Three Spurs who are fighting for their NBA lives in the last month of the season

2. Khem Birch

Khem Birch landed in Alamo City under similar circumstances to Langford. The veteran center arrived via a trade deadline deal with a playoff hopeful looking to support a late-season run, and the sole purpose of his inclusion in the transaction was to match salaries.

Though some Spurs fans might have seen Birch as a viable backup center for Zach Collins, continuous right knee chondromalacia has prevented him from debuting. Factor in his pre-existing condition with San Antonio inking Charles Bassey and Sandro Mamukelashvili to standard contracts, and his standing with the front office feels tenuous at best.

Even before Birch became one of the newest faces on the roster, his time in Toronto was less than encouraging. After a solid showing as a starter in the NBA Bubble during the pandemic, the Raptors re-signed Birch, though that move aged poorly as the big man dropped out of their rotation in only the second year of the deal.

Birch is on the books for a guaranteed $6.98M next season, but the Spurs have the cap space to eat his salary and cut ties if they fail to find a trade partner willing to absorb the final season of his contract. The 30-year-old is a traditional five with waning athleticism that lacks the ancillary skills to thrive in the modern era, and this could be his last rodeo in the NBA.