"The Spurs wouldn't trade Tony Parker for what he has said or hasn't said. They wouldn't trade him for what he did or didn't do with a former teammate's wife.

But if something happens tonight, and the Spurs take more risk than they ever have in the Gregg Popovich era, Parker's stature will ease the reaction.

San Antonio would miss Parker, but not as much as the city should.

According to various reports, the Spurs have targeted someone in the draft. They think he will be there at No. 5, when Toronto picks, or at No. 7, when Sacramento does.

That could be Klay Thompson of Washington State, or he could be part of a larger package. Furthermore, the Spurs could be doing something else entirely, such as trying to trade George Hill, because they have a history of hiding what they are doing.

The 2005 draft told of that. Then, so they could talk freely in public about Ian Mahinmi, they gave Mahinmi an alias. "John Mason," they called him.

During the Finals that season, just a week before the Spurs drafted Mahinmi, an Express-News article carried this headline: "When you're talking 'Detroit basketball,' you're talking John Mason."

The story was about the Pistons' public-address announcer, John Mason.

"All I saw was 'John Mason,'" R.C. Buford admitted later, "and thought somebody had found us out."

Given that, who knows what to make of the Spurs now? Buford said Wednesday, for example, "We're not shopping anyone.""