San Antonio Spurs in contract years: Dante Cunningham

The San Antonio Spurs signed Dante Cunningham to a one-year deal this offseason. Will he remain a Spur next season after his contract expires?

The San Antonio Spurs have had success bringing in middling veteran players to affordable deals and getting the most out of them by giving them the perfect role.

The Spurs’ front office is hoping they’ve done it again by signing Dante Cunningham to a one-year contract with $2.487 million in fully guaranteed money.

In 21.4 minutes per night, Cunningham scored 5.7 points per game with 4.1 rebounds and shot 34.5% from three on 2.3 attempts per game in a season split between New Orleans and Brooklyn.

Cunningham is a league average defender, and he has the ability to play small forward, power forward, and even center in super small lineups.

More from Air Alamo

• Spurs show remarkable poise against Bulls, unlike many fans
• Devin Vassell is the latest in the Spurs’ collection of silent assassins
• San Antonio Spurs: 5 Players to avoid in any LaMarcus Aldridge deal
• Is Gregg Popovich hiding Luka Samanic as a secret weapon?
• San Antonio Spurs News: More DeRozan trade talk from Chris Haynes

Cunningham is a career journeyman who’s played for six different teams during his nine-year NBA career. His career high in points per game and minutes came in Minnesota in 2012-13 where he scored 8.7 points per game in 25.1 minutes.

It will be interesting to see where Cunningham fits into Gregg Popovich’s rotation next season.

Cunningham will be competing with Davis Bertans for minutes as a backup small forward/power forward behind Rudy Gay and LaMarcus Aldridge.

Bertans definitely has more upside than Cunningham, but Popovich hasn’t always trusted Bertans as he only played 14.1 minutes per game last season. I’d like to see Bertans play more minutes than Cunningham this year, but I could see Pop rolling with a trusted veteran more often than not when the game is on the line.

Want your voice heard? Join the Air Alamo team!

Write for us!

It’s possible that Cunningham discovers an aspect of his game that no other coach has been able to unlock, but I’m not too excited about the 31-year-old’s prospects in San Antonio. I think he can be a solid role player this season, but I don’t expect the Spurs to re-sign him when he becomes a free agent next summer.