The Spurs may not be true title threats just yet, but since they added Victor Wembanyama to their arsenal back in 2023, they've somehow managed to find ways to gain slight edges over and play some of their best ball against the OKC Thunder.
Whether it's the way the 2024 Rookie of the Year race turned out or the fact that they just finished 2024-25 off with the eighth-best plus-minus rating in head-to-heads with Oklahoma City, San Antonio has surprisingly been a thorn in the side of the defending champs.
Now, heading into 2025-26, it appears the club may inadvertently be trying to get another leg up over the Thunder, as recent reports are indicating the Spurs have been looking into the availability of one of OKC's dream trade targets, Trey Murphy III.
Spurs have inquired about dream Thunder target, Trey Murphy III
According to a recent piece penned by Jake Fischer, it was revealed that the Spurs have "registered trade interest in Murphy."
Though the insider did make it a point to note in his report that Murphy's current employer, the New Orleans Pelicans, has "batted away calls for the 25-year-old," Brett Seigel of ClutchPoint has subsequently revealed that their asking price for the power forward consists of multiple future first-round picks and proven, young talents.
Considering their enviable assortment of draft capital mixed with an elite collection of promising young players, if they were so inclined, Gregg Popovich and company could rather easily piece together a package that could entice NOLA enough to pull the trigger.
If this were to happen, it would simply be another way in which San Antonio has gotten the upper hand over the Thunder.
For years, we at TI have been quite vocal about how Murphy would be a seamless fit within their starting rotation.
With his combination of size (6-foot-9), floor-spacing skills (21.2 points on 36.1 percent shooting from deep last year), and elite defensive upside, the concept of having him plug in next to the likes of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Lu Dort, Jalen Williams, and Chet Holmgren in the first five lineup is truly utopian.
Simultaneously, however, the same could also be said about his hypothetical addition to a Spurs lineup already consisting of De'Aaron Fox, Stephon Castle, Devin Vassell, and Wembanyama.
Fortunately, it appears that Murphy is expected to stay put down in the Big Easy for the foreseeable future, which means Oklahoma City shouldn't be all that concerned about seeing their ideal trade target helping an up-and-coming conference contender try and thwart their repeat bid in 2025-26.
However, should the Pelicans find themselves getting off to a categorically putrid start to the year and, by February's deadline, they opt to blow things up in search of a full-fledged rebuild, fears of San Antonio pushing hard for the lanky forward could theoretically start to rise.