Spurs Salaries and Luxury Tax Situation.

[Big P]

http://www.nbadraft.net/state-cap-san-antonio-spurs-0

By Mike Misek

2010/11 San Antonio Spurs Payroll: $66 million
2010/11 NBA Salary Cap: $56.1 million
Roughly: $9.9 million over cap

Variables:

Tony ParkerTony ParkerRichard Jefferson - ETO for $15.2 million
Roger Mason - Unrestricted Free Agent
Matt Bonner - Unrestricted Free Agent
Ian Mahinmi - Unrestricted Free Agent
Keith Bogans - Unrestricted Free Agent
Malik Hairston - Non-guaranteed Team Option for $854K
Garrett Temple - Non-guaranteed Team Option for $762K
Alonzo Gee - Non-guaranteed Team Option for $762K
Curtis Jerrells - Non-guaranteed Team Option for $762K
Tiago Splitter - Rights retained, $863K cap hold. Splitter’s contract with Caja Laboral expires at the end of this season.
Nando De Colo - Rights retained
Viktor Sanikidze - Rights retained

Draft Picks - 20th pick and 49th pick.

The Good: The reason that the first round upset over Dallas should have been a surprise to no one is that the Mavericks are built for the regular season whereas the Spurs are built for the playoffs. This is not a cliché comment, but is reflective of San Antonio investing heavily in their top seven and less so in the back half and Dallas spending much more on 8-15. Over an 82-game regular season, the Mavericks have a much greater ability to absorb the bumps and bruises of long road trips and back-to-backs. San Antonio lost more than a few games this past season because they do not have the depth to best prepare their stars for the playoffs while also winning the next game. While they finished with the same record as Portland and Oklahoma City, those teams had to battle to get to 50 wins while San Antonio gave a few away. In the first round series, however, there were no back-to-backs and the number of minutes given to ninth to fifteenth men on the roster was microscopic. The series was decided because the core of San Antonio is still better than that of Dallas.

The Bad: The worry going forward, however, is it is getting more and more difficult to get Duncan, Ginobili, and Parker through the regular season and keep them healthy throughout the playoffs. It is not a guarantee that Hill, Splitter, Blair, and a first round pick will be able to carry enough weight to get the team through the regular season in one piece, and how the team handles this offseason will go a long way in determining whether the 2011 Spurs resemble the 2010 playoff team or the battered and bruised squad of 2009. It is still not certain whether the George Hill seen in the Dallas series is the same guy as the one who showed up against Phoenix. DeJuan Blair can be nothing short of great in the right matchup, but when facing length and/or athleticism can be taken out of the game.

The Future: If Richard Jefferson opts in and the Spurs choose to keep their sub-million dollar restricted free agents in the mix, San Antonio will enter the summer over both the salary cap and the luxury tax for only twelve players. For the team to sign Tiago Splitter, they will have to use their mid-level exception pushing them even further into the tax. The Spurs can afford to operate in the tax if they go deep into the playoffs and have multiple rounds worth of playoff gates to offset the tax. The problem will come if they go too far above the tax threshold of $67.1 million. The team might end up finding that replacing Matt Bonner, Roger Mason, and Keith Bogans with veteran minimum signings or rookies to be the best option to balance both the needed talent to compete and the budget. Trading Tony Parker would be doing the unthinkable, but if they received enough talent in return it might be a viable option. It would certainly go a long way to alleviating the tax burden. The worry, however, is that if George Hill is not ready to play as consistently well as Parker has, then the deal could kill any chance the Spurs have left of competing. I do not believe the Spurs would take that risk, but the budget may force the team into making a few interesting decisions this summer.

[elbamba]

Would it count against the Spurs if they offer jefferson a buyout of like $5 million for him to drop the option and go into free agency?

He would not lose as much money and he could be signed to a multi year deal in this scenario so he benefits, the Spurs would save some tax this year and perhaps they could do a sign a trade with a more reasonable salary and bring in a player that would fit the system. Is this possible?

[mountainballer]

Would it count against the Spurs if they offer jefferson a buyout of like $5 million for him to drop the option and go into free agency?

He would not lose as much money and he could be signed to a multi year deal in this scenario so he benefits, the Spurs would save some tax this year and perhaps they could do a sign a trade with a more reasonable salary and bring in a player that would fit the system. Is this possible?

I don't think it's allowed to pay a buy out BEFORE he decided to pick the option. (and that way get him off the cap).
theoretically I can see him take a buyout after he pulled the player option. but not 5 million. at 8-10 he might start to think about it. at this point he is a MLE player (at best), he won't get more than offers in the 20 million range. so he won't leave more than 5-7 million on the table to get the chance for long term contract.

[Bruno]

Sham has updated the guarantee stipulation on Temple contract.

A summary about the situation of players with a non-guaranteed contract:

Malik Hairston:
$854,389 salary
fully non-guaranteed

Curtis Jerrells:
$762,195 salary
fully non-guaranteed

Garrett Temple:
$762,195 salary
Cost $35K to have him in SL
Cost $110K to have him in training camp

Alonzo Gee:
$762,195 salary
Cost $100K to have him in SL
Cost $100K to have him in training camp

Spurs will also be over the luxury tax. All these player will cost an additional $854,389 against the tax if they are kept the whole year. The guaranteed money will also count double against the tax.

If Temple and Gee are still here for the training camp, they will have a significant advantage over Hairston and Jerrels. For example, keeping Hairston over Temple will cost Spurs $312K more or keeping Hairston over Gee will cost $292K more.

At the end, what will matter most is their production in SL/training camp but if these players are close on the court, money could be the deciding factor.

[DesignatedT]

Sham has updated the guarantee stipulation on Temple contract.

A summary about the situation of players with a non-guaranteed contract:

Malik Hairston:
$854,389 salary
fully non-guaranteed

Curtis Jerrells:
$762,195 salary
fully non-guaranteed

Garrett Temple:
$762,195 salary
Cost $35K to have him in SL
Cost $110K to have him in training camp

Alonzo Gee:
$762,195 salary
Cost $100K to have him in SL
Cost $100K to have him in training camp

Spurs will also be over the luxury tax. All these player will cost an additional $854,389 against the tax if they are kept the whole year. The guaranteed money will also count double against the tax.

If Temple and Gee are still here for the training camp, they will have a significant advantage over Hairston and Jerrels. For example, keeping Hairston over Temple will cost Spurs $312K more or keeping Hairston over Gee will cost $292K more.

At the end, what will matter most is their production in SL/training camp but if these players are close on the court, money could be the deciding factor.

Thanks for the info. So do you think its fair to say that Gee/Hairston and Temple/Jerrells will be competing with each other for a spot on the roster or could you see the Spurs keeping 3 or maybe all 4 of them on board?

also, who can play for the Toros?

[TD 21]

Barring something unforeseen, such as Hairston having a terrible summer league/training camp and Gee having an outstanding summer league/training camp, I can't see Hairston not making the team. Even if that occurred, the Spurs have had him and been grooming him long enough that I'd have to think he'd still make the team.

Gee probably needs a very good summer league/training camp to stick. He could get caught up in a numbers game. Say the Spurs draft a wing and sign a wing. Add that to Jefferson, Ginobili, Hill and Hairston and that's six guys ahead of Gee on the depth chart; seven if Temple makes the team. With the Spurs financial situation, he could get squeezed if they're not that enamored with him or if they feel like they'll have no use for him throughout the season. Then again, they could find him an intriguing enough prospect that they don't want to lose his rights and hang onto him even if he's not in the plans for next season. But they'd have to really like him to bite the bullet financially.

Temple I suspect will make the team. Like Hairston, he'd probably have to play himself off of it. The only way he's probably even in danger is if the Spurs draft Williams, his ball handling is better than advertised and they think he's capable of playing some point immediately.

Jerrells I can't see making the team. He'd have to play out of his mind in summer league/training camp and even then, I'm still not sure he'd make it. He'd need a lot to go his way outside of his own play, such as Temple playing terribly and the Spurs not drafting another guard who can handle the ball.

Temple, Gee and Jerrells are all eligible to be assigned to the Toros.

[Bruno]

So do you think its fair to say that Gee/Hairston and Temple/Jerrells will be competing with each other for a spot on the roster or could you see the Spurs keeping 3 or maybe all 4 of them on board?

also, who can play for the Toros?

Players in their first or second NBA year can play in D-Legaue. Only Hairston, who will be in his third year, won't be eligible to play in D-League.

I'm sure all these players will fight for roster spots. Whether 1, 2 or 3 are available will depend on what Spurs do in the draft or FA.

IMO, Temple and Gee are the favorites to get a roster spot. Spurs made a financial effort to steal them from team that wanted to keep them (Wizards and Kings). Jerrels is a long hot to stay. Hairston is in a complicate situation: he is the most expensive to keep and he isn't eligible for the D-League. He will have to show he is significantly better than the other players to stick with the team.