Pushing the Spurs Over the Top - 2026 Offseason Preview
On the Spurs offseason, their vast spending power to significantly improve their rotation, and why a De'Aaron Fox trade will need to come sooner than later.
The Spurs just joined a small list of teams that went from the lottery in one season to title contention in the next. They were supposed to make the jump into the playoffs next season and slowly collect their postseason bruises. Instead, their young core ignored those “rules” by being blue-chip prospects with high upside who are already playing at a high level far earlier than most players do.
The front office was relatively patient last summer, and that was the correct decision after already making a major move by trading for De’Aaron Fox. They needed to see how Fox fit with Victor Wembanyama and the rest of the roster. Now the pressure is high to improve the team after reaching the Finals. They will need to use several tools at their disposal to strengthen the bench, but they should also stay mindful of their surplus of draft picks and an increasingly precarious long-term cap situation.
2026 Offseason Previews
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2026 Contract Projections
Current Extension Eligible Players Part 1 | Current Extension Eligible Players Part 2 | Current Extension Eligible Players Part 3 | Current Extension Eligible Players Part 4 | Standout Minimum Players | Free Agents and Pending Options Part 1 | Free Agents and Pending Options Part 2
Salary cap situation and long-term prognosis
The Spurs are entering the offseason with 10 players under contract, totaling $157.4 million in salary. It is a relatively low payroll that includes every player from their playoff rotation and still sits below the $165 million salary cap. There is a path to cap space, but it would require significant salary cuts, likely by trading De’Aaron Fox and Keldon Johnson. In all likelihood, though, they will operate as an over-the-cap team.
It is worth noting that this is the first year of Fox’s maximum contract kicking in. His $12 million raise is offset by the large salaries of Harrison Barnes and Kelly Olynyk coming off the books. That leaves them $43.1 million below the $200.5 million luxury tax line. That is probably more flexibility than they will be able to use. They are expected to remain below the tax this season, as it is the last one of Victor Wembanyama’s rookie contract.
The Spurs will have access to the $15 million mid-level exception and the $5.5 million bi-annual exception to upgrade the bench. They could also acquire free agents via sign-and-trade and take back more salary in a trade. For example, they could take back up to $27 million for Keldon Johnson’s $18 million salary. They could also re-sign Barnes and Olynyk to contracts above the minimum or use them in sign-and-trades for other players. They would still be well below the tax if they used most of those mechanisms.
For the Spurs to advance to the Finals this early in their timeline is uncommon, given their payroll structure. They have one player on a maximum contract in Fox and one player earning between $20 million and $30 million in Devin Vassell. Everyone else is earning slightly above the mid-level exception or less on a rookie-scale or minimum contract. In all likelihood, they will avoid taxpayer status for quite some time.
That is significant for their long-term outlook in the apron era. The Thunder just went through their third playoff run and are already facing an offseason of subtraction. They are going to move several valuable players to lower their tax penalty to a more manageable amount. The Spurs just reached the Finals on their first real run and are years away from facing those decisions.
As mentioned earlier, it is unlikely the Spurs will spend enough to reach the luxury tax in 2026-27. In 2027-28, they will have both Fox and Wembanyama on maximum salaries and presumably Julian Champagnie back on a significant raise. Even then, they are still in a position to remain below the luxury tax while keeping their core together.
After that is when things get a little more complicated. Stephon Castle will be due for a lucrative new contract beginning in 2028-29. However, provided they do not add significant salary elsewhere, they could subsidize that raise by trading Fox. It seems like a good bet that the Spurs will try to remain below the luxury tax over the next three seasons. After that, they will likely need to enter tax territory with or without Fox, since Dylan Harper will be on a new contract.
The Spurs will want to delay becoming taxpayers for as long as possible to extend their window into the next decade. Teams that pay the tax in three of the previous four seasons become repeater taxpayers. The current CBA increased the tax rates the deeper a team goes into the tax. The penalties for a repeat taxpayer that is deep in the tax are so punitive that teams facing them almost always scale back payroll significantly. If the Spurs can stay out of the tax through 2029, they may not face major roster decisions involving their big three until 2032 at the earliest.
