3 Reasons Hawks' desperate trade will be massive for the Spurs

2. Few teams have spending power in free agency this summer

Much has been made about the relatively poor free agent class this summer. In a group led by James Harden, Fred VanVleet, Draymond Green, and Khris Middleton, the Spurs may feel best suited making some small moves closer to the vest and rolling over their near-league-leading cap space. 

However, as pointed out by Eric Pincus in the below tweet, Utah taking on John Collins has greatly reduced their spending power in free agency this offseason. The same thing can be said about the Thunder after their draft-night deal with Dallas. If the Spurs wanted to blow a free agent out of the water with an offer, there wouldn’t be many teams able to compete.

The Spurs have a lot of money to spend—almost $40 million—which means they can essentially sign anyone. Let's say San Antonio really likes Austin Reaves. Though L.A. can match any offer he receives since he is a restricted free agent, at some point, they will have to worry about the salary cap aprons introduced by the new collective bargaining agreement. The Spurs don’t have those same concerns, and they will have to use their cap space to reach the salary floor before next season starts. 

As I mentioned earlier, if I were a betting man (and I am), I’d wager the team will be a lot more patient with its timeline than some fans want them to be. A contract extension for Devin Vassell is on their to-do list, and there are some in-house favorites that need to be re-signed (Tre Jones, Keita Bates-Diop, and Sandro Mamukelashveli, to name a few). But it’s cool to root for a team with options!