NBA teams have three main ways to improve over the offseason: trades, the draft, and free agency. The draft order odds are on Tankathon and the lottery is May 12. This is considered one of the weakest drafts this century with no presumed star. A list of free agents can be found on Spotrac. Like the draft class, this free agent class is considered pretty weak. If the Spurs can not improve via these three methods, the final option is to just run it back. Theoretically the Spurs are in position to bring basically everyone back and then add one or two draft picks.
The Current Players
The following is a breakdown of the Spurs current contracts. Note I have made a couple assumptions for simplicity.
| # | Player | 2024-25 | % of Cap | 2025-26 | % of Cap | 2026-27 | % of Cap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Devin Vassell | $29,347,826 | 20.7% | $27,000,000 | 18.2% | $27,000,000 | 17.3% |
| 2 | Keldon Johnson | $19,000,000 | 13.4% | $17,500,000 | 11.8% | $17,500,000 | 11.2% |
| 3 | Zach Collins | $16,741,200 | 11.8% | $18,080,496 | 12.2% | ||
| 4 | Victor Wembanyama | $12,768,960 | 9.0% | $13,376,880 | 9.0% | $16,868,246 | 10.8% |
| 5 | Devonte’ Graham | $12,650,000 | 8.9% | ||||
| 6 | Tre Jones | $9,100,000 | 6.4% | ||||
| 7 | Jeremy Sochan | $5,570,040 | 3.9% | $7,096,231 | 4.8% | ||
| 8 | Malaki Branham | $3,217,920 | 2.3% | $4,962,033 | 3.3% | ||
| 9 | Julian Champagnie | $2,930,233 | 1.5% | $3,069,767 | 1.5% | ||
| 10 | Blake Wesley | $2,624,280 | 1.9% | ||||
| 11 | Charles Bassey | $2,600,000 | 1.8% | ||||
| 12 | Sidy Cissoko | $1,891,857 | 1.3% | $2,221,677 | 1.5% | ||
| 13 | Spurs 2024 Draft Pick | $6,278,480 | 4.4% | $6,592,352 | 4.4% | $6,906,536 | 4.4% |
| 14 | Open Roster Spot | ||||||
| 15 | Open Roster Spot | ||||||
| $124,720,796 | 88.2% | $99,899,436 | 67.3% | $68,274,782 | 43.8% |
The Spurs are currently in a pretty good place with regards to the contracts on the books. As it stands now, the Collins contract is probably the only one viewed as “bad” by the rest of the league. The Keldon contract is probably not desirable for another team, but I don’t think it would be labeled “bad”. The Spurs will probably end up with a roster that costs between $140M and $150M, so we can assume we can add an additional $25M for this season with or without waiving Devonte’ Graham. His contract is only guaranteed at around $3M so he could be waived and an additional $10M and a roster spot are opened up. At the same time, the Spurs have a 60% chance of landing Toronto’s draft pick this year which would come in at around $6M and take a roster spot. Cedi, Mamu, and Barlow are all on the 23-24 roster but did not make my assumed 24-25 roster. With regards to trades, this is how I view our current 23-24 players.
Untouchable: Wemby, Vassel, Sochan
Keep: Tre, Keldon
Willing to Trade: Collins, Champagnie, Bassey, Branham, Wesley, Cissoko, Barlow
Trade, Waive, or Let Go: Devonte’, Cedi, Sandro
A couple notes about this list. First, Wemby is the only true Untouchable, but for all intents and purposes, Vassel and Sochan are as well. I can’t imagine a scenario where it would make sense to trade one. Next, I don’t want to trade Keldon or Tre. I would only include them in a trade to match salaries if trading for a star. They are a great part of the Spurs future bench mob and are part of the heart and soul of the team. I love each of Deveonte’, Cedi, and Sandro. They are all great teammates and fit our system perfectly on offense. However, their defense is lacking and I think we can replace their offense with players with higher defensive upside. The Devonte’ contract is going to be they key to any trade. If we plan to make a trade, I assume we would guarantee Devonte’s contract to give us $13M to include in a trade. Finally, everyone in the Willing to Trade group is tradable if necessary. Most are young players on rookie contracts and we are not likely to get any value for them in trades.
Future Draft Picks
Here is a look at the Spurs future draft capital. Updated after the draft.
| Year | Round 1 | Round 2 | R1 Swap | Total | Cumulative |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 4 |
| 2025 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 10 |
| 2026 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 6 | 16 |
| 2027 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 21 |
| 2028 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 26 |
| 2029 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 30 |
| 2030 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 33 |
| 2031 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 35 |
The image above assumes three things: both the Atlanta and the Chicago picks convey in 2025, and that the Charlotte pick turns into two second rounders. The Chicago pick is top 10 protected and there is definitely a chance they fall below that next season and the pick is pushed to the 2026 draft.
Look at the picks over the next two drafts. Spurs will have five first round picks 2024 Spurs, 2024/5 Toronto, 2025 Atlanta, 2025/6 Chicago, 2025 Spurs, and theoretically could even have six if 2025 Charlotte conveys (it’s lottery protected so it will never convey because Charlotte will never ever make the playoffs). And then the Spurs have five second round picks as well. First round picks are guaranteed a roster spot at a defined salary based on the pick number while second round picks would typically go into one of three Two-Way contracts. Of course the goal would be to draft a second rounder good enough to make the actual roster, so if one of those five hit, the Spurs would use yet another roster spot.
This is the 25-26 roster if Spurs were to sign the five first round draft picks. Assume Spurs lose Cedi Osman, Devonte’ Graham, Charles Bassey, Sandro Mamukelashvili, and Dominick Barlow and resign Tre Jones (and eventually Sochan). Draft pick salaries are estimates based on where we assume the pick could fall.
| Player | 2025-2026 | % of Cap | 2026-2027 | % of Cap |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Devin Vassell | $27,000,000 | 18.2% | $27,000,000 | 17.3% |
| Keldon Johnson | $17,500,000 | 11.8% | $17,500,000 | 11.2% |
| Victor Wembanyama | $13,376,880 | 9.0% | $16,868,246 | 10.8% |
| Zach Collins | $18,080,496 | 12.2% | ||
| Tre Jones | $14,000,000 | 9.4% | $14,000,000 | 9.0% |
| Jeremy Sochan | $7,096,231 | 4.8% | $20,000,000 | 12.8% |
| Malaki Branham | $4,962,033 | 3.3% | ||
| Julian Champagnie | $3,069,767 | 1.5% | $3,209,302 | 1.5% |
| Blake Wesley | $4,726,328 | 3.2% | ||
| Sidy Cissoko | $2,221,677 | 1.5% | ||
| Draft 2024 – Spurs | $6,278,480 | 4.2% | $9,313,512 | 6.0% |
| Draft 2025 – Atlanta | $5,000,000 | 3.4% | $5,000,000 | 3.2% |
| Draft 2024/5 – Toronto | $5,000,000 | 3.4% | $5,000,000 | 3.2% |
| Draft 2025 – Chicago | $3,500,000 | 2.4% | $3,500,000 | 2.2% |
| Draft 2025 – Spurs | $3,500,000 | 2.4% | $3,500,000 | 2.2% |
| Total | $135,311,892 | 91.1% | $122,169,900 | 78.3% |
This roster would only have five players over 22 years old! The Spurs would be way too young and most likely terrible. I think the Spurs must trade a couple draft picks before the 2025-26 season. Minimally, I would look to trade the Toronto and Chicago picks plus a couple second rounders. They don’t need to be traded this offseason, but they should be made available. Two protected firsts plus, let’s say three second rounders would be a decent haul for a decent role player.
Beyond the 2025 draft, the next question is what to do with all those second round picks. They have 20 second round picks between 2024 and 2030. They have 1/6 of the entire 2026 second round (five picks). Again, it is not critical to trade them all before this next season starts, but each of those 20 draft picks should be available.
Draft – Updated after the draft
Spurs selected Stephon Castle at #4 and traded away the #8 pick for Minnesota’s 2031 1st Unprotected and 2030 1st Top 1 Protected Swap. Brian Wright said during a press conference that “when we potentially want to trade with a team blowing it all up in 2026, an unprotected 1st rounder in 2031 is more attractive than a not-quite-star two years away from having to be really paid.” Based on this draft, I would assume we are going to do something similar next year. Maybe we draft two players in the first round if our picks are good, but I expect us to trade one or two picks for future assets.
Trades
Trading in the NBA requires incoming and outgoing salaries to match within a certain percent of each other. A package of Collins, Graham, and Champagnie, for example, gets up to $32M – then add an additional 25% per the trade rules – and the Spurs could bring back a $40M contract. There has been some Trae Young to the Spurs rumors, but his contract is $43M and so the Spurs would need to include another player or replace someone with Keldon. To me, that is too high of a price. Donovan Mitchell, Darius Garland, Brandon Ingram, Jerami Grant, and CJ McCollum are other players that could maybe possibly be traded and are between $30M and $36M. Graham plus Collins (or Keldon) would be able to get to that salary. Only trading Graham’s contract would be able to get the Spurs up to around $20M (per a different set of trade rules) and there should be a bunch of trade candidates in the $10M-$20M range that could help the Spurs.
The major issue with finding trades for the Spurs is that no other team is going to want a player that the Spurs are willing to trade. No team is going into the offseason actively targeting a player from the Spurs roster. So the Spurs are going to have to include draft capital in any trade.
Trae, Mitchell, or Garland Trade
Let’s play out a scenario where the Spurs decide to go after Trae, Mitchell, or Garland. Most likely these would have to include Keldon, Graham, and a series of draft picks. The Cavs trade for Mitchell was Markkanen, Ochai Agbaji, Sexton, three unprotected first-round picks (2025, 2027 and 2029), and two pick swaps (2026 and 2028). I don’t know if the Spurs would have to match that price, but it is reasonable to assume we would need to trade Atlanta’s two unprotected plus Chicago’s protected and a handful of seconds, assuming we would not want to do any swaps.
If this trade happens, the Spurs are instantly right at the salary cap for the next three seasons. They could add a player from free agency at around $12M, but that would be about it. The team would be effectively the exact same as last year with Keldon having been upgraded and one or two rookies added. And then there really are no more additions the Spurs could do outside of drafting new rookies. The following table shows estimated salary with some assumptions and simplifications. Also assume adding a new rookie at around $5M every year.
| # | Player | 2024-25 | % | 2025-26 | % | 2026-27 | % | 2027-28 | % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Devin Vassell | $29,347,826 | 20.7% | $27,000,000 | 18.2% | $27,000,000 | 17.3% | $24,652,174 | 15.1% |
| 2 | Trae Young | $43,031,940 | 30.4% | $45,999,660 | 31.0% | $48,967,380 | 31.4% | ||
| 3 | Victor Wembanyama | $12,768,960 | 9.0% | $13,376,880 | 9.0% | $16,868,246 | 10.8% | $49,127,929 | 30.0% |
| 4 | Zach Collins | $16,741,200 | 11.8% | $18,080,496 | 12.2% | ||||
| 5 | Tre Jones | $9,100,000 | 6.4% | $14,000,000 | 9.4% | $14,000,000 | 9.0% | ||
| 6 | Jeremy Sochan | $5,570,040 | 3.9% | $7,096,231 | 4.8% | $20,000,000 | 12.8% | $20,000,000 | 12.2% |
| 7 | J Champagnie | $2,930,233 | 1.5% | $3,069,767 | 1.5% | $3,209,302 | 1.5% | ||
| 8 | M Branham | $3,217,920 | 2.3% | $4,962,033 | 3.3% | $8,000,000 | 5.1% | $8,000,000 | 4.9% |
| 9 | Blake Wesley | $2,624,280 | 1.9% | ||||||
| 10 | Charles Bassey | $2,600,000 | 1.8% | ||||||
| 11 | Sidy Cissoko | $1,891,857 | 1.3% | $2,221,677 | 1.5% | ||||
| 12 | Draft 2024 | $7,112,076 | 5.0% | $7,467,423 | 5.0% | $7,823,198 | 5.0% | ||
| 13 | Dominick Barlow | $2,500,000 | 1.8% | ||||||
| 14 | Draft 2024 | $5,000,000 | 3.5% | $5,000,000 | 3.4% | $5,000,000 | 3.2% | ||
| 15 | Open Roster Spot | ||||||||
| $144,436,332 | 101.3% | $148,274,167 | 99.3% | $150,868,126 | 96.1% | $101,780,103 | 62.2% |
I actually don’t think this leaves us in a great place long term. We don’t have any flexibility over the next three seasons and then once Wemby is making $50M in the 2027-28 season, we would really be hurting. Garland’s contract is about $6M cheaper every season but continues until 2027-28.
Role Player Trades
VICTOR WEMBANYAMA WAS PLUS 46 OVER 1,250 MINUTES SINCE MOVING TO CENTER ON JANUARY 4 2024. This is insane given how terrible the Spurs were and considering their record. We already have our star and I don’t think we need to get another. I think we should trade for depth. All of the bench was minus over 100 in that same time frame. The following is a list of players in situations where I could see them being traded.
- Deni Avdija
- Collin Sexton
- Rui Hachimura
- Naz Reid
- Norm Powell
- Luke Kennard
- Nickeil Alexander-Walker
- Cam Johnson
I would not want to include a 1st round pick in a trade for anyone here. So I don’t really see us going down one of these paths.
Free Agents
Here are some free agents I think are interesting:
- Tyus Jones
- Naji Marshall
- Haywood Highsmith
- Trendon Watford
- Kyle Anderson
- Kelly Oubre Jr.
- Tobias Harris
This is where I would make my offseason move, I would go after Tyus Jones. Tyus solves our second string PG issue (either he or his brother comes off the bench) and is also a needed veteran. Backup PF is a hole we need to fill. We re-signed Mamu but he is not a reliable backup. Kyle Anderson would be a good backup PF. He would help the bench defense immensely and help run the offense (except he can’t shoot). Tobias Harris is interesting to me as a bench scoring PF, but I think he would be too expensive. I don’t know if Naji Marshall is big enough to help our bench defense, but if he is, I think he could be a good pick up for us. Haywood Highsmith could be a PF for us off the bench to help with the defense. Kelly Oubre would just help our bench offense, which needs a lot of help.
matthew.cafe 