4 Reasons the Spurs have been the biggest winners of the NBA offseason

Prior to the start of the summer, there was a lot of anticipation about how the San Antonio Spurs' offseason would play out. All things considered; the offseason has played out far better than any Spurs fan could reasonably hope for.

They drafted Victor Wembanyama first overall and have spent the first few weeks of free agency wheeling and dealing. The summer used to be relatively quiet for San Antonio, but GM Brian Wright has been surprisingly active this summer.

While they haven't made any splashy trades or big signings like several other teams, they have made several solid moves and have set themselves up well for the future. In fact, despite a team such as the Phoenix Suns making more high-profile moves in free agency, the Spurs have quietly had just as good of an offseason, perhaps even better when considering what the goals of the franchise are.

San Antonio is looking to get better next season, but not if it means making short-term moves that could come back to bite them, unlike the Suns. Keep that in mind as we take a look at several reasons why the Spurs have won the offseason thus far.

1.) Reaching the salary floor without spending big bucks

For years, the Spurs made few trades, but they have made up for lost time this summer. The Spurs have made four trades since the NBA draft, and they have been creatively using their cap space in the process. They used some of their cap space to acquire Cedi Osman, a wing who can knock down threes, Reggie Bullock, a three and D wing, and Cam Payne, a backup point guard.

Each deal required the Spurs to use at least some of their cap space, netted the team additional draft assets, and allowed them to slowly reach the salary floor for next season. Better yet, Payne and Bullock could both play a role in the team's second unit, meaning that the Spurs acquired assets to take back rotation players.

Contrast that with the Houston Rockets, who overpaid to bring in several veterans using their cap space, some of them on long-term deals. Meanwhile, each of the aforementioned players has an expiring contract, ensuring that the Spurs aren't stuck paying a player who isn't a part of their future. It's a good way to use cap space: take decent players into that space in exchange for assets, then keep the ones that fit the roster in the short term.

2.) Signing promising young players to long-term deals

With the looming end of the NBA's television contract, many expect the salary cap to jump by as much as 10% every season for the next several years, beginning in 2024. That, in combination with the new collective bargaining agreement, could threaten the Spurs' ability to build a championship team around Wembanyama down the road.

After all, in 2027–28, Wembanyama will likely be starting the first round of a big contract that will pay him at least $250 million. The Spurs are clearly trying to get ahead of that by being careful about handing out big, long-term deals. Instead, they recently signed several promising young second-round or undrafted prospects to cheap multi-year contracts, hoping to find cheap future rotation players.

Charles Bassey, Julian Champagnie, and Sidy Cissoko are each under contract for at least three years, giving the team a chance to further evaluate those players and see which are worth keeping around. In Cissoko's case, he would be a restricted free agent after this third year, allowing the team to potentially retain him for even longer on an affordable deal similar to what they did with Tre Jones.

With San Antonio's history of finding value in the second round and from undrafted players, the team's offseason moves hint that they plan to do this more going forward. Doing so could be a way for the Spurs to keep costs down as the salary cap continues to rise.

3.) Preserving and adding to their draft pick haul

After winning the draft lottery, the Spurs now have way more picks than they know what to do with. That is a good problem to have since they began acquiring all of those picks in the hopes that they could be used to help them land their next superstar.

Now that they potentially already have one, they can get creative with how they maximize those assets. One such example was the Spurs sending out three second-round picks in the three-team trade involving the Boston Celtics and Dallas Mavericks. Although they gave up three seconds, they received an interesting 2030 first-round pick swap.

With Luka Doncic under contract for three more seasons, if he decides to either force his way out or leave as an unrestricted free agent, that pick swap could be a lottery pick. That could be especially useful if the Spurs are as good as we hope they will be when Wembanyama is 26 years old.

Giving up three seconds that they were probably going to trade anyway for a chance at a lottery pick in the distant future is the type of move the team should continue looking to make. After all, consolidating second-round picks into potentially good future firsts that are several seasons away is smart. As is possibly trading one of their multiple firsts in upcoming drafts for another first that is several years into the future with light protections.

Doing so would mean that the Spurs would bank valuable assets for down the road, around the time Wembanayama and the rest of the team start to get more expensive. With the new CBA punishing teams that overspend, the Spurs having access to a stockpile of picks to draft cheap, young players with potential is a must.

4.) Landing Victor Wembanyama in the NBA Draft

It's amazing how easily the Spurs offseason would have turned out if they had lost the NBA draft lottery. With just a 14.3% chance at the top pick, the Spurs lucked out to say the least and it could be a franchise altering moment.

Had they not won the lottery, the Spurs possibly would have approached the offseason much differently after their tanking efforts had failed. Perhaps they would have abruptly changed course similar to what the Rockets chose to do.

They ultimately opted to re-sign Tre Jones and made smaller moves like trading for Payne with Wembanyama on board. But had they not drafted him, they probably would have been fine giving the trio of Jones, Devonte Graham, and Blake Wesley another run, something that likely won't happen now.

With a lot of the rotation already set, the Spurs may not appear to be actively building around Wembanyama at the moment. However, the team addressing their weakness at point guard is an attempt to try and make their new franchise player's transition to the NBA much smoother. If it is, then that those relatively small moves could help maximize the team's big offseason acquisition and help them win a lot more games next season.