Spurs Have Most Cap Space in NBA; Creative Ways to Use It
As signings and trades continue to be made by teams around the NBA, there is one constant: the San Antonio Spurs have the most cap space. Given they are in the early stages of a rebuilding effort, leveraging their flexibility by getting compensated with draft capital to take on unfavorable contracts remains an option.
As calculated by Keith Smart of Spotrac, the Spurs have by far the most salary cap room remaining in the NBA with an estimated $38.5 million. Next up are the Indiana Pacers at $27.9 million with no other team currently meeting the $10 million threshold.
With the Spurs not having much use for salary cap space in the traditional sense in terms of signing players to improve their roster, using it to get compensated for taking on bad salary is a great option. There will be no shortage of opportunities to do so.
If the Spurs wanted to fully tear this thing down to the studs in terms of their roster construction, they use some of their role player veterans in trades to add extra value in a trade package. A prime candidate is Jakob Poeltl, who is coming off a career-year and is entering a contract year. Other options to consider include Doug McDermott and Josh Richardson.
Moving on from veteran players would not only help the Spurs to gain even more value in a trade return, but it would also enable them to fully embrace their young players. There would be more minutes to go around and opportunity during their time on the floor. For a Spurs team that just added three rookies in the first-round of the 2022 NBA Draft along with already having two recent homegrown lottery selections, it could be an appealing option.
There are plenty of teams around the NBA that surely would like to reduce their spending ahead of the 2022-23 season. If a team is close to the luxury tax threshold, taking on a contract to help them to get under is another option. As any business owner would, NBA team-owners do tend to appreciate saving money when possible.
Another type of team to monitor is one that seeks to create a cushion before facing potential hard cap implications when attempting to pull off a complex trade. A sign-and-trade for a player going to a team already over the luxury tax line is an ideal example. To make the money work, the Spurs could take on contracts and get compensated with draft capital for doing so.
A few restricted free agents like Deandre Ayton or Collin Sexton stand out as being players who could play elsewhere using a sign-and-trade. Many of their possible landing spots would benefit from getting creative by involving the Spurs as a third-team.
When a blockbuster trade needs to solve for where players signed to unfavorable contracts end up going, the Spurs could step in. The Brooklyn Nets will dictate a lot of this considering they have the free agency market on hold as they navigate the trade landscape for Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving.
Take the scenario where the Los Angeles Lakers are the only team with a legitimate trade offer to acquire Irving for example. If the Nets decide they do not want to take back Russell Westbrook's contract, the Spurs could be a prime destination then both sides could quickly proceed to engage in contract buyout talks. There are many variations of these types of potential outcomes, to say the least.
Even though the Spurs are not in a position to take a major swing for a superstar or make major free agent acquisitions, they can still find value in having the NBA's most cap space.
You can follow Grant Afseth on Twitter at @GrantAfseth.
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