Keyonte George extension shows Spurs how expensive keeping core together will be

The Utah Jazz have signed Keyonte George to a fully guaranteed five-year, $157.5 million contract extension. In the process, the San Antonio Spurs have received an indirect message about how expensive it will be to keep their core pieces together.

When the time ultimately comes for Stephon Castle and Dylan Harper to sign their own extensions, the Spurs will likely have to compete with what Utah gave George—and learned how expensive a discounted price would still be.

George, 22, broke out in 2025-26, turning his third NBA season into a leap to borderline stardom. He became the proverbial human highlight reel and erupted with averages of 23.6 points, 6.1 assists, 3.7 rebounds, 1.1 steals, and 2.5 three-point field goals made per game on .456/.371/.892 shooting.

As an apparent bridge between the Jazz's youth movement and its veteran stars in the frontcourt, George has cemented his status as a cornerstone in Utah.

San Antonio, meanwhile, has two guards who compete with or even exceed George's level of play while in a similar age range: Castle, 21, and Harper, 20. Though they're by no means carbon copies of one another, the Spurs' standout guards are already candidates to receive max-level rookie extensions when the time comes.

What George has potentially changed about that expected outcome is that Castle and Harper have gained even more leverage in terms of guaranteed years—and perhaps even price.

Keyonte George got five guaranteed years, $31.5 million per season

George is due to make a annual salary that's in the general range of players such as Tyler Herro, Dejounte Murray, Immanuel Quickley, and Jalen Suggs. It's the result of his tremendous leap in 2025-26, as well as the fact that he hadn't necessarily played at that level until this past season.

Harper, meanwhile, showed superstar potential as a rookie and Castle has turned his first two NBA seasons into an early bid for the title of, "Best two-way guard in the Association."

With this in mind, George's deal falling below the rookie-max line should have San Antonio thinking deeply about how costly its next two offseasons will be. Castle will be eligible for an extension in 2027 and Harper will have the same eligibility in 2028.

Assuming they continue to improve, there's ample reason to believe that they'll command salaries that far exceed George's—and now their agents will have a precedent for asking for a deal without options if there's even a shred of uncertainty.

Stephon Castle, Dylan Harper will be extension eligible in 2027, 2028

The hurdle San Antonio will face in those scenarios is how much money is already tied up in its other core players. For instance, De'Aaron Fox is owed $57,406,428 in 2028-29, and Victor Wembanyama will $47.52 million during the same season.

They aren't alone in having lucrative salaries, as Devin Vassell will make $27.5 million in 2028-29 and Julian Champagnie will take home $14.65 million.

Harper being on a rookie-scale deal won't exactly make him affordable, either, as he'll be owed $17,172,994 during the final season on his current deal. Factor in Castle's extension taking hold in 2028-29 and the Spurs' spending will reach astronomical levels—and the second apron will become a factor.

It's easy to simply suggest offloading contracts to make way for Castle and Harper's extensions, but a player like Fox will be making $61,365,492 in 2029-30—and all three of Carter Bryant, Champagnie, and Vassell will become free agents in 2029. As such, trades may need to be made sooner than later.

With this in mind, keeping the core together is going to be a far more difficult task than one might like to think. There's thankfully a two-year window within which the defending Western Conference champions can excel as they are, but difficult decisions will soon need to be made.

After watching George sign a fully guaranteed five-year deal with no options, the Spurs have every reason to wonder how pricey extending Castle and Harper will be.

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