The Spurs Are Reloading

We’re just a few hours into the NBA free-agency period, and the San Antonio Spurs—the team that spends most offseasons chilling, drinking wine, and then eventually scooping up scrap-heap free agents who will later win them a playoff game—are making some goddamn moves.

The Spurs started their morning by re-signing Danny Green, the guy they’ve transformed from a benchwarmer into a dead-eye shooter over the last few seasons. In typical Spursian fashion, they signed Green to a contract that is well below market rate, locking him in for the next four years at just $45 million. That’s dirt cheap for a 28-year-old wing who shot 41 percent from three last year and is a solid perimeter defender. Meanwhile, the Bucks have signed swingman Khris Middleton to a five-year, $70 million deal; Thad Young got four years and $50 million from the Nets. Green could have gotten a lot more money from another team if he’d wanted it.

The Spurs’ second move of the day may end up being even more of a coups than the Green signing. In what amounts to a straight salary dump, they agreed to trade Tiago Splitter and his $8.5 million cap hit to the Atlanta Hawks. And that means....

The Spurs still have a few balls in the air—they still need to re-sign Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili at discounted rates in order to keep them and also offer Aldridge the max—but they sure as hell look poised to enter next season with a shiny new all-star added to their already deadly roster. And if they get Aldridge, they’ll be able to enter the post-Big Three era with a core of Danny Green, Kawhi Leonard, and LaMarcus Aldridge. The Spurs aren’t playing around, man.