The Clippers may be staring at a very different kind of rebuild, and it could send them back to the Spurs.
After the NBA punished LA in the Kawhi Leonard investigation and stripped the team of five first-round picks, the usual draft-heavy path to fixing the roster is basically gone. That leaves the Clippers with a much narrower route forward, and restricted free agency looks like the lane they may have to live in.
That’s where Stephon Castle comes in.
Castle is part of San Antonio’s young core, but there’s a real path for him to reach restricted free agency if he doesn’t make the All-Star team or All-NBA next season. If that happens, the Clippers could be among the teams circling. The idea has already been floated that LA could spend years going after RFAs across the league, and Castle fits that profile as well as anyone.
Houston Rockets guard Amen Thompson just landed a 5-year, $208 million deal, a contract that will pay him up to 22% of the salary cap going forward. The argument being made is that Castle is better than Thompson. Even so, if Castle doesn’t take a big jump next season, San Antonio may try to keep him for more than Thompson’s number but still short of the max.
That gap matters. The difference between Thompson’s deal and a 25% max is about $44 million right now, which gives the Spurs some room to maneuver. There’s also the possibility that Castle follows the path Victor Wembanyama took and accepts less than the max.
But if San Antonio and Castle don’t line up on a new deal, the Clippers could try to step in.
The problem for LA is that the Spurs still hold the upper hand. If Castle gets to restricted free agency, the Clippers’ best offer would be a four-year max worth about $178 million, using next season’s cap number as a placeholder. That would be roughly $50 million less than what Castle could get on a five-year max from San Antonio.
For the Spurs, the payoff would be obvious if they can keep both Castle and Dylan Harper locked in at or below the 25% max. And Castle’s next season will go a long way toward deciding where this lands.
If he makes a real leap into stardom, San Antonio can pay him near the max without hesitation. If he looks more like he did last season, the Spurs may be more comfortable pushing closer to Thompson’s range.
Either way, even if Castle reaches restricted free agency, San Antonio would still have the right of first refusal and could match any offer the Clippers - or anyone else - put on the table.
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