Best Remaining Free-Agent Targets for San Antonio Spurs

The San Antonio Spurs' reported acquisition of power forward David West has quickly solidified this summer as the most productive offseason in recent franchise memory. The draft-and-stash selection of Nikola Milutinov last month was uneventful enough, but everything changed as July's free-agency bonanza began to take shape.

General manager R.C. Buford quickly agreed to deals with Danny Green and reigning Defensive Player of the Year Kawhi Leonard, who joined Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and head coach Gregg Popovich in recruiting the summer's biggest prize of all: former Portland Trail Blazers All-Star LaMarcus Aldridge.

Aldridge confirmed via Twitter on July 4 that he'll be joining the franchise, and Duncan told the San Antonio Express-News that he'll return for at least one more season. For at least one year, there may be no better front line in basketball, particularly when one considers Leonard's emergence as one of the game's best two-way contributors.

But San Antonio hasn't finished assembling this beautiful puzzle just yet. Manu Ginobili's announcement that he'll play one more season will help a bench that includes Boris Diaw, Patty Mills and second-year forward Kyle Anderson. But the departures of Tiago Splitter, Marco Belinelli, Cory Joseph and Aron Baynes will leave respective holes to fill—especially for a team that often goes 10-deep on any given night.

Here's a look at five options the organization could still pursue, ranked according to how well they fit with San Antonio's needs at the moment.

5. Carlos Boozer

Jeff Chiu/Associated Press

West's signing may make Carlos Boozer more of an afterthought, but he's one of the big men who's been linked to the organization. ESPN.com's Chris Broussard recently reported via Twitter that, "Boozer is in on-going conversations with LAC, SA, Dallas and Toronto," according to sources.

Other suitors may have greater need for Boozer, but his list of possibilities—all short on cap space by now—suggests that the 33-year-old is willing to accept a smaller deal. So the Spurs could conceivably be in the hunt here.

After securing West's services, the team would probably prefer to find a true center or rim protector to play minutes at the 5 behind Duncan. Boozer certainly isn't that. But he would be a halfway decent insurance policy in the event someone goes down. Having those kind of experienced pieces around can't be underestimated.

Odds are Boozer finds a better opportunity (i.e. more minutes) elsewhere, so he's not especially high on this list. But he's a legitimate possibility nevertheless.

4. Carlos Delfino

Scott Halleran/Getty Images

Carlos Delfino might be a slight step down from Belinelli, but he's built in a similar mold. He made at least 36 percent of his three-point attempts in his last five NBA seasons before sitting out the 2014-15 campaign, and he specializes in the basic catch-and-shoot job description San Antonio needs right now.

Better yet, he has some rapport with Manu Ginobili after the two played together for Argentina's national team. That kind of tie could figure prominently in potential mutual interest between the two sides. And while there haven't been explicit reports about a courtship, there was one interesting nugget courtesy of the San Antonio Express-News' Mike Monroe.

He noted via Twitter that, "@InfoManu [was] reporting rumors that Carlos Delfino meeting with #Spurs docs; very interesting."

Delfino may be a potentially inexpensive solution for the organization's remaining shooting needs, and—at age 32—he just might be willing to play at a discounted rate in order to compete for a championship.

It may not be the sexiest imaginable addition for those hoping Ray Allen gives it one more chase at a ring. But it's a far more realistic scenario that makes real sense on paper. Ginobili may be set to play a more prominent role in Belinelli's absence, but the Spurs would likely prefer someone of Delfino's ilk to shoulder some of the minutes burden during the regular season.

3. Larry Sanders

Sam Forencich/Getty Images

Repeated suspensions for drugs might indicate that Larry Sanders isn't the typical San Antonio Spur. And Sanders' decision to walk away from the game after his failed stint with the Milwaukee Bucks would ostensibly make a union with the organization all the more improbable.

But there's a chance Sanders returns. As he put it in his piece for The Players' Tribune, "I love basketball, and if I get to a point where I feel I'm capable of playing basketball again, I will. I've had to make the difficult decision to follow my intuition, and allow myself the space and time to explore my true purpose in life."

Maybe that purpose is helping the Spurs win another title. We do know Sanders will get his feet wet with a little action at Los Angeles' Drew League.

By now, it's probably not about the money for Sanders, who signed a four-year, $44 million pact with Milwaukee before everything went south. If Sanders is looking for an opportunity to demonstrate a winning pedigree and the ability to stick around, the Spurs aren't such a bad idea.

Remember, this is the coach and franchise who generally got the best out of Stephen Jackson. They have taken on projects before, and reaching Sanders probably isn't an insurmountable task. It may just require the right situation, and this might be it.

If one goes back to the 2012-13 campaign, Sanders was actually pretty effective. He then averaged 9.8 points, 9.5 rebounds and 2.8 blocks in just 27.3 minutes per contest. His role began to decline thereafter, but there is at least some empirical data that supports his ability as an interior rebounder and defender.

For a team that could use a little extra rim protection when Duncan and Aldridge go to the bench, Sanders makes sense—even if he is something of a reclamation project.

2. Alan Anderson

Nathaniel S. Butler/Getty Images

Alan Anderson isn't quite a top-tier three-point shooter, but he's made 34.6 percent of his career attempts from beyond the arc. Like Delfino, he's a 32-year-old who's made his career spotting up from three-point range and spacing the floor from the wing.

We haven't heard a whole lot about Anderson's free-agent fate, but it may be difficult for the Spurs to pry him away from the Brooklyn Nets.

Yahoo Sports' Adrian Wojnarowski recently indicated via Twitter that, "Keeping free agent Alan Anderson remains a priority for the Nets, league sources tell Yahoo. He's a popular bench target for teams."

The problem is that Brooklyn should be able to outbid San Antonio, meaning Anderson would need to factor title chances into his equation in order for the Spurs to have a real chance. It might be an uphill battle, but Anderson is one of the few remaining free agents who could do the kinds of things Belinelli did.

Anderson averaged at least 7.2 points per game in each of his last two campaigns, both with the Nets. He started 45 games combined in those seasons.

1. Jordan Hill

Jeff Chiu/Associated Press

In this case, the Spurs would have to hope the allure of winning a title factors heavily into the thinking of a player still in his prime. There's no chance the organization can afford to pay Jordan Hill anywhere near the money he made last season with the Los Angeles Lakers.

There's also no chance San Antonio can offer Hill a starting job with Duncan and Aldridge around. 

But Hill—who's only 27—would still stand to gain something from inking a deal with the Spurs, something beyond the chance to win a championship. He could prove his ability to contribute to a successful team, something he really hasn't done in his six NBA seasons. The Lakers were a chance for him to audition his skills, but he did so amid a struggling operation with little front-line depth.

That's not quite the kind of statement Hill needed to make. In a reserve role with the Spurs, he could prove he belongs—that he's more than a guy who racks up stats while playing for bad teams. That might not translate into riches right away, but it could be good for Hill's career over the long term. San Antonio might even opt to keep him around, paying up with Bird Rights in hand as the salary cap explodes in 2016.

Landing Hill is something of a long shot in a market where there's now an additional premium on the dwindled crop of free-agent big men. But Buford and Co. have clearly demonstrated an ability to sell guys on the merits of playing for a ring with a now super-talented core. 

Maybe that magic hasn't run out just yet.

Hill isn't a top-shelf rim protector, but he did average 12 points and 7.9 rebounds a season ago. He has a bit of range on his jumper, and he can rebound—not bad for a guy with a big body that can soak up some minutes at the 5.