The San Antonio Spurs have strengthened their frontline by trading for Kurt Thomas.
The Trade
- The San Antonio Spurs receive forward Kurt Thomas.
- The Seattle Sonics receive guard Brent Barry, center Francisco Elson, and a 2009 1st round draft pick.
For the San Antonio Spurs
This trade is really simple for the San Antonio Spurs. It also makes a lot of sense. By trading for Kurt Thomas, the team has added more interior toughness.
At just 6′9″, 230 pounds, Kurt Thomas has been a good defender at the center position for the last decade. He rebounds, defends, and is fundamentally sound. Doesn’t that sound exactly like what head coach Gregg Popovich loves?
Kurt Thomas also fits the head coach’s vision in that he fits the team perfectly as a veteran leader. The San Antonio Spurs already have veteran leadership in Michael Finlay, Robert Horry, and Tim Duncan, but it never hurts to add more.
When you look at some of the top teams in the Western Conference, you see a lot of potent tandems at the power positions. Amare Stoudemire and Shaquille O’Neal. Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum. Carlos Boozer and Mehmet Okur. David West and Tyson Chandler.
Having another solid interior defender like Kurt Thomas really helps Tim Duncan out a lot.
For the Seattle Sonics
Usually, general managers will make up some generic compliment in regards to the players coming in. However, the Seattle Sonics aren’t even hiding their reasoning for doing this trade.
There’s no need to. Everyone already knows.
They simply did this trade for the 1st round draft pick that the San Antonio Spurs were offering.
Brent Barry is a great role player, but he doesn’t fit in with the team’s youth movement. Francisco Elson is a serviceable center, but the Seattle Sonics already have plenty of young big men fighting for minutes.
Both players have expiring contracts. Neither one figure into the team’s long term plans. In fact, it wouldn’t be much of a shock if Brent Barry’s contract was bought out, and he ends up back on that San Antonio bench.
Closing Thoughts
A lot of casual fans are just brushing off this trade because it doesn’t involve a big name player, but don’t be too surprise to see this trade helping the San Antonio Spurs win another NBA championship.