Offseason Approach
Add to take the final step to win the NBA Finals
Actual Cap Space
-$58.9 million
Practical Cap Space
-$56.2 million
Projected Luxury Tax Space
$43.6 million
Under Contract (9)
Carter Bryant
Stephon Castle
De’Aaron Fox
Dylan Harper
Keldon Johnson
Luke Kornet
Emanuel Miller (two-way)
Devin Vassell
Victor Wembanyama
Potential Free Agents (9)
Harrison Barnes (unrestricted)
Bismack Biyombo (unrestricted)
Julian Champagnie (unrestricted – team option)
Harrison Ingram (restricted – two-way)
David Jones Garcia (restricted – two-way)
Jordan McLaughlin (unrestricted)
Kelly Olynyk (unrestricted)
Mason Plumlee (unrestricted)
Lindy Waters III (unrestricted)
Dead Cap (0)
None
Projected Signing Exceptions
Non-Taxpayer MLE ($15.0 million)
Bi-Annual Exception ($5.5 million)
Notable Trade Exceptions
None
First Round Draft Pick
#20
Notable Extension Candidates
Harrison Barnes (veteran extension – through June 30)
Julian Champagnie (veteran extension – through June if team option declined)
Keldon Johnson (veteran extension)
Kelly Olynyk (veteran extension – through June 30)
Devin Vassell (veteran extension – as of October 1)
Victor Wembanyama (rookie scale extension)
Analysis
The San Antonio Spurs got here quicker than most of us expected. In what was supposed to be the season where the Spurs stepped into playoff contention, San Antonio made it all the way to the NBA Finals. The future is as bright for the Spurs as any team in the NBA.
But for all the talk about “It’s ok that they lost in the Finals, they’ll be back”, that isn’t a guarantee. The Oklahoma City Thunder, know this better than anyone. The group led by Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and James Harden never made it back to the Finals.
Because of that, don’t expect the Spurs to rest on their laurels. They’ve got one more offseason before a max extension kicks in for Victor Wembanyama, which we can pencil is as a 30% of the cap max, given his career ascension so far. Don’t expect San Antonio to waste it.
Usually, we finish these previews off with the extension-eligible players and what we project will happen there. Since we already brought it up, let’s knock out extensions first. Wembanyama is getting his max deal, including the Designated Player language to bump him to 30% of the cap. After that, Julian Champagnie is the only other Spur who is definitely landing a new deal this summer.
San Antonio can go a couple of different ways with Champagnie. They could pick up their $3 million option for the veteran wing for the upcoming season, then extend Champagnie in-season. They could also opt Champagnie out and start a new contract with him now. Sometimes when a team plays a player a year earlier than they have to, they’ll save some money on the extension and/or get some team control on the final season.
Keldon Johnson is entering the final season of his contract, so he could also be up for an extension. That’s one to watch, because extending Johnson or not might give us some insight into the future roster-management plans for San Antonio. If the Spurs hand Johnson a big contract, it will signal that the intention is to stay over the cap, instead of dipping under the cap while Stephon Castle and Dylan Harper finish out their rookie scale contracts.
For the remainder of the group, they’ll head into free agency, or in the case of Devin Vassell, he has multiple years remaining on his current deal.
In free agency, the Spurs will have access to the full Non-Taxpayer MLE. The playoffs showed that San Antonio could use more size, but in a specific way. The Spurs need to add another big man who can both play with Wembanyama, but also survive on the floor without Wembanyama. Ideally, that’s a player who can swap inside/outside as a four/five.
John Collins would seem to be an idea fit for San Antonio. He can space the floor around Wembanyama, while also finishing around the rim. When Wembanyama challenges shots, Collins is an outstanding rebounder to have cleaning the glass behind him. And Collins can also play alongside Luke Kornet, because of his ability to shoot from deep.
It’d probably take the full Non-Taxpayer MLE to sign Collins for the Spurs. Rui Hachimura could be another potential target, if San Antonio was looking for more of a four/three. If they don’t want to spend the full MLE on one player, options who could sign for only a chunk of the MLE include Dean Wade, Guerschon Yabusele, Taurean Prince, or Al Hoford, if he opts out with the Golden State Warriors. The team could also run it back with Harrison Barnes, who has been a solid veteran for them.
The backcourt is overflowing with options (more on that in a moment!), and the wing group is fairly solid too. One goal for the upcoming season should be to create enough runway for Carter Bryant to play more. That means signing a veteran wing isn’t really necessary.
In the guard group, something will eventually have to give. But here’s the thing: It doesn’t have to be right now!
Yes, Dylan Harper and Stephon Castle are going to be the Spurs backcourt of the future. But that doesn’t mean San Antonio needs to rush into trading De’Aaron Fox right away. The disappointing NBA Finals for Fox seems to be overshadowing what was a very good regular season and start to the playoffs for the veteran point guard.
If San Antonio finds the right deal that involves moving Fox, they should look at it. But they don’t need to move Fox just to move him. In an ideal world, his minutes will come down some and the trio of Fox, Harper and Castle will split minutes and reps about evenly. The Spurs cap sheet can still support that kind of timeshare arrangement for now. A year from now, when Harper is even more ready to take the full role himself, that’s the time to more seriously look at trading Fox.
The San Antonio Spurs are here. Earlier than expected for sure, but this is where they are now. They probably aren’t going anywhere, but this summer is a chance for the Spurs to firm things up for the future. Expect them to take full advantage by adding a player or two who can keep them in the mix to not only get back to the NBA Finals, but to win the title next season.