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San Antonio Spurs will have more financial flexibility in the future

ByAndrew Ites|
SAN ANTONIO, TX JUNE 04: General Manager, R.C.Buford and head coach Gregg Popovich of the San Antonio Spurs talk during practice as part of the 2014 NBA Finals on June 04, 2014 at AT&T Center in San Antonio, Texas. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2014 NBAE (Photo by Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE via Getty Images)
SAN ANTONIO, TX JUNE 04: General Manager, R.C.Buford and head coach Gregg Popovich of the San Antonio Spurs talk during practice as part of the 2014 NBA Finals on June 04, 2014 at AT&T Center in San Antonio, Texas. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2014 NBAE (Photo by Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE via Getty Images)

The San Antonio Spurs are pretty locked in to their current roster for the 2019-20 season, but they have an opportunity to make some major moves next summer and beyond.

While there are a ton of big name free agents on the market this offseason, the San Antonio Spurs won’t be able to get a meeting with many of them because of their current salary cap situation.

Unless R.C. Buford and Gregg Popovich decide to make a major trade to clear some cap space, they will only be able to use the non-taxpayer Mid-Level Exception (which will be worth somewhere between $9-10 million this summer) and minimum contracts to add veterans to their roster.

While they’re currently pretty strapped for cash right now, the Spurs could have the resources to make a big move in the summer of 2020.

DeMar DeRozan will have a $27.7 million player option for the 2020-21 season, but there is a good chance that he will decline it in order to hit the unrestricted free agent market during the summer of 2020.

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Marco Belinelli, Davis Bertans, and Bryn Forbes’ salaries will come off the books after this upcoming season, which leaves the Spurs with only about $73 million committed to the roster for the 2020-21 season.

San Antonio will have to negotiate contract extensions with some of their young players including Dejounte Murray and Jakob Poeltl before next summer, but with the salary cap increasing each year the Spurs should have more cap space in the summer of 2020 than they have during the past couple of years.

Anthony Davis, Al Horford, Mike Conley, and Gordon Hayward are among the free agents that are expected to be available that summer, and that class could look much better if some of this year’s big names decide to sign one-year deals this offseason.

San Antonio could also choose to carry some of that cap space into the 2021 summer where Giannis Antetekounmpo, LeBron James, Blake Griffin, Paul George, Damian Lillard, C.J. McCollum, and Rudy Gobert are among the players expected to be on the open market that summer. And right now, the Spurs only have around $4 million committed to their 2021-22 roster

With Gregg Popovich under contract for the next three years and a young core that is looking more promising every year, that could be the summer where they decide to make one final championship push to send their legendary head coach off into the sunset.

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So while Spurs fans won’t get to see their team make a major splash in free agency this offseason, the organization is setting themselves up to be in the conversation for some of the big names that will be available in the coming years.

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