Breaking down the Spurs roster heading into the offseason

The 2022-23 season has come to an end, and while there will be plenty more to say about it, it’s also time to start looking ahead, beginning with a breakdown of what the Spurs roster will look like heading into free agency and on into next season. We will take a look at which players are currently under contract next season, which ones aren’t yet but could be, and who qualifies as restricted and unrestricted free agents. (Contract information is courtesy of Basketball Reference.)

Guaranteed for the 2023-24 season

The Spurs have nine players on guaranteed contracts heading into next season. Only one of those players is guaranteed beyond next season (as of today):

Keldon Johnson: begins four-year/$77 million extension, $20 million owed next season (with the amount regressing each season after. Talk about a team-friendly deal.)

They have five more players whose contracts also go beyond next season but are not fully guaranteed after 23-24:

Devonte’ Graham: $12.1 million next season, 24-25 partially guaranteed
Charles Bassey: $2.6 million next season, 24-25 and 25-26 nonguaranteed
Jeremy Sochan: $5.17 million next season, 24-25 and 25-26 team option
Malaki Branham: $3.07 million next season, 24-25 and 25-26 team option
Blake Wesely: $2.5 million next season, 24-25 and 25-26 team option

Finally, there are three Spurs who will be on expiring contracts entering next season:

Doug McDermott: $15.75 million
Khem Birch: $6.99 million
Devin Vassell: $5.9 million (fourth-year team option picked up in October 2022, eligible to sign an extension this summer or become a restricted free agent in 2024)

(Note: The Spurs will still owe Josh Primo $4.34 million next season because they picked up his third-year player option last October before waiving him, but obviously he does not count towards the roster itself, just the payroll.)

Nonguaranteed for the 2023-24 season

The Spurs also have one player on a fully nonguaranteed contract for next season, but surprisingly to no one, Gregg Popovich has basically confirmed he will be back:

Zach Collins: $7.7 million fully nonguaranteed

Potential Restricted Free Agents

The Spurs have five (!!!) players whom they could extend qualifying offers and make them restricted free agents if they so desire (stats courtesy of Spotrac):

Tre Jones: Bird Rights, qualifying offer $6.26 million (Due to starting over 41 games this season, Jones’ qualifying offer rose from 125 percent of his current salary, which would have worked out to about $2.2 million, to the equivalent of the 21st overall pick from the 2019 draft. He is also eligible for a contract extension worth up to four years, $60-ish million.)
Romeo Langford: Bird Rights, qualifying offer $7.7 million (not doing the math on a potential extension since it’s highly unlikely to happen)
Sandro Mamukelashvili: Early Bird Rights, qualifying offer $2.19 million
Julian Chamagnie: Two-way, qualifying offer $1.77 million
Dominick Barlow: Two-way, qualifying offer $1.76 million

Unrestricted Free Agents

Keita Bates-Diop
Gorgui Dieng

Without diving too deep into what the Spurs will do with all these players, it’s probably safe to assume they will pick up the third-year team options for at least two of their three rookies for the 2024-25 season (they might want another look at Wesley first), offer Vassell a contract extension, and guarantee Collins’ contract. Graham, McDermott and Birch will likely be used to test the trade waters but could also easily be back.

What the Spurs do with their potential restricted free agents is another story. I could see them trying to tie down Tre Jones with an extension offer, although possibly not for the max, but at a bare minimum they will likely extend a qualifying offer and let the market determine his value. The same goes for Mamu in terms of at least making him a restricted free agent if he turns down some team-friendly offers, and the other three could go any way.

Finally, the wildcard is Bates-Diop. He has proven his value to the Spurs, and I’m sure they’d welcome him back on a team-friendly deal if a spot is available, but if another team comes along with a nice offer he can’t refuse or the Spurs are unwilling to match, Pop will likely tell him to go make his money, Boban style. If nothing else, his fate might come down to how the draft goes for the Spurs.