From what I've been able to gather, the Spurs cannot include any incentives in Kawhi's extension. Maybe
DPG21920 or another avid tweeter on here can reach out to Mark Deeks or Larry Coon or another cap guy and confirm. But it seems like the best compromise for both sides is to give Kawhi a deal with max incentives so that Kawhi gets a deal worth well more than the any other team could give if he returns to form but doesn't break the bank too much if he doesn't.
Provided that my understanding of incentives is incorrect, this is the contract I'd pitch:
Year |
2019 |
2020 |
2021 |
2022 |
2023 |
|
Total |
Average |
Total |
$37,117,500 |
$34,148,100 |
$34,148,100 |
$37,117,500 |
$40,086,900 |
|
$182,618,100 |
$36,523,620 |
Base |
$31,815,000 |
$29,269,805 |
$29,269,805 |
$31,815,005 |
$34,360,206 |
|
$156,529,821 |
$31,305,964 |
Incentives |
$5,302,500 |
$4,878,295 |
$4,878,295 |
$5,302,495 |
$5,726,694 |
|
$26,088,279 |
$5,217,656 |
Contrast that with a max offer from another team:
Year |
2019 |
2020 |
2021 |
2022 |
|
Total |
Average |
Total |
$31,815,000 |
$33,405,750 |
$34,996,500 |
$36,587,250 |
|
$136,804,500 |
$34,201,125 |
$20 Million more guaranteed with the upside of $46 Million more. If he gets a PO in that final year, he'd make more in the first four seasons anyway if he plays at the caliber he used to. If he doesn't, SA gets him for a large but manageable contract. We're talking $60 Million less over the five seasons. Even if he's MVP caliber each year of the deal, SA saves about $33 Million over the life of the deal.