Offseason Report Card: Spurs get five As, three Bs and two Cs for summer moves

3. Pop Extension

Signed head coach Gregg Popovich to a 5-year, $80 million contract extension

Let's start this section with a handful of obvious statements. $16 million per season is an extravagent amount of money to spend on a coach. Gregg Popovich is at the very top of the list of the greatest head coaches in basketball history. Pop means more to San Antonio than any head coach in the league means to their team.

This deal is an overpay, especially since Popovich appears to be a step or two behind the rest of the league tactically. Overpaying a coach, however, is just money out of the owner's pocket; it doesn't have an impact on the salary cap or team construction. NBA owners should be more aggressive in paying top-tier coaches.

The added benefit of this deal is the leadership, mentoring and wisdom Popovich brings to the job, and specifically to molding the young phenom the Spurs just drafted. If superstars like Wembanyama fail, it's usually not because they aren't good at basketball. Pop can help him grow as a person, to face the challenges of stardom and the NBA as a man rather than a teenager.

Popovich has excelled in every area of being a coach, but where he is most valuable right now is building a culture. He is going to stick around and help the next core group of Spurs gain an identity, and that's a good thing for these players and this organization. The expectation - and probably hope - is that he will then transition into the front office to let the next coach take the baton and help this team contend.

Grade: A-