San Antonio Spurs Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Kawhi Leonard Now Officially Extension-Eligible

July 16th, 2018 at 11:56am CST by Luke Adams

The possibility of a Kawhi Leonard contract extension with the Spurs has been a subject of discussion for much of the year, but Leonard wasn’t officially eligible to sign a new deal until today.

A veteran NBA player who signs a five-year contract becomes eligible to have that contract extended three years after it was signed. Leonard inked his current five-year deal with the Spurs on July 16, 2015, meaning today is the three-year anniversary of that signing.

Because he was named to one of the league’s All-NBA teams in both 2016 and 2017, Leonard is eligible for a Designated Veteran Extension, which means he could earn a starting salary worth up to 35% of the cap – rather than just 30% – on a new deal with the Spurs.

We won’t know exactly what such an extension would be worth until the 2019/20 salary cap is finalized. However, a five-year 35% max contract starting in ’19/20 based on the NBA’s current $109MM cap projection would have a starting salary of $38.15MM and an overall value of $221.27MM, including a fifth-year salary of $50.358MM.

The terms of a potential Leonard extension may ultimately be irrelevant though, since the star forward has shown no interest in staying in San Antonio long term. The Spurs likely won’t be willing to put that $221MM+ offer on the table anyway, since Leonard is coming off an injury-plagued 2017/18 campaign in which he appeared in just nine games. He wouldn’t be able to get the same deal with any other team.

Since the NBA introduced the Designated Veteran Extension in its most recent Collective Bargaining Agreement, the only players to sign such a deal are Stephen Curry, James Harden, Russell Westbrook, and John Wall.

Hilliard Remains RFA; Chimezie Metu Injury Will Not Require Surgery

July 15th, 2018 at 9:03pm CST by Austin Kent

The Spurs chose not to withdraw their qualifying offer from Darrun Hilliard before Friday, meaning they won’t be able to do so without Hilliard’s blessing, Tom Orsborn of The San Antonio Express-News writes. Hilliard remains a restricted two-way free agent.
The Spurs have downgraded rookie Chimezie Metu‘s wrist injury from a sprain to a fracture, Tom Orsborn of The San Antonio Express-News writes, noting that Metu will wear a cast but will not require surgery.

Noise From The North: The Latest On Kawhi Leonard

July 14th, 2018 at 2:19pm CST by ChrisCrouse

Kawhi Leonard has dominated headlines all summer and he’ll likely be featured in the rumor mill until either the Spurs trade him or he commits to playing in San Antonio long-term. Rumors of the Raptors making a play for the disgruntled star made rounds during Summer League, and other teams such as the Sixers and Celtics come up in speculation about where Leonard is going to play next season.

Most of the news may simply be noise, as Leonard has long been linked to Los Angeles, the only city he reportedly wants to play for. Cris Carter of Fox Sports hears that Leonard hasn’t changed his stance.

“Nothing’s changed from Kawhi’s side from these standpoints: He still wants to go to Los Angeles, and he’s still not interested in being rented out for one season, so that being Philadelphia, Boston, Toronto or any other team,” Carter said on First Things First on Friday (Twitter link).

Carter, a Hall-of-Fame NFL wide receiver, is an unlikely source for NBA news, though he appears to be dialed into the situation. Longtime sports agent Mitch Frankel, who represents Leonard, was Carter’s agent during his NFL playing days.

Carter relayed that Leonard’s camp has remained in contact with the Spurs and they were told by the organization that they’d be notified if the club was closing in on a deal. That hasn’t happened and no rival team has been in contact with Leonard, something that would typically happen if another team was in conversations to acquire a player in a trade.

Leonard’s camp considered issuing a press release about the rumors of Toronto making a play for him, Carter added. No such thing has since been released and the silence from Leonard’s people is partially to blame for the rampant speculation about the Raptors swooping in and acquiring the former MVP candidate, Sean Deveney of Sporting News writes.

Deveney believes that a Leonard trade remains distant and adds that it’s easy to see why NBA executives are connecting the dots between Toronto and San Antonio. GM Masai Ujiri has the ammunition to pull off a trade that provides value to San Antonio while maintaining Toronto’s status as a serious Eastern Conference contender.

Such a deal could be centered around a package of DeMar DeRozan and young prospects or picks and the Raptors have a deep enough team to give up two or three contributors and still surround Leonard with a top-ranked cast.

However, Deveney believes it would be foolish to make the trade for Leonard without assurance that he’ll stick around past the 2018/19 campaign. For the Raptors or any team outside of Los Angeles, getting that long-term commitment doesn’t appear to be in the cards. Leonard is a generational talent, but for those non-Southern California teams, the risk may be even greater than the reward and a trade seems unlikely until that ratio tilts in one of the other 27 organizations’ favor.

Spurs, Lakers, Others Eyeing David Nwaba

July 13th, 2018 at 10:58am CST by Luke Adams

David Nwaba is no longer a restricted free agent, meaning he can sign outright with any NBA team, and interested clubs are checking in on the young shooting guard. According to TNT’s David Aldridge (Twitter link), several teams have reached out to Nwaba, including the Spurs and Lakers. There’s no clear frontrunner at this point, Aldridge adds.

Nwaba, who was eligible for restricted free agency this summer, received a qualifying offer from the Bulls last month, giving the team the right of first refusal on any offer sheet he signed. However, Chicago withdrew that QO on Thursday, despite its modest price ($1.7MM), leading to speculation that the club is maximizing its cap room for a bigger move.

Despite making Nwaba an unrestricted free agent, the Bulls haven’t given up hope of re-signing him. Kevin O’Connor of The Ringer tweets that the Bulls have interest in using the room exception to bring back Nwaba after they use up their cap space. A source confirmed to K.C. Johnson of The Chicago Tribune that the team hasn’t ruled out re-signing Nwaba once it completes other business.

In order to retain Nwaba though, the Bulls would have to count on the 25-year-old waiting out the team’s other move(s) and being willing to accept the $4.45MM room exception. Those aren’t unreasonable requests, but if Nwaba gets a comparable offer from another suitor, he may not want to wait on Chicago.

A former undrafted free agent, Nwaba had a solid season for the Bulls in 2017/18, averaging 7.9 PPG and 4.7 RPG while playing strong perimeter defense in 70 games (21 starts).

Ginobili Happy To See Belinelli Back In San Antonio

July 13th, 2018 at 10:16am CST by Arthur Hill

Manu Ginobili was among the first people to text congratulations to Marco Belinelli after he committed to return to the Spurs, notes Tom Orsborn of The San Antonio Express News. That doesn’t guarantee Ginobili will be back for another season, but he’s glad to see his former teammate return after winning a title together in 2014. “We didn’t talk about [Ginobili playing], but I can say he was really happy about me coming back,” Belinelli said. “Winning a championship with that great team was amazing. Nobody is going to take that away from me.”

Raptors Ready To Join The Pursuit For Kawhi Leonard?

July 12th, 2018 at 9:46pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Raptors‘ potential pursuit of Kawhi Leonard is the hottest rumor making the rounds at summer league, according to Doug Smith of The Toronto Star. Toronto appears poised to join the Lakers, Sixers and Celtics as teams in the conversation for the Spurs’ star. With LeBron James out of the East, the addition of Leonard could tilt the balance of power in the race for the conference title.

Spurs Attend Rodney Stuckey's Workout

July 12th, 2018 at 2:17pm CST by Luke Adams

Earlier today, we noted that Rodney Stuckey was holding a private workout in Las Vegas as he seeks a new NBA home. According to international basketball reporter David Pick (Twitter link), the Warriors, Nets, Grizzlies, Spurs, and Pacers had representatives at that session.

Spurs Sign First-Rounder Lonnie Walker

July 11th, 2018 at 4:01pm CST by Luke Adams

The Spurs have officially signed first-round pick Lonnie Walker to his first NBA contract, the team announced today in a press release. San Antonio has been formally finalizing many of its contract agreements today, having already confirmed new deals for Rudy Gay and Davis Bertans.

Walker, the 18th overall pick in this year’s draft, played his lone college season at Miami, averaging 11.5 PPG, 2.6 RPG, and 1.9 APG for the Hurricanes. Though his numbers as a freshman weren’t great, the 6’4″ shooting guard always projected as a first-rounder due to his impressive upside and wingspan.

Like other first-round picks, Walker will get a rookie contract that features two guaranteed seasons, with team options on years three and four. Assuming he signed for the full 120% of the rookie scale, Walker will be in line for a first-year salary of approximately $2.36MM. His four-year deal will be worth about $12.46MM in total.

With Walker officially locked up, only one 2018 first-rounder – 29th overall pick Dzanan Musa (Nets) – remains unsigned.

Spurs Re-Sign Davis Bertans

July 11th, 2018 at 2:51pm CST by Luke Adams

JULY 11: The Spurs’ two-year, guaranteed deal with Bertans is now official, according to his agent Arturs Kalnitis (Twitter link).

JULY 10: According to Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports, Bertans’ new deal with the Spurs is for $14.5MM over two seasons.

JULY 9: After declining to match Kyle Anderson‘s offer sheet with the Grizzlies, the Spurs won’t let a second restricted free agent get away. According to Emiliano Carchia of Sportando, San Antonio has agreed to terms on a new contract with forward Davis Bertans. While it’s not official yet, the two sides are expected to complete a four-year, $20MM deal, per Carchia.

Bertans, 25, played regular minutes for the Spurs in 2017/18, averaging 5.9 PPG and 2.0 RPG with a .440/.373/.816 shooting line in 77 games (14.1 MPG). A 6’10” power forward, Bertans is capable of guarding frontcourt players on defense and stretching the floor on offense (1.2 threes per game).

Reports over the last week or two linked Bertans to the Jazz, Nets, and Timberwolves. However, Utah elected not to aggressively pursue outside free agents and the Wolves addressed their need for a stretch four by adding Anthony Tolliver. The Nets had cap room available to push the Spurs on Bertans, but appear to be biding their time and considering their options for their remaining space.

San Antonio will increase its team salary to approximately $110MM with Bertans back on the books. The team holds his Early Bird rights, so it can go over the cap to re-sign him without using another exception like the mid-level.

The Spurs entered the offseason with qualifying offers out to three restricted free agents. Although Anderson got away, the team appears poised to re-sign Bertans and is in a good position to retain Bryn Forbes as well.

Spurs Re-Sign Rudy Gay

July 11th, 2018 at 12:37pm CST by Luke Adams

JULY 11: The Spurs have officially re-signed Gay, the team announced today in a press release.

JUNE 30: Veteran forward Rudy Gay has committed to re-sign with the Spurs on a one-year, $10MM deal, league sources tell Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link).

Gay winds up with a modest raise after opting out of a contract that would have paid him $8,826,300 next season. Factoring in a 20% raise from his $8,406,000 salary for 2017/18, the Spurs could go as high as $10,087,200 for Gay’s next deal using his Non-Bird rights.

The 31-year-old forward assumed a reduced role in his first year in San Antonio, but was able to bounce back from a torn left Achilles tendon he suffered in Sacramento. Gay managed 57 games for the Spurs, averaging 11.5 points and 5.1 rebounds per night.

Another year removed from that Achilles injury, Gay could be in for a larger role in San Antonio for the 2018/19 season, particularly if trade candidate Kawhi Leonard doesn’t return. The Spurs’ other key small forward, Kyle Anderson, is also no lock to return, though the team is expected to make an effort to re-sign the restricted free agent.

Having presumably used Gay’s Non-Bird rights to strike a deal with the veteran forward, the Spurs will still have their mid-level exception available.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.