By Jeje Gomez | Pounding The Rock (PtR), 2024-07-05 09:18:30
由生成式人工智能翻译，译文内容可能不准确或不完整，以原文为准。
圣安东尼奥是少数几支仍有能力进行重大引援的球队，但我们可能要等到工资帽 moratorium 解除后才能知道他们的计划。
自由市场已经平静下来。即使是已经达成一致的很多交易也还没有最终敲定，虽然市面上还有 talent，但资金正在枯竭。随着工资帽 moratorium 结束日期的临近，各支球队都试图在 7 月 6 日之前做好最后的准备工作。
据报道，马刺是少数几支仍在试图搞出大动作的球队之一。他们参与了劳里·马尔卡宁(Lauri Markkanen)的争夺战，并且最近与德玛尔·德罗赞(DeMar DeRozan)传出绯闻。
考虑到这一点，让我们仔细看看马刺迄今为止所做的工作，以及他们可以用来回答一些紧迫问题的工具。
马刺是高于还是低于工资帽？他们还有多少钱可以用？
马刺在进入自由市场时可以选择作为一支超过工资帽的球队运作，将他们自己的自由球员的工资帽保留在账面上，或者作为一支低于工资帽的球队运作，放弃部分或非保障合同的球员，并放弃自由球员。在他们交易了 8 号签并创造了更多潜在的工资空间后，看起来他们会选择后者。在自由市场开启几天后，现在看来他们更有可能选择超过工资帽，但他们仍然可以改变路线。
如果马刺决定作为一支低于工资帽的球队运作，在签下克里斯·保罗和斯蒂芬·卡斯尔(Stephon Castle)并保留对小戴维·杜克和桑德罗·马穆克拉什维利的资质报价后，他们将有大约 1540 万美元的薪资空间。如果他们像一支超过工资帽的球队那样运作，在使用中产特例签下保罗后，他们将只有价值 450 万美元的双年特例可以使用，但他们仍然拥有自己自由球员的权利。马刺保留选择空间的一个迹象是，他们与德文特·格雷厄姆达成协议，推迟了格雷厄姆合同生效的日期，因为圣安东尼奥可以裁掉他以创造工资空间，或者保证他的合同以创造一份价值 1200 万美元的到期合同来匹配工资。
格雷厄姆的情况很有趣，因为他的部分保障合同可以在交易中巧妙地使用。如果他的合同得到保障，由于联盟的工资匹配规则，圣安东尼奥可以通过交易他的到期合同并承担大约 2000 万美元的工资。他们也可以在格雷厄姆的合同完全得到保障之前把他送到一支希望削减工资的球队，并在接收格雷厄姆的球队裁掉他并节省超过 300 万美元的同时，收回高达约 600 万美元的工资。这个数字看起来并不大，但它可能是某些人能否获得成功的关键。
为什么马刺还没有进行另一笔签约或交易？
马刺是少数几支能够进行有意义的补充的球队之一，但最近几天没有发生什么大事并不奇怪。现在没有人急于达成交易。
圣安东尼奥与爵士队的劳里·马尔卡宁联系在一起。如果犹他州想要这位投篮精准的前锋的所有选秀权，马刺可以通过包括老鹰队的选秀权，甚至最近获得的 2031 年森林狼队的选秀权，来达成一揽子交易。不过，他们并不是唯一的追求者，所以要由爵士队来决定他们能得到什么最好的报价，而且每个人都知道与丹尼·安吉打交道有多难。最重要的是，爵士队可以简单地利用他们的工资空间重新谈判马尔卡宁的合同，提高他的工资，并增加他的合同年限，从而消除他们可能因为马尔卡宁目前的合同在 2025 年到期而产生的任何紧迫感。犹他州可以等到有人满足他们的要价。
在自由球员方面，没有人能为马刺带来改变。在增加了克里斯·保罗和斯蒂芬·卡斯尔之后，没有理由再考虑泰厄斯·琼斯这样的后卫了。球队需要射手，但侧翼轮换阵容已经很拥挤了，所以引进像马利克·比斯利这样的球员却让他坐在板凳上，这样做毫无意义。剩下的内线球员并不是特别有趣。除了德玛尔·德罗赞之外，没有其他能改变比赛的人了，他似乎是一个潜在的目标，但没有市场，所以马刺可以等他，看看他是否会接受一份对球队有利的协议。仅仅为了一个不会上场的人而花钱是不明智的，而为德罗赞支付过高的薪水将是一个错误。保持耐心似乎是明智的，因为随着时间的推移，价格应该会下降，而且还会有人没有签约。
那么，如果马刺在马尔卡宁身上一无所获，并且没有积极追求德罗赞，他们是否就放弃引进优秀球员了呢？不一定。如前所述，交易仍在敲定中，可能会有更多球队参与进来。这同样适用于可能变成先签后换的签约。马刺可以利用他们的工资空间或格雷厄姆的部分保障/到期合同来促成交易，并可以从中获得另一块拼图。那些试图进入第一或第二工资帽的球队会给圣安东尼奥打电话。是否有大事发生还不得而知，但马刺很有可能正在试图参与交易。
2024 年的自由球员市场总体而言并不 particularly exciting，马刺也没有做太多事情来提升他们的球队。在这一点上感到失望是可以理解的。幸运的是，休赛期还没有结束，圣安东尼奥还有一些工具可以通过自由市场或交易来进行另一项操作。希望未来会有更多进展。
点击查看原文：The Spurs still have the tools to make more moves in free agency
The Spurs still have the tools to make more moves in free agency
San Antonio is one of the few franchises that still have the ability to make a big addition, but we likely won’t know what the plan is until the moratorium is lifted.
Free agency has gotten quiet. Even a lot of the deals that were agreed on haven’t been finalized and while there’s talent out there, money is drying up. As the end of the moratorium nears, teams are trying to dot their i’s and cross their t’s before July 6.
The Spurs are one of the few franchises that are still trying to make something big happen, according to reports. They are in the Lauri Markkanen sweepstakes and have recently been linked to DeMar DeRozan.
With that in mind, let’s take a closer look at what the Spurs have done so far, and the tools at their disposal to try to answer some pressing questions.
Are the Spurs over or under the cap? How much money do they have to offer?
The Spurs went into free agency with the option of working as an over-the-cap team by keeping the cap holds of their own free agents on their books or as an under-the-cap team by waiving players on partially or non-guaranteed contracts and renouncing free agents. After they traded the eighth pick and created more potential cap space, it seemed like they were going to choose the latter option. A few days into free agency, now it looks like they are instead more likely to stay over the cap, but they could still reverse courses.
If the Spurs decide to act as an under-the-cap team, they will have around $15.4 million to spend after signing Chris Paul and Stephon Castle and keeping the qualifying offers for David Duke Jr. and Sandro Mamukelashvili. If instead they act like an over-the-cap team, they would have only the biannual exception worth $4.5 million to spend after using the mid-level exception to sign Paul, but they would still have rights to their own free agents. A sign that the Spurs were keeping their options open was their agreement with Devonte’ Graham to push back the date when Graham’s contract becomes guaranteed, as San Antonio could waive him to create cap space or guarantee his deal to create a $12 million expiring contract to match salaries.
Graham’s situation is interesting because his partially guaranteed contract could be used cleverly in a trade. If his contract is guaranteed, San Antonio could trade his expiring deal and take on around $20 million in salary, because of the league’s salary-matching rules. They can also send Graham to a team looking to cut salary before his deal becomes fully guaranteed and take back up to around $6 million in salary while the franchise receiving Graham waives him and saves over $3 million. The number doesn’t seem huge, but it could be the difference between being under or over the apron for some.
Why haven’t the Spurs made another signing or a trade?
The Spurs are one of the few teams that can make a meaningful addition but it’s not surprising not much has happened in recent days. No one is in a rush to make deals right now.
San Antonio was linked to the Jazz’s Lauri Markkanen. If all Utah wants is draft picks for the sweet-shooting forward, the Spurs can put a great package together by including the Hawks’ picks and maybe even the recently acquired 2031 Timberwolves pick. They are not the only suitor, though, so it’s up to the Jazz to determine what’s the best offer they can get, and everyone knows how tough it is to deal with Danny Ainge. On top of that, the Jazz could simply use their cap space to renegotiate Markkanen’s contract to up his salary and add more years to his deal, negating any rush they might feel due to his current contract expiring in 2025. Utah can wait until someone meets their price.
On the free agent front, there’s no one who would make a difference for the Spurs. After adding Chris Paul and Stephon Castle, there’s no reason to look at guards like Tyus Jones. The team needs shooters, but the wing rotation is crowded, so bringing someone in, say, Malik Beasley just to sit on the bench makes little sense. The big men left are not particularly interesting. There are no difference-makers left outside of DeMar DeRozan, who appears to be a potential target but has no market, so the Spurs can wait him out to see if he’ll take a team-friendly deal. Spending just to spend on someone who won’t see the floor much would be unwise and overpaying DeRozan would be a mistake. Being patient seems smart since prices should go down as time passes and guys are still unsigned.
So are the Spurs done adding good players if they strike out on Markkanen and don’t aggressively pursue DeRozan? Not necessarily. As mentioned, trades are still being finalized and more teams could get involved. The same applies to signings that could turn into sign-and-trades. The Spurs can facilitate transactions because of their cap space or the Graham partially guaranteed/expiring contract and could get another piece for their troubles. Franchises trying to get under the first or second aprons will call San Antonio. Whether something big materializes is impossible to know but there is a good chance the Spurs are trying to get involved in transactions.
The 2024 free agency period hasn’t been particularly exciting in general, and the Spurs haven’t done much to improve their team. It’s understandable to feel underwhelmed at this point. Fortunately, the offseason is not over and San Antonio has some tools to make another move, either via free agency or trade. Hopefully, there’s more to come.
By Jeje Gomez, via Pounding The Rock