And how the new CBA will affect their spending this summer.
The Spurs have already had a franchise makeover, but with a new collective bargaining agreement going into effect, plenty of caps to spare, and not many roster spots available, the Spurs have some important decisions to make before the start of the regular season. season. With free agency starting in just under 48 hours, this article will focus on the financial side of the Spurs offseason and how the new CBA might influence some of the decisions facing the Spurs front office.
Tottenham active list
| player | 2023-2024 |
|---|---|
| player | 2023-2024 |
| Keldon Johnson | $20,000,000.00 |
| Doug McDermott | $13,750,000.00 |
| Victor Wimbanyama | $12,158,760.00 |
| Devont Graham | $12,100,000.00 |
| Zack Collins | $7,700,000.00 |
| Khem Birch | $6,985,000.00 |
| Jeremy Suchan | $5,316,960.00 |
| Devin Fassel | $5,887,899.00 |
| Paige Branham | $3,071,880.00 |
| Blake Wesley | $2,504,640.00 |
| Charles Bassey | $2,500,000.00 |
| the total | $91,975,139.00 |
While technically Victor Wimpanyama is not yet a member of the active roster, the cap he holds is identical to his projected salary, so he is included in this schedule because as a foregone conclusion, he will end up on the roster within the next two weeks. The date Zach Collins was waived by Spurs has also passed, so his salary for next season is now fully guaranteed (no surprise there). This leaves the Spurs with an active roster of 11 players totaling just under $92 million in guaranteed salary.
Tottenham dead hat
Unfortunately, Josh Primo will still be on the books for next season with a $4,341,600 cap because the third-year team option was picked before he was waived. Adding his cap to the guaranteed salary increases the Spurs’ total salary to $96,316,739.
Minimum salary and new CBA
The minimum salary that teams in the new CBA must reach is the same as the previous CBA, and is 90 percent of the team’s salary cap. The difference is that in the previous CBA, teams were not required to get this far until the end of the regular season. If they did not reach the minimum salary by the time the season was over, the only penalty was that the team was required to make up the shortfall by paying the teams roster players. This has allowed teams to stay off the salary floor during the regular season to maximize flexibility (for example, getting bad contracts for assets).
This strategy will now face much harsher restrictions and penalties. For example, teams must reach the minimum salary by the start of the regular season rather than the end of it. Second, teams that don’t reach the minimum salary by the start of the regular season will have to write a check to the NBA instead of the players. Finally, teams below the minimum salary by the start of the regular season will receive only half their share of the tax distribution at the end of the season from tax paying teams in the league. Starting with the 2024-25 season, these teams will not receive any tax distribution at the end of the season from tax paying teams. This is probably a bit off-start for most teams, especially small market teams like Tottenham.
The minimum salary for the upcoming season will be $122.4 million. With around $96.3 million in guaranteed salary and 11 players on the active roster, the Spurs will need to spend at least $26.1 million when filling out the rest of their roster.
Holds the relevant cap
| player | 2023-2024 |
|---|---|
| player | 2023-2024 |
| Three Jones | $5,216,324.00 |
| Sandro Mamoklashvili | $2,189,698.00 |
| Keita Bates Diop | $1,855,391.00 |
| Dom Barlow | $1,774,999.00 |
| Julien Champagne | $1,774,999.00 |
| Total covers | $12,811,411.00 |
Romeo Langford has a ceiling of approximately $17 million. Since he wouldn’t control nearly as much on the open market, and I don’t see him in Tottenham’s future plans, I’ve taken him off the list. She also left Gorgui Dieng, as there simply aren’t enough places on the list to make a reunion a possibility.
Re-signing Tre Jones will likely be a top priority for Spurs this off-season. Teams with enough room to offer Jones a higher-than-MLE bid for non-taxpayers include the Houston Rockets, Indiana Pacers, Detroit Pistons, Orlando Magic and Oklahoma City Thunder. The Rockets just drafted Amen Thompson and seem intent on using their cap space to sign highly regarded free agents. The rest of these teams are already assigned to the guard position and he likely won’t be looking to spend big at that position. This means a non-taxpayer MLE of $12.4 million is likely a good indication of Jones’ salary cap for next season. With Spurs having plenty of space this summer and wanting as much financial flexibility as possible moving forward, signing Jones to a contract that decreases in salary over time seems the way to go, similar to what they did with Keldon Johnson. While a 4-year/$50m contract might be a bit high for his market, a diminishing salary starting at around $14m next season and ending at around $11m would still be a big move for Spurs in the long run. The salary cap would continue to increase, so Jones would only make 6-7 percent of the gross salary cap at the end of his contract.
Regarding others, if a prediction had to be made today, it would be as follows:
- Tottenham allowed Keita Bates Diop to walk (unfortunately). He was a great player at Tottenham last season, but he could be the victim of an existing crisis.
- Sir Jabari Rice, Dominic Barlow and Sidi Sissoko sign bilateral contracts.
- Julian Champagne and Sandro Mamokilaashvili sign regular contracts. This would put the Spurs in 14 players on the active list, including Trey Jones.
Final thoughts
Even after signing Jones to a pre-loaded contract and signing Champagnie and Mamukelashvili to regular contracts, Spurs will be well below the minimum salary with only one place on the list. I think Khem Birch will be waived at some point, opening up another spot on the list. I also expect Tottenham to sign a free agent position. Rumors surfaced that the Spurs were interested in Naz Reid before he re-signed with the Minnesota Timberwolves. A trade with Jones Valanciunas seems possible, as does a reunion with Jakob Poeltl. It will be interesting to see how Tottenham fill out the rest of their roster after winning the Wimpy Lottery. I hope they stick to their word and don’t spend big on long-term contracts that might hold them back in the future when the team is really ready to make a playoff push.
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