Free agency won\u2019t start until June 30th, but as soon as the Finals ended, teams have been able to negotiate with their own free agents. It\u2019s an exclusive window that, on paper, allows incumbent franchises the opportunity to lock up guys they want to keep around before they get on the market.<\/p>\n
In some years, the period is extremely important, as a team might have key pieces whose contracts expire. It\u2019s not the case for the Spurs this offseason. In fact, it wouldn\u2019t be a major shock if they don\u2019t actually bring anyone back.<\/p>\n
Let\u2019s take a look at San Antonio\u2019s free agents, how they performed in the regular season, and whether it seems likely that they\u2019ll return.<\/p>\n
Harrison Barnes | Unrestricted free agent<\/p>\n
2025\/26 stats: 9.9 points, 2.8 rebounds, 1.9 assists, 39 percent from beyond the arc<\/p>\n
Barnes was a starter for part of the season, and he looked like a solid placeholder. He didn\u2019t make many mistakes, could play without the ball, and hit enough threes that the fact that opponents often left him open or parked their centers on him wasn\u2019t a major problem. He ended the season as a bench piece, and the numbers suggest that he could be a solid backup who does a little bit of everything without compromising the team in any way. But the splits show a different picture.<\/p>\n
The veteran forward started the season well before going ice-cold from beyond the arc and not being able to get to the bucket after closeouts. Just as the Spurs were finding their identity as a young, athletic team that applied rim pressure, Barnes looked like he had aged five years in a month. He lost his starting spot, and while he regained his touch from deep eventually, he never seemed like a dangerous weapon. Combine his lack of offensive presence with middling defense, and it\u2019s no surprise he fell out of the rotation as the playoffs progressed.<\/p>\n
Likelihood of returning: Medium<\/p>\n
Barnes didn\u2019t play in a few playoff games and got negligible minutes in others. He\u2019s still just 34 and a good enough shooter to potentially get an offer with guaranteed playing time from someone else. There are two reasons why the Spurs might try to keep him.<\/p>\n
First, he has been incredibly generous with the San Antonio community, with multiple donations and appearances in charitable events, which means he has the character the franchise has always coveted. And second, replacing a still useful player won\u2019t be easy with the tools the front office will have available to them.<\/p>\n
If he takes a pay cut and is fine with limited but consistent minutes in the regular season, a compromise seems possible.<\/p>\n
Kelly Olynyk | Unrestricted free agent<\/p>\n
2025\/26 stats: 3.2 points, 1.8 rebounds, 1.2 assists on 8.6 minutes a game.<\/p>\n
There was a moment in the summer, right after Olynyk was acquired in exchange for Malaki Branham and Blake Wesley, when there were reasons to be optimistic about his addition. The veteran big man had clear weaknesses, mainly as a rim protector, but his passing and decent outside shooting made him a good match to share the floor with Jeremy Sochan.<\/p>\n
As Sochan lost favor with the coaching staff, however, it was unclear how Olynyk fit. He wasn\u2019t nimble enough to be a power forward next to Wembanyama or Kornet, and as a sole big man, his lack of athleticism made him a sieve on defense.<\/p>\n
In the end, Olynyk played under 10 minutes a game and suited up for just 42 games. The Spurs didn\u2019t use his expiring contract at the trade deadline, and now he\u2019ll enter unrestricted free agency with a very limited market.<\/p>\n
Likelihood of returning: Low<\/p>\n
The Spurs were smart to kick the tires on a big man with a skill set the others lacked, but it became clear Olynyk didn\u2019t fit their guard-oriented, rim-pressure-heavy attack and had a bad year as a shooter, which was the weapon that might have kept him useful. At age 35, his NBA career might be over unless some team wants a good locker room guy to fill their roster. It seems unlikely that the team will be San Antonio.<\/p>\n
Jordan McLaughlin | Unrestricted free agent<\/p>\n
2025\/26 stats: 2 points, 0.9 assists, 42 percent three-point shooting on 6.4 minutes a game.<\/p>\n
McLaughlin was a throw-in in the De\u2019Aaron Fox trade who somehow managed to make a big enough impact in his short time with the franchise in 2024\/25 to earn a fully guaranteed minimum deal with the team the following offseason. With a crowded backcourt, San Antonio seemed comfortable bringing in a journeyman who would not cause issues if he didn\u2019t get minutes and who, in case of emergency, could handle the ball, guard with intensity, and shoot the three when open.<\/p>\n
In that tiny role, he delivered. The Spurs didn\u2019t rely on him heavily at all, but when he was on the floor, he did what was expected of him.<\/p>\n
Likelihood of returning: Medium<\/p>\n
The Spurs will need a guard with McLaughlin\u2019s profile, so why not just bring the veteran back? At age 30, he\u2019s likely a finished product and might regress, but since he\u2019ll only play in the regular season when someone else is hurt, or the game is out of reach, it won\u2019t matter.<\/p>\n
At the same time, maybe bringing in a more dynamic, multipositional option could be a smarter move. Plus, maybe there\u2019s actually someone willing to play McLaughlin, which is something the Spurs can\u2019t promise to do.<\/p>\n
Lindy Waters III | Unrestricted free agent<\/p>\n
2025\/26 stats: 2.4 points, 0.7 rebounds, 34 percent on three-pointers in 6.4 minutes a game.<\/p>\n
Can you really be disappointed with a guy on a partially guaranteed minimum contract that stuck around? If it\u2019s possible, Lindy Waters III would fit the bill. Waters arrived as a shooting specialist, and while he was rarely on the court for long enough to develop a rhythm, he shot a career-low from beyond the arc. Considering shooting is his one NBA skill, it\u2019s safe to say he wasn\u2019t good even for the small role the Spurs had in mind for him.<\/p>\n
Likelihood of returning: Low<\/p>\n
Small-ish wings who can shoot decently are not hard to find in the NBA. Unless Waters was more important in the locker room than anyone has reported, it seems unlikely he\u2019ll get another chance with the Spurs.<\/p>\n
Mason Plumlee | Unrestricted free agent<\/p>\n
2025\/26 stats (only with Spurs): 0.8 points, 2.2 rebounds, 0.6 assists in just six games.<\/p>\n
Plumlee arrived late in the season to occupy the roster spot left vacant after Sochan was waived. He took a while to get into shape and ended up playing just 47 total minutes wearing Silver and Black in the regular season. The most memorable moment in his stint with the Spurs was probably a hard foul on Jared McCain, as Mitch Johnson preferred to go small rather than play Plumlee when the team needed a backup center.<\/p>\n
Likelihood of returning: Low<\/p>\n
Plumlee, 36, has been declining for a while and might be done as an NBA player. It\u2019s hard to come up with any scenario in which a return to San Antonio makes sense.<\/p>\n
Bismack Biyombo | Unrestricted free agent<\/p>\n
2025\/26 stats: 0.9 points, one rebound, 0.3 stocks in 5.6 minutes a game.<\/p>\n
Biyombo sat in free agency for the better part of the last year before the Spurs added him when Victor Wembanyama was out. They played him 19 minutes a game and, unsurprisingly, he wasn\u2019t good, as the agility and athleticism that made him a solid defensive center with decent finishing ability had disappeared by then.<\/p>\n
This year, he was even worse, but the difference is that he didn\u2019t actually play much and was mostly around to provide veteran leadership.<\/p>\n
Likelihood of returning: Medium (but should be low)<\/p>\n
Biyombo shouldn\u2019t be in the NBA at this point. He can\u2019t move well enough to defend the pick and roll, and his shot-blocking is gone. He was never a good offensive player, but his lack of range and horrendous free-throw shooting make him a liability. There are no basketball reasons for him to be on the Spurs next season.<\/p>\n
That said, the Spurs will need to fill out the bottom of their roster with players who have no expectations to get playing time and who seem like good locker room presences. Wembanyama appears to like Biyombo, so he might get a spot. If it happens, hopefully, there will be quality depth ahead of him, because he should only see the floor in garbage time.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Free agency won\u2019t start until June 30th, but as soon as the Finals ended, teams have been able…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":710849,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[64],"tags":[355,99,47466],"class_list":["post-710848","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nba","tag-nba","tag-sports","tag-spurs-free-agency"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/710848","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=710848"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/710848\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/710849"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=710848"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=710848"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=710848"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}