What free agents we go for really depends on what trades we make around the draft. If we trade for KD, we will probably only have around $8M if we want to stay under the tax. If we don’t, we should have the full NTPMLE which is around $14M.
Our biggest hole is the backup center position. Santi Aldama and Luke Kornet would be great there but they may be looking for a starting role elsewhere. I assume Brook Lopez and Naz Reid will be too expensive. I think we are going to have to bring back Biyombo and/or Bassey but maybe we could try Thomas Bryant.
Our next issue is shooting. Luke Kennard and Sam Merrill are snipers that we could probably afford. Keon Ellis, NAW, and Taurean Prince would all be great 3&D players off the bench but we will definitely need the full NTPMLE to afford them.
What should the Spurs do during the 2024-25 season? Nothing. I think we should play out the season and hope we get lucky with a good draft pick from Atlanta or our own.
The following is a look at the Spurs contracts over the next four seasons. I penciled Mamu and Bassey back in at their previous contracts but those two spots are technically still open. Maybe the Spurs add a veteran minimum free agent or bring back Barlow, but I doubt they do anything more.
Looking at the 2025-26 season, we have a couple options. We could bring back Tre Jones and/or Chris Paul. We could sign a $20M free agent. We could sign new minimum players or bring back some of our bench crew. We could try to use our cap space to help facilitate another trade as the third team like we did with Bullock, Cedi, and Barnes and acquire more draft capital. We can attach a draft pick or two to Collins, Barnes, and/or Keldon to add another piece.
We could do a combination of the options above. Here is a look where we bring back Tre Jones and CP in order to maintain maximum cap space for the 2026-27 season. I also extended Sochan at $20M per year. We would still have enough money to sign a big free agent, and at this point, I think we would be a free agent destination.
Of course our cap space would shrink if we turn Collins, Barnes, and/or Keldon into another player with more long term money. If we turn Collins into another $20M player that has money running through 2027, then we would only have around $20M to add a player in free agency. De’Aaron Fox will be a free agent after the 2025-26 season so he would be an example of a player we would be able to sign.
The other option is to go big before or during the 2025-26 season. We could combine Collins and Barnes and get anybody from a team that wants to tank. I am not sure who (1) owns their own pick in the 2026 draft, (2) would want to tear it all down, and (3) has a player that is worth the Spurs going after. Options could be Miami (Bam), Atlanta (Trae), Utah (Markkanen), Sacramento (Fox and Sabonis), or Toronto (Barnes). The following is if we could make the trade:
Spurs get
Bam Adebayo
Heat get
Harrison Barnes
Zach Collins
2026 1st round swap (best of ATL and SAS)
2026 1st round pick top 8 protected (from CHI)
2027 1st round pick (better of ATL and SAS)
2029 1st round pick (from SAS)
2030 1st round swap (second best of SAS, DAL, MIN)
2031 1st round pick (from MIN)
The cap sheet would look about the same if we added De’Aaron Fox as a free agent after the 2025-26 season. Adding a player with this size contract will get us really close to the Luxury Tax in 2027-28 as we will have around $20M for four players before going over.
I think maybe the 2025 draft is going to help make our decision. If we could get a good pick, we may not need to add another max player and instead just build out our supporting cast.
19/20: – Re-signed Dejounte Murray to a 4yr/64mil extension
20/21: – Drafted Devin Vassell at #11 – Drafted Tre Jones at #41 – Re-signed Jakob Poeltl to a 3yr/26mil deal – Re-signed Derrick White to a 4yr/73mil extension – Bought-out LaMarcus Aldridge
21/22: – Drafted Josh Primo at #11 – Signed Zach Collins to a 3yr/21mil deal with only the first year guaranteed – Signed Doug McDermott to a 3yr/42mil deal – Sign-and-traded DeMar DeRozan for a first round pick, two second rounders and Thad Young – Traded an expiring Thad Young for a first round pick – Traded Derrick White for Josh Richardson, Romeo Langford, a first round pick and a pick swap
22/23: – Drafted Jeremy Sochan at #9 – Drafted Malaki Branham at #20 – Drafted Blake Wesley at #25 – Traded Dejounte Murray for three first round picks and a pick swap – Re-signed Keldon Johnson to a 4yr/74mil extension – Traded an expiring Jakob Poeltl for a first rounder and two seconds -Traded an expiring Josh Richardson for four second rounders – Signed Julian Champagnie and Sandro Mamukelashvilli off waivers during the season
23/24: – Drafted Victor Wembanyama at #1 – Acquired Reggie Bullock and a pick swap for nothing – Re-signed Tre Jones to a 2yr/19mil deal – Re-signed Julian Champagnie to a 4yr/12mil deal – Re-signed Devin Vassell to a 5yr/135mil extension
24/25:
– Drafted Stephon Castle at #4 – Traded pick #8 for a first round pick, a pick swap and 8mil in cap space – Signed Chris Paul to a 1yr/11mil deal – Acquired Harrison Barnes and a pick swap for nothing by using the cap space saved from the draft day trade
matthew.cafe 