The San Antonio Spurs have consistently been one of the best teams in the NBA this season and at the trading deadline, names like Pau Gasol, Jimmer Fredette, Mike Dunleavy, Gary Neal and Kenneth Faried could be options for Gregg Popovich after Manu Ginobili suffered an injury that could keep him off the floor and out of the lineup for a month.
The Spurs made it to the finals last season on the strength of their core with Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Ginobili and while they have solid role players like Matt Bonner and Marco Belinelli, the team is dealing with a number of injuries, including to Ginobili as well as Danny Green, Kawhi Leonard and Tiago Splitter and that could lead the Spurs to make a trade, something they usually do not do at the deadline. Ginobili will be out for three to four weeks according to ESPN.com and this comes after he suffered a hamstring injury.
Initially the team thought it would be just a couple weeks, but now it could be a month or longer and with the middle stretch of the season coming, the Spurs could try and make some moves. Ginobili was injured on Tuesday night against the Houston Rockets after making a dunk in the game and he has a left hamstring strain and with Green and Leonard deadline with broken bones, Pop may have to add some firepower to keep things going this season.
The Spurs are about to hit a tough patch with a 10-game road trip and that means the team will be weary by the time it gets back home after the rodeo break. Ginobili is an energetic force for the team and they will miss his 12.1 points and 4.5 assists per game as well as hi energy and now it remains to be seen whether Marco Belinelli can take over and he is averaging 10 points per game this season after signing with the Spurs from the Bulls. Belinelli has been playing heavy minutes with the injuries and that could tire him out and with the Spurs going 1-11 this season against the best teams in the league, they need to do something at the deadline.
Pau Gasol could be an option if the Lakers finally want to get rid of his contract just as it's about to expire, while someone like Neal could be interesting after he signed with the Bucks are spending time in San Antonio and he has not meshed well there and that could be a move to make. Fredette probably would be solid with a coach like Pop, while Faried has been mentioned in rumors all season, but that has slowed down considerably and could pick up as the deadline gets closer.
