Creating the Blueprint for San Antonio Spurs' Perfect Offseason
The 2015 offseason will test the shrewdness of the San Antonio Spurs front office. Seven players who were nightly contributors last season are free agents, and the team has limited cap space to potentially re-sign them.
San Antonio's brass must decide which assets are irreplaceable versus expendable. What constitutes a perfect offseason for San Antonio depends on the eye of the beholder, but this exercise will provide a realistic outlook.
Yes, LaMarcus Aldridge and Marc Gasol are eye-opening, grin-inducing prizes for San Antonio fans. But as ESPN's Matthew Tynan notes, barring an unexpected retirement from Tim Duncan coupled with Danny Green leaving in free agency, adding either Aldridge or Gasol isn't feasible.
According to HoopsHype, the Spurs have $36 million of cap space for the 2015-16 campaign. Only five players—Tony Parker, Tiago Splitter, Boris Diaw, Patty Mills and Kyle Anderson—have fully guaranteed contracts.
San Antonio has surely had a capologist lay out the best way to approach this offseason, because this stuff gets complex.
The Spurs' first priority is locking up restricted free agent Kawhi Leonard. The small forward will almost assuredly receive a max deal that will keep him in San Antonio long term, per Yahoo Sports' Adrian Wojnarowski:
"For now, there's no scenario where Leonard plans to pursue offer sheets on the market, league sources tell Yahoo Sports.
Leonard wants to be a Spur, and the Spurs are expected to come calling on July 1 with the max offer that they resisted delivering Leonard in the preseason, a move born out of preserving cap space to bring on a star free agent this summer.
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But, strangely enough, being priority No. 1 does't mean he should be signed first.
Since Leonard is a restricted free agent, San Antonio has a sneaky way to temporarily keep an extra $8 million, but it's contingent on Kawhi not signing an offer sheet elsewhere.
Nate Duncan of Basketball Insiders notes the small forward has a $7.2 million cap hold. So, if Leonard and the Spurs agree—or perhaps have already agreed—to wait as long as possible to ink a new contract, they would only be on the hook for his cap hold instead of a max contract until officially agreeing.
This would afford San Antonio a little breathing room to retain Green, who is probably looking at an $8-10 million deal. Per Grantland's Zach Lowe, Green is "perhaps the most divisive free agent of the summer in league circles." Lowe continued:
"Lot of execs would scoff at giving him a deal in the $10 million range; the phrase 'product of the Spurs system' is thrown around a lot. ... But Green is no longer just a system player who mooches wide-open threes. He takes hard 3s, with defenders right in his jersey, and he takes them from all areas of the floor.
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The Spurs would undoubtedly have room to re-sign Green if Duncan and Manu Ginobili retire, but B/R's Ric Bucher reported the team is working under the assumption its veteran duo is coming back.
Consequently, San Antonio will very likely utilize every loophole and exception to maximize cap room—again, even if only temporarily.
If the front office can secure commitments from Duncan and Ginobili to return and quickly sign a new contract or retire, $26 million worth of cap holds, per ShamSports, will be reduced or completely eliminated.
Another available loophole is renouncing rights to free agents, and in the Spurs' case, they'd probably do this with Cory Joseph, Aron Baynes, Matt Bonner and Jeff Ayres. Plus, they could waive Reggie Williams and his non-guaranteed $1.2 million contract.
Joseph and Baynes are restricted free agents, yet neither one should command much more than his qualifying offer. By renouncing their rights, San Antonio could subtract nearly $6 million of cap holds, open room for Leonard, Green, Duncan and Ginobili, then circle back to keep Baynes, reconsider Bonner but let Ayres walk.
Whew. Take a moment to catch your breath.
If Joseph receives a well-deserved deal in the $3-4 million range, he'll likely be too expensive for the Spurs. The list of free agents who are capable facilitators and affordable is very limited, so the franchise could attempt to snag Utah point guard Delon Wright at No. 26 in the 2015 NBA draft as a Joseph replacement.
San Antonio has a couple of other prospects to target, especially now that one second-unit contributor might be on his way out after a disappointing second season with the 2014 champs.
| 2013-14 | 11.4 | 43.0 | 57.6 | 114 | 105 |
| 2014-15 | 9.2 | 37.4 | 51.5 | 107 | 106 |
In an interview with Il Corriere dello Sport (translation via Sportando), Marco Belinelli admitted the size of this summer's contract will play a significant factor in choosing his next basketball home.
"My future is a big question mark," Belinelli said. "I am 29, I am not too young anymore and I am not hiding that the salary is important."
San Antonio needn't overpay to retain Belinelli, since the Italian has a replaceable skill set of above-average outside shooting—and that's basically it.
Ideally, the Spurs will use their first-round pick to select Wright or Virginia small forward Justin Anderson. However, if both players are tabbed before San Antonio is on the clock, then Georgia State's R.J. Hunter should be a top target. Either Anderson or Hunter would slide into Belinelli's role—knock down threes, play a little defense—though the former offers a more balanced game.
An important caveat: The draft is June 25, so the direction the Spurs head on that night may determine how they address Belinelli's status.
The last situation mentioned will be first, and the first priority will be last.
San Antonio's perfect offseason concludes with Leonard and Green signing long-term deals, while Duncan and Ginobili punctually alert the team of their intention to return for 2015-16 at further discounted rates. The Spurs bring back Baynes, draft a reserve who can fill in for Joseph or Belinelli and bring up Kyle Anderson from the D-League.
At that point, San Antonio could extend minimum offers to Bonner and Williams—two players who shouldn't do much more than provide a happy, familiar face on the bench—to complete the roster.
Perfection will not be easily attained, but watching the Spurs maneuver their way through a handful of interconnected decisions should be fascinating because, for once, the NBA has little idea what San Antonio will actually look like next season.
Follow Bleacher Report NBA writer David Kenyon on Twitter: @Kenyon19_BR
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