It’s no secret that the San Antonio Spurs are in the market for a point guard, with an aging Tony Parker needing to take more of a backseat role going forward.
Well, it just so happens that Chris Paul is exploring the possibility of joining a legitimate contender, in hopes of winning a title. And the Spurs, along with the Cavs, seem to be the only two teams that have an actual chance at dethroning the Warriors, at least at the current time.
On paper, the move makes complete sense. Paul is one of the smartest players in the game, and pairing him with the most intelligent and best head coach in the league, Gregg Popovich, seems like a great idea. He’d be running an offense similar to what he ran in Los Angeles, and reports seem to dictate that there’s interest from both parties.
Executives and players around the NBA absolutely believe Chris Paul to the Spurs is a realistic possibility. Free agency starts in 19 days.
— Alex Kennedy (@AlexKennedyNBA) June 13, 2017
But there’s more than meets the eye as it relates to this situation, and here’s why signing Paul is a much more difficult task than it seems.
Salary cap
The most important factor that would make it tough to land CP3 is the Spurs’ cap situation.
As it stands, the salary cap will be in the ballpark of $102 million, and the Spurs will allocate approximately $73.5 million in guaranteed money alone to its players next season. Once we factor in cap holds for Jonathon Simmons and Patty Mills, as well as Pau Gasol’s salary if he opts in, that brings the team up to approximately $98 million.
Building a superteam is no easy task. We look at what the Warriors have managed to build, but a lot of that is due to the many salary cap experts the team has on its payroll to make it all work.
The Spurs and general manager R.C. Buford would really have to pull some strings to make the CP3 move happen. As it stands, Paul will make the maximum next season, which will be in the range of $34-35 million. So it’s not really a matter of releasing one or two bench players to free up space for the move. It would take some restructuring, and the team would clearly have to sacrifice some serious depth — which is a big part of what makes the Spurs so great — to make it happen.
Two players with big salaries that are somewhat expendable are Danny Green and Gasol. If the team were to part ways with both, they’d be at roughly $69 million, and could probably land CP3. But they’d be giving up a lot of talent in doing so.
It just doesn’t seem like the Spurs — with all the talent on their roster — can be able to clear enough cap space to make it work with CP3, given the ridiculous amount of money he’ll make next season. And unfortunately for them, Paul is not the type of player who will take less money in hopes of winning a title. He’s going to want every cent he’s promised.
The idea of seeing CP3 in a Spurs uniform gives us chills, and would be fun to watch, but the team may have to set its sights on someone cheaper, like Derrick Rose or maybe the return of George Hill.
Spurs fans: Would you be happy parting ways with a few talented veterans in hopes of landing CP3? Or is the team better off staying the course and going forward with the roster currently in place, with a few small acquisitions to help upgrade it for the 2017-18 season.
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