Despite being linked earlier in the season, the San Antonio Spurs are not candidates in the D’Angelo Russell sweepstakes.

As the Los Angeles Lakers look to retool around their core of LeBron James and Anthony Davis, freeing up cap room and adding complementary talent remains priority number one. The San Antonio Spurs have a solid cast of role players and have the cap space to take on a bloated contract, so the NBA media has been pushing for a trade between the two Western Conference teams all season.

One player that has been linked to the Spurs for quite some time is D’Angelo Russell. Russell, a former All-Star, played rather well for the Lakers in the second half of the season but disappeared in the playoffs. As the Lakers aim to pursue Donovan Mitchell, Trae Young, or another established All-Star guard to pair with James and Davis, they want to get Russell off the books.

According to a recent article from Bleacher Report, “The most recent intel suggests the San Antonio Spurs aren’t interested” in trading for Russell.

The Spurs have been linked to pretty much every guard, if not a player, on the market this summer. With ample cap space, plenty of draft picks, and secondary pieces, the Spurs could swing a trade for any player they want. While all indications earlier in the season suggested the Spurs and Russell would be a pair, those have since fizzled.

While the Lakers struggle to remain afloat amid their search for a new head coach and their attempts to extend James, smaller market teams like the Spurs are expected to bail out the Lakers and take the players they don’t want or can no longer afford.

However, the Spurs are in a position to take over the league. Victor Wembanyama is a superstar, and with their draft picks, expect the Spurs to make plenty of moves this summer to boost their own odds of success.