San Antonio Spurs key offseason dates: NBA Draft, contracts

The next three months are full of key dates for the San Antonio Spurs. They will have decisions to make with their current free agents, which will give them an idea of how much they'll have to spend on free agency and in the trade market.

With a summer full of questions to answer, no one truly knows what's in store for the Silver and Black, but we do know when they'll need to start making some tough calls. So far, the only eventful date that passed was when the Spurs lost a coinflip to the Charlotte Hornets that gave them the 12th-best odds in the NBA Draft Lottery. The result is a 1.7 percent chance to win the Lottery outright, meaning the Spurs will likely pick in the 12th slot if everything holds as expected.

Key offseason dates for the San Antonio Spurs

Still, the ping pong balls have fallen in San Antonio's favor before, so the NBA Draft Lottery on June 22nd will be worth tuning into to see if they can pull off another miracle. With the help of Project Spurs' writer Paul Garcia, here are some other important dates for the Spurs this summer.

The next day to look out for this summer will be July 29th, which is when the San Antonio Spurs will be making their first and second round selections at the 2021 NBA Draft. The Spurs have built up quite a promising young foundation in the last five NBA Drafts, picking up Dejounte Murray, Derrick White, Lonnie Walker, Keldon Johnson, Luka Samanic, Devin Vassell, and Tre Jones.

Last season's 11th pick of Vassell was the earliest the Spurs have selected in the NBA Draft since they took Tim Duncan with the first overall pick in 1997. This year, they're likely to pick in virtually the same spot.

The next date to look out for will be August 1. The Spurs have a $1.7 million team option on DaQuan Jeffries, who they claimed off waivers on May 15th. They'll need to make a decision on that by then. More importantly, the Spurs also have until August 1 to extend DeMar DeRozan's contract, should both parties reach an agreement.

NBA free agency officially begins at 6 p.m. ET on August 2, meaning that's when teams can start negotiating with free agents. Teams can officially begin signing contracts with free agents at 12:01 p.m. ET on August 2. This day is when free agency officially begins for DeRozan, Rudy Gay, Patty Mills, Trey Lyles, and Gorgui Dieng. The Spurs also must make qualifying offers to Quinndary Weatherspoon and Keita Bates-Diop by August 2.

The final date with relevance to the Spurs is August 20th, which is when Drew Eubanks' non-guaranteed contract becomes guaranteed. Here's a breakdown of days to circle on your calendar:

6/22 - NBA Draft Lottery
7/29 - NBA Draft
8/1 - Deadline to extend DeRozan, deadline for team option of Jeffries
8/2 - Free agency begins. Must make offers to Weatherspoon, Bates-Diop before this date to retain.
8/20 - Eubanks' contract becomes guaranteed.

It should be an interesting summer for the Spurs. With so much cap space to work with, standing pat once again just isn't an option.