If the Spurs are half as good at drafting talent as the legend says, then losing this year's first round pick is a freaking disaster. Paying Pau for a year is a one-year inconvenience. What FA could they love that much, who has a legit chance of coming here? CP3, D-Wade, Hayward? Maybe. But that's pretty much the short list. Anyone else either isn't coming here, or isn't worth giving up Pau plus the first round pick.
You and I disagreed about rebuilding this past season. We'll never know, because of Tony and Kawhi both getting injured. But now, mortgaging the future to try and to a rebuild-in-place with this many holes and this many bad contracts? It's just not smart. It's a matter of "wasting" one year of Kawhi's prime vs. wasting multiple years.
The only exception to that I can see is if one or two vets decide to take a Spurs-friendly deal to allow them to fill out the roster. There's no way of planning for something like that to happen.