If the San Antonio Spurs trade Tony Parker for a top-10 pick in Thursday's 2011 NBA Mock Draft, pricey wing Richard Jefferson will tag along with him, reports ESPN's Marc Stein. News broke late Tuesday that the Spurs were fielding offers for the three-time All-Star and 2007 Finals MVP, with the Toronto Raptors (No. 5) and Sacramento Kings (No. 7) depicted as potential partners by Yahoo! Sports' Adrian Wojnarowski.
NBA Draft Rumors: Tony Parker Trade For High Pick Would Include Richard Jefferson
One rumored deal would have sent Parker to the Kings for the No. 7 pick and Omri Casspi. Further rumors, including one reported by DraftExpress, has San Antonio targeting Lithuanian center Jonas Valanciunas with the high pick.
But Stein reports that the Spurs seek to hang Jefferson’s $30 million contract (on the books for the next three seasons) around any Parker deal. The Raptors couldn’t trade for Parker without sending salary back to San Antonio, let alone trade for Parker and Jefferson. The Kings have more cap space than any team, and could absorb Jefferson and Parker without sending too much salary back to the Spurs.
Whether the Kings want to blow most of that cap space on Jefferson to get Parker -- and give up No. 7 in the process -- remains to be seen.
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