are classified by sources as an "unlikely destination" for Porzingis. San Antonio could instead target another big with their second draft pick at No. 14, especially if they are able to successfully move up from there.

The Chicago Bulls have not been linked with Porzingis, but some rival teams have wondered if they might emerge in conversations considering their open interest in bigs. 

The Celtics have maintained that they are only prepared to trade Porzingis while recouping value back. Boston acquired Porzingis in June 2023 after he opted into his contract. Porzingis went on to sign a two-year, $60 million extension with the Celtics before going on to help them win the 2024 NBA championship.

During the 2024-25 season, Porzingis averaged 19.5 points, 6.8 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 1.5 blocks in 28.8 minutes. Porzingis missed large parts of the season with an undiagnosed virus. Porzingis continued to deal with conditioning issues upon his return due to the lingering effects. 

Porzingis is represented by Jeff Schwartz and Janis Porzingis.

The San Antonio Spurs have hired Dallas Mavericks assistant coach Sean Sweeney as their new associate head coach under Mitch Johnson. Sweeney has been a candidate for several head coaching jobs in the past, and is taking on an elevated role with the Spurs.

Sweeney has spent the last four years with the Mavericks, as he joined the staff when Jason Kidd was hired in 2021. Prior to that, Sweeney had worked for the Brooklyn Nets, Milwaukee Bucks and Detroit Pistons.