Five Key Offseason Questions: San Antonio Spurs

The San Antonio Spurs enjoyed another banner regular season and deep playoff run, only to see their championship aspirations destroyed by a key injury. When superstar Kawhi Leonard landed on the foot of the Warriors’ Zaza Pachulia in Game 1 of the Western Conference series, all the drama was drained from the series.

Gregg Popovich railed on Pachulia’s closeout, which the coach felt was a careless and dangerous play. Whether Popovich’s criticism was justified, it certainly prevented Leonard from playing the rest of the way and turned the intriguing series into a formality.

The Spurs remain one of the league’s elite teams and they could potentially be even better next season, depending upon how free agency plays out.

Here’s a look at the major questions confronting the club this offseason:

1. Can the Spurs sign unrestricted free agent Chris Paul?Chris Paul vertical

The Clippers will undoubtedly offer a max deal in an effort to retain the perennial All-Star point guard. Paul’s free agent tour could be this year’s version of the Kevin Durant sweepstakes. Paul is desperately seeking a ring and the Clippers have consistently underperformed in the postseason.

If he bolts, San Antonio is the favorite to land him. The Spurs have an obvious need at the position and the possibility of CP3 joining Leonard and LaMarcus Aldridge would give the NBA a third ‘Super Team’ to rival the Warriors and Cavaliers.

The major stumbling block is that the Spurs don’t have enough cap space to give Paul a max contract without some roster maneuvers. Trading sharpshooter Danny Green and his $10MM deal for next season would help the cause. However, it’s quite possible that Paul could accept a lesser deal with an opt-out after the first or second year if he’s serious about joining the Spurs.

2. If the Spurs fail to land Paul, what should they about their point guard situation?

Tony Parker is expected to miss at least the first two months of the season and Patty Mills is an unrestricted free agent.

The Spurs did draft Dejounte Murray last June and his role could expand. Mills obviously knows the system and there may not be a ton of competition to bring him back. The Spurs could easily get by with the Mills-Murray combo and get a boost from Parker when he’s ready to go.

The alternative would be to pursue one of the other starter-quality free agents on the market. Kyle Lowry, Derrick Rose, Jeff Teague and former Spur George Hill will all be seeking long-term deals.

3. Should the Spurs re-sign swingman Jonathon Simmons?

Simmons will be a restricted free agent after the club extends him a qualifying offer. The University of Houston alum saw his playing time expand during the postseason, which enhanced his chances of receiving a lucrative offer sheet.

San Antonio owns Simmons’ Early Bird rights, but a heavily backloaded deal would make it difficult for the Spurs to keep him around. He’s not a young player by NBA standards — though Simmons has only two years of NBA experience, he’s 27. While the Spurs would like to keep him around, they’re not going to significantly damage their cap situation for the next few years to retain him.

4. Will Pau Gasol and David Lee exercise their player options?

One of the Spurs’ frontcourt rotation players, Dewayne Dedmon, has already decided to opt out and test the market. Gasol and Lee are more likely to stick around.

Gasol will make $16.2MM next season and he’s not going to find a better situation at his age to get another ring. He has already strongly hinted that he has no plans to leave the Spurs.

Lee would only make approximately $2.3MM if he decides to stay. Like Gasol though, he may not find a better place to pursue a championship. Lee has bounced around the league in recent seasons and suffered a knee injury in the Western Conference Finals, which would further depress his value on the open market.

5. If Manu Ginobili retires, what should the Spurs do to replace him?

Ginobili’s playing time decreased in recent years, but he was still averaging nearly 20 minutes a game. His unique skills as a sparkplug would be hard to replace.

Simmons’ playing time would spike if he re-signs and there are plenty of wing players who will be looking for teams on the free agent market.

If they don’t eat up their cap space by signing Paul or some other high-priced point guard, the Spurs could go the “you can never have enough shooters” route and try to land a J.J. Redick or C.J. Miles. Another option is to sign Adam Hanga, the Euroleague’s Defensive Player of the Year. The Spurs retain his rights after drafting him back in 2011.

Here’s where things currently stand for the Spurs financially:

Guaranteed Salary

Player Options

Team Options

  • None

Non-Guaranteed Salary

Restricted Free Agents

  • Jonathon Simmons ($1,671,382 qualifying offer / $1,671,382 cap hold)
  • Total: $1,671,382

Cap Holds

Projected Salary Cap: $101,000,000

Maximum Cap Room: $22,856,803

  • With seven guaranteed contracts, plus cap holds for a first-round pick and four empty roster spots, the Spurs’ team salary is $78,143,197. That figure doesn’t include Gasol or Lee, who could pick up player options, and also doesn’t include Ginobili, Mills, or Simmons, all free agents. Even if none of those players return, San Antonio would still have work to do to clear enough room for a maximum salary player like Chris Paul.

Footnotes:

  1. Forbes’ salary becomes partially guaranteed ($100,000) after August 1.

Salary information from Basketball Insiders and The Vertical was used in the creation of this post. Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

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