Ranking the free agents who may take a pay cut to sign with the Spurs

Often, when a veteran is looking for a new home, they prefer a team in contention, a young team with promising players, or a team with a well-established head coach. Luckily, the San Antonio Spurs have two of the three factors.

Victor Wembanyama outperformed expectations and is quickly becoming an NBA superstar. Meanwhile, Gregg Popovich is entering his 27th season as head coach of San Antonio and still shows signs of great coaching ability. The current situation in San Antonio is something any player, old or young, would like to be a part of.

The only concern with signing free agents is how much they will cost a team. However, with what is brewing in San Antonio, some free agents might be okay with taking a pay cut to join the Spurs in 2024. Let us dive into ranking players who could work in San Antonio, assuming they are open to the idea of a cheaper contract.

4. Chris Paul

It was evident that the Spurs missed a floor general last season, as they often struggled to get into an offensive rhythm on many occasions. It is hard to win games when your seven-foot center has to create plays within an offense. Even with Wembanyama's talent and ability to handle the ball, the team still needs a true guard who can make plays and control the offense.

For decades, this has been Golden State Warriors backup point guard Chris Paul's specialty. Once deemed "The Point God," Paul has carved out quite a career for himself, displaying what a true point guard should look like.

While it is likely that a guard will be a point of emphasis during the NBA Draft, having a proven point guard in place could benefit the team more than a rookie.

That is where Paul comes into play. He is at the back end of his career, and a stint in San Antonio could be a great way to call it quits. What he brings to a team the most is his leadership, ability to properly lead an offense and experience that he can pass on to the younger players.

Paul has averaged 9.4 assists over his 19-year career, which ranks fifth in NBA history. Last season, in a limited role with the Warriors, he was still able to carve out just over 6 assists while shooting 44% from the floor.

In San Antonio, he can build off this and play "his" game and not feel pressured to have to be the number one or number two player like he once was in his prime. We have seen a handful of veteran players spend some of their last few seasons in San Antonio with great success. Ultimately, if his player option is not picked up by Golden State, Paul might seriously consider Alamo City as his new home.