Jordan McLaughlin is back in San Antonio, and the Spurs have bought themselves a little more guard depth - but also a little less breathing room.
McLaughlin agreed to a one-year veteran minimum deal worth $3.29 million to return for his ninth NBA season and his second full year with the Spurs. Under the league’s veteran minimum rules, only $2.45 million of that salary will count against the cap.
That move leaves San Antonio with 14 standard contracts and one open spot as training camp approaches. The Spurs’ two-way slots are already filled by David Jones Garcia, Ja'Kobi Gillespie and Maliq Brown, while Taelon Peter is set to come in on a camp deal.
The money picture is still workable, at least for now. San Antonio’s payroll is sitting around $197.6 million, which puts it $2.84 million below the $200.43 million luxury-tax line and $11.42 million under the first apron at $209.02 million. The Spurs are hard-capped at that first apron after using the full NTPMLE to sign Tobias Harris to a two-year, $30,840,200 contract.
That cap structure still gives San Antonio some maneuverability. The team can go over the luxury-tax threshold if it fills its final roster spot, then make a later move to get back under before the trade deadline if needed.
The bigger squeeze is coming down the road.
Victor Wembanyama’s five-year, $255.2 million extension is projected to start at roughly $44 million in 2027-28. That same season, De'Aaron Fox’s salary is set to jump from $49.49 million to $53.45 million, while Stephon Castle would be in the final year of his rookie deal, currently projected at $12.67 million.
If Castle earns a maximum rookie extension, that contract would kick in in 2028-29. Dylan Harper, projected to make $17.17 million that season, would likely be next in line after that in 2029-30.
The standard max for a player coming off a rookie contract begins at 25 percent of the salary cap, but the Rose Rule can push that figure to 30 percent for qualifying players. MVP and Defensive Player of the Year awards can unlock that path, and All-NBA honors can do it too, depending on when they’re earned.
That wrinkle could matter for Harper. An All-NBA nod at the end of the 2028-29 season, for instance, could change the value of a future extension.
None of those deals have been signed yet, and the cap numbers are still projections. Even so, the direction is obvious: San Antonio’s payroll can get big in a hurry.
Wembanyama, Castle and Harper won’t be the only names on the books, either. Devin Vassell and Julian Champagnie are under contract through 2028-29, and Tarris Reed Jr.’s rookie deal could keep him in San Antonio through 2029-30. Carter Bryant and Jayden Quaintance could also still be on rookie contracts by the time the Spurs start paying their young core.
Add in future draft picks, free agents and possible extensions for other players already on the roster, and the squeeze gets tighter. That’s where De'Aaron Fox comes into the picture.
Fox is guaranteed $57.41 million in 2028-29 and $61.37 million in 2029-30. If he, Wembanyama, Castle and Harper are all still together, the Spurs could be juggling multiple maximum or near-maximum salaries at once. His deal runs through 2030, and there’s no sign San Antonio plans to move him before then, especially not after a trip to the NBA Finals.
“It's not even a question,” Wembanyama said of his trust in Fox during the NBA Finals. “That's his identity.
The trust is complete. We know (he's) as reliable as they get."
Still, the league’s current system is built to force those kinds of decisions. Commissioner Adam Silver defended the second apron after an NBA Board of Governors meeting this week, saying the goal of the new CBA is to create more balance across the league, no matter the market or ownership size.
“The point was to design a system ... more NFL-like,” Silver said, “where every team was put in a position where, regardless of market size, they could compete for championships.”
Silver noted that teams above the second apron do more than pay a bigger tax bill. They also lose flexibility in trades, free agency and other avenues for improving the roster, which makes it harder for expensive teams to keep adding around their stars.
He also acknowledged the downside for players who want bigger deals or better opportunities, but said the league judges the system by how it works for all 30 teams. So far, he likes what he sees.
"It’s my job to look out for the fan bases of 30 teams," Silver said, citing eight different champions in the last eight seasons. "I think this is the best system we've ever had."
Silver said changes could come when the league and the Players Association eventually reopen negotiations, but for now he believes the current setup has done what it was designed to do. In San Antonio, that system hasn’t turned into an immediate problem yet. The Spurs still have one standard roster spot open and enough room under the hard cap to use it, even if that pushes them closer to the tax.
The real test will come later, when Wembanyama’s extension begins, Castle and Harper become extension candidates, and Fox’s salary keeps climbing. Those are the numbers that will determine how close the Spurs get to the aprons - and which pieces of this core they can actually afford to keep together.
For now, though, the organization is still focused on the present and another run at the NBA Finals with the group it has already built.
"I've always said the guys on the court will dictate how fast we go," Spurs general manager Brian Wright said after the 2026 NBA Draft. "They drove really fast this year ... and we're proud of that.
It was obviously a great season. A lot to learn and grow from."
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