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As it is, the San Antonio Spurs will be coming out of the 2023 offseason as one of its biggest winners, simply by virtue of winning the Victor Wembanyama sweepstakes. Drafting Wembanyama alone guarantees a much better on-court product for the Spurs next season (barring any injuries, of course), but with another year under their belts, it stands to reason that the Spurs' young players have gotten better as well.
In fact, the Spurs' moves this offseason show that the front office believes in their young core's ability to grow together into one, cohesive contending unit. Despite having loads of cap space, the Spurs did not blow them on mid-tier free agents that could prevent some of their key youngsters from getting minutes. Instead, they used their cap room to absorb unwanted contracts, such as Cedi Osman's and Lamar Stevens', as well as to re-sign Tre Jones to a win-win deal in free agency.
Still, even with the dust settling on the first weekend of free agency, the Spurs can still free up as much as $20 million in cap room. While it's hard to envision the Spurs going in for some of the best players left in the free agent market, such as Christian Wood or Kelly Oubre Jr., they're certainly not done making moves this offseason just yet, especially when they still have 16 contracts on the books as of the moment.
With that in mind, here is the need the Spurs must still address with the start of free agency in the rearview mirror.
Spurs' biggest need: Maximizing cap space
At the moment, the Spurs are still $3 million below the salary cap floor, although even if the team doesn't reach that mark, that money would be distributed among the players anyway, so it's not that big of a deal. Even then, given how fast the cap space around the league dried up, the Spurs are now in a strong position to make use of their remaining cap room, even if their roster is full of players who could make a case to play minutes for them next season.
One of the most common uses of salary cap room for rebuilding teams has been absorbing bad contracts from other teams in exchange for draft assets. The Detroit Pistons, just this offseason, took on the contracts of both Joe Harris and Monte Morris from the Brooklyn Nets and Washington Wizards, respectively, in exchange for a few second-rounders. While that doesn't seem like much, both Harris and Morris' contracts are expiring, which means that the Pistons won't be on the hook anyway for long-term money.
It's unclear which teams would want to dump salary at the moment, given that there are more pressing matters around the league among contending teams (or at least teams that aim to compete) at the moment. One such pressing matter is Damian Lillard's impending trade from the Portland Trail Blazers — with, perhaps, the Spurs looming as a dark-horse candidate to swing a deal for the 32-year old floor general.
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It's very unlikely that the Spurs trade for Lillard, especially when they're in the middle of a rebuild. Lillard may have a soft spot in his heart for the Spurs, but still, a partnership between the two doesn't make the most sense.
But the Spurs, even though they may not land Damian Lillard, could squeeze their way into the trade proceedings by using their cap space to absorb whatever the Blazers refuse to.
For instance, the Blazers reportedly have no interest in Tyler Herro, and yet any plausible trade package the Miami Heat could offer would have to include the 23-year old guard. It's another debate entirely if the Blazers should accommodate Lillard's trade request, but if they do, one would think that the involvement of a third team would be necessary to grease the wheels on a potential deal.
The Spurs could certainly absorb Tyler Herro's contract, although it'll be fair for fans to think whether doing so could adversely affect the development of young guards such as Malaki Branham and Blake Wesley. Even then, Herro is only 23 years old, and he should only be entering the prime of his career, so it's not like the Spurs are acquiring someone who doesn't align with their overall timeline.
This is just an example, of course. The Spurs could go in another direction and absorb a bad expiring contract much like the Pistons have. For example, the Spurs can take on Marcus Morris Sr.'s contract from the Los Angeles Clippers and then subsequently waive him for karmic justice.
But with the Spurs' cap sheet as clean as a whistle for years to come, taking on a high-upside player such as Tyler Herro — who could blossom into the lead guard in San Antonio alongside Victor Wembanyama — may be the best course of action, provided it doesn't cost the Spurs too many assets.
