Spurs win four straight; trade Thaddeus Young to Magic.

Bismack Biyombo is a tenacious rebounder and shot blocker.

The Spurs have won four straight games, despite losing Kawhi Leonard to injury. With the trade deadline looming, it was likely the Spurs were going to make a play as they feel they're not quite there yet to make a championship defense.

The result: Thaddeus Young is out, and Bismack Biyombo is a Spur. Biyombo, general manager R.C. Buford hopes, will become the Spurs rim protector for the foreseeable future, as Pau Gasol's defensive liabilities are well-known. When the Spurs offense struggles, their defense is usually strong enough to make up for it, but out of the 14 losses the team has suffered this season, some nights its interior defense is really, really bad. Pau Gasol has fallen into foul trouble as well as a result, which neutralizes one of the team's scoring options. Thaddeus Young has been decent since arriving in San Antonio last season, but being the only player with a large-enough contract for the deal and giving some lackluster play this season made Young expendable for the sake of the bigger picture in San Antonio's dynasty dream.

Also on the move outward is Joffrey Lauvergne, who's been a solid backup center for the Spurs. With some hustle plays, he can help the Magic not miss Biyombo so much, and his offensive talent is easily more reliable than Biyombo's, whose defensive prowess and relative youth was still appealing enough for the Spurs to pull the trigger. Biyombo's contract was the other half of a misfire from the old front office in Orlando, as they have declined options on both Elfrid Payton and Mario Hezonja to keep the team salary flexible as it hopes to discover an identity moving forward. Hezonja will join San Antonio in exchange for a pair of 2018 and 2019 draft picks, as the 6'8" Croation shooter hopes to bounce back in his young career now with the Spurs behind Kawhi Leonard and Josh Smith on the wing. If it doesn't pan out, Hezonja will become an unrestricted free agent.

This agreement also frees up Pau Gasol to come off the bench, where he's had his better play so far this season, although he's also been a decent starter. Also with the strong play by first-year Spur, Rudy Gay, it was only a matter of time before Thaddeus Young would be on the bench too often. In Orlando, he'll have ample opportunity to carve out more playing time and explore his hybrid SF/PF talent.