San Antonio Spurs Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Devonte’ Graham Suspended Two Games By NBA

August 2nd, 2023 at 1:20pm CST by Luke Adams

Spurs guard Devonte’ Graham has been suspended without pay for two games by the NBA, the league announced today in a press release (Twitter link).

The suspension stems from a 2022 misdemeanor charge of driving while impaired. Graham pleaded guilty to the charge in June and was subsequently sentenced to 12 months of probation, per TMZ Sports.

As TMZ details, Graham was initially charged in July 2022 after police alleged that he was driving 63 miles per hour in a 40 MPH zone while intoxicated in his hometown of Raleigh, North Carolina. The incident occurred at around 3:00 am.

Graham was a member of the Pelicans at the time of his arrest but was traded from New Orleans to San Antonio at the 2023 deadline in a deal involving Josh Richardson. He appeared in a total of 73 games for the two teams last season, averaging 7.4 points and 2.7 assists in 18.3 minutes per night, with a shooting line of .374/.352/.748.

Graham remains under contract with the Spurs on a guaranteed $12.1MM cap hit for 2023/24; his contract also covers ’24/25, but only $2.85MM of his $12.65MM salary for that year is guaranteed.

The two-game suspension, which Graham will serve during the first two games of the 2023/24 regular season as long as he’s healthy and remains under contract, will cost him $166,897. That figure represents 2/145ths of his $12.1MM salary.

If the Spurs, who are facing a potential roster crunch this fall, waive Graham prior to the season and he doesn’t sign a new contract right away, he’ll be considered to have served his suspension following San Antonio’s third game of the season.

Arena To Undergo Name Change

August 1st, 2023 at 7:20pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Spurs’ arena is undergoing a name change. The Spurs have found a new naming-rights sponsor in Frost Bank, according to Madison Iszler of the San Antonio Express News. Spurs Sports & Entertainment plans to sign an agreement with the San Antonio-based bank. The AT&T Center’s marquee became available in 2021, when the telecommunications company decided not to renew its naming rights deal. The Spurs were unable to find a new partner at that time, so they extended their agreement with AT&T through last season.

Keldon Johnson Ready To Become Sixth Man If Asked

July 31st, 2023 at 11:59am CST by Arthur Hill

Keldon Johnson has established himself as a starter with the Spurs, but the addition of No. 1 pick Victor Wembanyama may push him into a sixth-man role, per Tom Orsborn of The San Antonio Express-News. “I just want to win,” Johnson said. “Whatever I got to do to win, I am looking forward to that, so we’ll see how it goes.”

Players Who Signed July 1 Are Now Eligible To Be Traded

July 31st, 2023 at 9:22am CST by Arthur Hill

The peak of the NBA’s transactions season has calmed down after an active start to July, but a few more players have become eligible to be traded on the final day of the month, notes Bobby Marks of ESPN (Twitter link).

The 30-day trade restriction window has expired for draft picks who signed their contracts on July 1, along with six players who inked two-way contracts on that date.

The designation won’t matter for those at the very top of the draft, as the Spurs and Trail Blazers obviously won’t consider trading Victor Wembanyama and Scoot Henderson, respectively. However, it could come into play for a few others, especially if more big-name players are on the move as the summer winds down.

In addition to those top-three picks, first-rounders who signed on July 1 are the Magic’s Anthony Black and Jett Howard, the Pacers‘ Jarace Walker and Ben Sheppard, the Trail Blazers‘ Kris Murray and the Heat’s Jaime Jaquez. The No. 18 pick out of UCLA, Jaquez has been mentioned as a potential asset in a trade to bring Damian Lillard to Miami.

Two-way players who signed on July 1, according to NBA.com’s transactions log, are the Sixers‘ Terquavion Smith and Ricky Council, the Heat‘s Dru Smith and Jamaree Bouyea, the Trail Blazers‘ Ibou Badji and the Rockets‘ Trevor Hudgins.

Most veteran free agents who signed this summer won’t become eligible to be traded by their teams until December 15 or January 15, depending on their circumstances. Those signings didn’t become official until July 6 or later because of the NBA’s summer moratorium.

Spurs Interested In Evan Fournier?

July 27th, 2023 at 9:35pm CST by Rory Maher

In addition to a few playoff hopefuls, the Spurs have also shown some interest in trading for Knicks wing Evan Fournier, according to Ian Begley of SNY.tv.

As Begley outlines, Fournier shares an agent with fellow Frenchman Victor Wembanyama, the No. 1 overall pick of last month’s draft. Fournier spoke last week about being intrigued by the possibility of joining San Antonio.

The 30-year-old’s $18.9MM pseudo-expiring contract (he has a team option worth $19MM in 2024/25) wouldn’t be viewed favorably by rival teams after he was pulled from New York’s rotation early last season. Fournier appeared in just 27 games in ’22/23, averaging 6.1 PPG and 1.8 RPG while shooting career worsts of 40.4% on twos and 30.7% on threes.

On the other hand, Fournier started all 80 of his games in ’21/22, averaging 14.1 PPG, 2.6 RPG, 2.1 APG and 1.0 SPG while converting the fourth-most three-pointers in the league (241, a career high). He holds a career mark of 37.9% from beyond the arc.

After making multiple deals this offseason, the Spurs no longer have the salary cap room to accommodate Fournier’s salary outright, Begley notes — they’d have to send salary back to adhere to the NBA’s trade rules. The Knicks also haven’t shown any inclination to attach draft assets to move off Fournier’s contract, Begley adds, but presumably would be more open to doing so if they could get a potential rotation player or two in return.

Fournier has come up in a couple other trade rumors this summer, but he remains on the Knicks’ roster for now, although he certainly hopes that isn’t the case when the season starts. It’s worth noting that Begley’s article is a week old, and a report a few days ago indicated Fournier could eventually become a buyout candidate if New York can’t trade him.

Begley’s mailbag column also touches on a handful of other topics. For example, he expresses skepticism that the Knicks were ever seriously interested in Bulls guard/forward Zach LaVine this offseason, despite having exploratory trade talks on the two-time All-Star at the February deadline. Begley also hears the Raptors were shutting down trade inquiries on OG Anunoby — a player the Knicks like — earlier this month.

Spurs Re-Sign Sandro Mamukelashvili To One-Year Deal

July 27th, 2023 at 5:56pm CST by Rory Maher

JULY 27: Mamukelashvili’s new contract is official, the Spurs announced in a press release.

JULY 1: The Spurs are re-signing forward/center Sandro Mamukelashvili, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, who reports (via Twitter) that the Georgian big man will be receiving a one-year, $2MM contract. That means he’ll be receiving the veteran’s minimum.

After spending four college seasons at Seton Hall, Mamukelashvili was selected 54th overall in the 2021 draft. He spent the majority of his first two NBA seasons on a two-way contract with the Bucks, but his playing time was very limited at the NBA level — he averaged 3.2 PPG and 2.1 RPG on .439/.345/.750 shooting in 65 games (9.6 MPG) from 2021-23.

Milwaukee waived the 24-year-old in March, and he was claimed by the Spurs, who converted his two-way deal into a rest-of-season standard contract.

As Tom Orsborn of The San Antonio Express-News writes, Mamukelashvili impressed the Spurs down the stretch by averaging 10.8 PPG, 6.8 RPG and 2.4 APG on .453/.343/.692 shooting in 19 games (seven starts, 23.3 MPG). Head coach Gregg Popovich seemed particularly fond of the former second-round pick, Orborn adds.

“He is athletic, he’s got size, he’s European, which makes me love him right off that bat because I think those guys are unbelievably well-coached and overall understand the game better than most of us here,” Popovich said. “He moves without the ball, he shoots it pretty well, he can pass, he’s got good speed. I like everything about him.”

Spurs Sign Sidy Cissoko To Three-Year Deal

July 27th, 2023 at 11:04am CST by Arthur Hill

Second-round pick Sidy Cissoko has agreed to a three-year contract with the Spurs, tweets Michael Scotto of HoopsHype. His signing is confirmed in the NBA.com transactions log.

Although a source confirms to Tom Orsborn of The San Antonio Express News (Twitter link) that it’s a standard contract, no details are provided on how many years are guaranteed. The signing will add to a crowded roster, as the Spurs already have 17 players with standard deals.

The French forward was selected with the 44th pick in last month’s draft after playing one year with the G League Ignite. He was the first European player to sign with the G League team. Cissoko played for San Antonio during Summer League and impressed team officials with his aggressiveness on offense.

Dominick Barlow Returns To Spurs On Two-Way Deal

July 27th, 2023 at 10:50am CST by Arthur Hill

JULY 27: Barlow’s signing is official, the Spurs confirmed (via Twitter).

JULY 26: Power forward Dominick Barlow will remain with the Spurs on a two-way contract, tweets ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. The news was confirmed by his agent, Todd Ramasar of Life Sports Agency, Wojnarowski adds.

Barlow, 20, was a restricted free agent after receiving a qualifying offer from San Antonio last month. His new deal amounts to another two-way contract with a small guarantee for the upcoming season.

Barlow inked a two-way deal with the Spurs last summer after going undrafted following a year with Overtime Elite. He spent much of the season in the G League, but he appeared in 28 NBA games and averaged 3.9 points and 3.6 rebounds in 14.6 minutes per night. He put up some impressive numbers in April, including 21 points and 19 rebounds on the final day of the NBA’s regular season.

Once Barlow’s signing becomes official, the Spurs will have one open two-way slot on their roster. Sir’Jabari Rice is also signed to a two-way deal.

Spurs Considered Lucrative Offer Sheet For Austin Reaves

July 26th, 2023 at 10:23am CST by Luke Adams

Lakers guard Austin Reaves revealed in a recent interview that the Spurs and Rockets were among his potential options in free agency before he reached a deal to remain in Los Angeles.

Michael Scotto of HoopsHype has since provided more details on those what-if scenarios, citing league sources who say San Antonio considered an offer sheet for Reaves that would have been worth $21MM per season.

However, according to Scotto, the Spurs were concerned that the Lakers would simply match their offer sheet and that they might miss out on other opportunities to use their cap room while they awaited L.A.’s decision. The Lakers wouldn’t have had to officially match an offer sheet for Reaves until the end of the day on July 7 and could have tied up San Antonio’s space in the meantime.

As for the Rockets, they were “closely monitoring” Reaves and were prepared to put together a lucrative offer sheet if they had failed to land top target Fred VanVleet, sources tell Scotto. When VanVleet agreed to a three-year, maximum-salary deal with Houston, the team didn’t see the need to spend big on another backcourt player.

Reaves’ restricted free agency was an uncommon case, since he had accumulated just two years of NBA experience and was therefore subject to the Gilbert Arenas provision.

Although the Lakers could only offer Reaves about $53.8MM over four years using his Early Bird rights, the Arenas provision allowed a rival team with cap room to give him a bigger, back-loaded offer sheet worth up to nearly $102MM over four years — the Lakers would have had the right to match any offer sheet despite not being able to offer Reaves that much money directly.

Ultimately, no rival suitors decided to aggressively pursue Reaves, allowing the Lakers to bring him back on his maximum Early Bird deal, worth $53.8MM across four seasons. Following a breakout season in which he averaged 13.0 points, 3.4 assists, and 3.0 rebounds in 28.8 minutes per game with an excellent .529/.398/.864 shooting line, the 25-year-old may turn out to be a bargain at that price.

NBA Teams Facing Potential Fall Roster Crunches

July 26th, 2023 at 8:02am CST by Luke Adams

With two months to go until NBA teams report to training camps, there’s no need for a club to have its 21-man offseason roster – let alone its 15-man standard roster for the regular season – set in stone at this point.

Still, many rosters around the league are clearly taking shape, with several teams carrying 14 or 15 players on standard guaranteed contracts and seemingly unlikely to make any more major changes this offseason.

There are also a handful of teams carrying more than 15 standard contracts who will have to trade or waive at least one or two of those players before the regular season begins in order to adhere to the NBA’s regular season roster limit.

Here are some of the teams who will be facing possible roster crunches in the coming months:

Oklahoma City Thunder

(20 standard contracts)

The Thunder have been a willing trade partner for teams looking to dump unwanted contracts this offseason, and it has resulted in Oklahoma City becoming the first club to reach its full 21-man roster limit (its 21st player, Keyontae Johnson, is on a two-way contract).

Of the Thunder’s 20 players on standard deals, at least 17 have guaranteed salaries for 2023/24. That group doesn’t include Jack White, whose full contract details have yet to be reported, or Isaiah Joe and Aaron Wiggins, both of whom are on non-guaranteed contracts after playing well in rotation roles in ’22/23.

If the Thunder intend to keep White, Joe, and Wiggins into the regular season, they’ll have to trade or waive five players on guaranteed salaries. The players recently acquired in those salary-dump deals – including Victor Oladipo, Davis Bertans, TyTy Washington, and Usman Garuba – would probably be most at risk. Of the Thunder’s returning players, Tre Mann and Jeremiah Robinson-Earl are among those whose roster spots may not be fully secure.

Memphis Grizzlies

(17 standard contracts)

Like the Thunder, the Grizzlies took on some unwanted contracts in offseason trades in order to acquire other assets.

The two players Memphis received in those deals – Josh Christopher and Isaiah Todd – are the most likely odd men out for the 15-man regular season roster, since none of Memphis’ other 15 players are obvious trade or release candidates.

San Antonio Spurs

(17 standard contracts)

The Spurs actually only have 16 players on standard contracts for the time being, but are reportedly bringing back Sandro Mamukelashvili on a one-year deal. He has yet to officially re-sign and the exact details of his contract are unclear.

Assuming San Antonio plans to have Mamukelashvili on its 15-man regular season roster, the team will need to trade or waive two other players before opening night. That number could grow if the Spurs want to sign Dominick Barlow or Sidy Cissoko to a standard contract, but they do have two-way slots available for both.

Cameron Payne, Cedi Osman, Reggie Bullock, Devonte’ Graham, and Khem Birch are a few of the veterans on expiring or pseusdo-expiring contracts who probably aren’t in the Spurs’ long-term plans. But some of those guys would be useful contributors on the court this season and might have a little trade value, so San Antonio might not be done dealing.

Washington Wizards

(16 standard contracts)

The Wizards have a new front office in place for this season, so some of the reserves on expiring contracts who were brought in by the old regime could be candidates to be traded or waived. That group includes Delon Wright, whose name has come up in trade rumors this summer, Xavier Cooks, whose multiyear deal is only guaranteed for 2023/24, and Anthony Gill.

The new regime has also acquired a few players this offseason who may have been traded for financial or salary-matching reasons more than for how they fit into the Wizards’ plans going forward. Of those players, Danilo Gallinari and Mike Muscala are on expiring contracts, while Patrick Baldwin and Landry Shamet aren’t currently owed guaranteed money beyond 2023/24 (Ryan Rollins has a $600K partial guarantee in ’24/25).

It wouldn’t shock me if the Wizards end up moving off multiple players on the current roster and making another addition or two before the regular season begins.

Others to watch

The Hawks are currently carrying 16 players on standard contracts, but only 15 are guaranteed, making Vit Krejci and his non-guaranteed salary the probable odd man out. Atlanta also reportedly remains active in trade talks, which could further shake up the roster.

The Hornets only have 12 players on guaranteed salaries, but they also have a pair (JT Thor and Kobi Simmons) on non-guaranteed deals, plus a pair of restricted free agents (P.J. Washington and Theo Maledon) and a No. 31 overall pick (James Nnaji) who remain unsigned. Charlotte can comfortably manage the 15-man limit, especially if Nnaji spends the season overseas, but may have to deal with a minor roster crunch if Washington and Maledon both return.

The Clippers, like the Hawks, have 15 players on guaranteed salaries and a 16th (Jason Preston) on a non-guaranteed deal. Los Angeles pushed back Preston’s guarantee date, which suggests the team may be open to hanging onto him if a roster spot becomes available (perhaps in multi-player James Harden trade?).

The Trail Blazers and Sixers are worth monitoring, since they would likely take back more players than they send out in any trade involving Damian Lillard or Harden. For now though, both teams have plenty of roster space — Portland has 13 players on standard contracts (12 fully guaranteed), while Philadelphia has 14 (13 fully guaranteed).