2010-11 San Antonio Spurs Salaries

Reigning Black

(Updated: 8/3/10)

Following are the salaries of the guaranteed 11 players under contract and the 3 non-guaranteed roster hopefuls. They've been listed in the order they were signed/came to terms in an effort to see what the Spurs' front office saw every step of the way -- the roster's total is shown after each signing to display where the Spurs were in relation to the cap and what moves they made with that knowledge in hand. Also along the way, Richard Jefferson's (RJ) original $15.2 million dollar contract was calculated to show what an opt-in could have meant.(Special thanks to Sham and Bruno for the help and L.J. Ellis for Neal and Jefferson's numbers)

*Note: Matt Bonner's salary has been updated from $3.05M to $3.00M while Neal's salary has been updated from $510K to $525K. Thanks again to Sham for all of his hard work. Please give him a visit if you'd like to know more about full terms and incentives.

Ask And You Shall Receive

Reigning Black

Back in April, Chris Tomasson authored a piece for FanHouse revealing Richard Jefferson was indeed pondering the possibility of opting out of his contract. And as preposterous as it sounded then -- a player deemed to be underachieving and hardly worth the $14.2 million he'd earn for the performance -- Jefferson had his reasons:

"That's a situation I think every player will look at at the end of the season. I probably wouldn't make 15 (million dollars) some place, but you could somehow recoup some of that over a multi-year deal and get some guaranteed money for the next few years."

With the uncertainty of impending CBA negotiations and the very likely prospect the Players' Association will fail to improve upon the players' future contractual earnings -- in fact, it's been widely thought the players could find lower salaries, less guaranteed money and fewer years -- the feeling around free-agency has been, 'Get it while the gettin's good.'

Jefferson to Re-sign

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According to Mike Monroe of the San Antonio Express-News, Richard Jefferson should be back in San Antonio prepping to sign a new long-term contract with the Spurs on Wednesday.

Jefferson -- a 6-7 small forward and 9-year veteran of the NBA -- left more than a few scratching their heads with his decision to opt out of a final year that would've guaranteed him $15.2 million. But seeking to avoid the uncertainty of free-agency in a post-CBA renegotiation, Jefferson elected for long-term security -- the thinking to give a little now to recoup much more later.

But in one of the stranger free-agent markets in a long time -- one where Johan Petro essentially equals Tiago Splitter and a restricted free-agent in Rudy Gay gets a max contract without creating leverage -- Jefferson found himself standing without a chair when the music had all but stopped.

Terms of the contract have yet to be ascertained but it would be a fair assumption to think that Jefferson's yearly salary will be cut in half -- unlike Rudy Gay, Jefferson was allowed to test his market-value and create whatever leverage he could, only there was no leverage to be found. His stock had never fallen further. The Spurs will gain some much-needed breathing room with regards to the luxury-tax line and for the third time this offseason, they'll have acquired the most talented player available for the role -- Splitter and Bonner preceding. 

Part 2: Executing The Plan

Reigning Black

(Revised)

Tiago Splitter is officially a Spur.

Matt Bonner will be a Spur for another 4 years (should he see the end of his new contract).

Richard Jefferson?

They're working on it -- all signs point to Jefferson donning the Black and Silver sometime shortly, but as the saying goes: Don't count your chickens until they've picked up their $15.2 million option.

And with that, we look to what we've learned, what we know, and where the Spurs go from here.

What We've Learned

If you were to ask anyone knowledgeable of the NBA or its finance over recent weeks and months about the going rate of a certain first-class Brazilian bigman, chances are they'd tell you most -- if not all -- of the Spurs' Mid-Level exception would be about right. The Spurs were in dire need of Splitter's services -- a player that was getting paid quite well by his Spanish club -- and being three years removed from his 2007 draft class, Splitter was now eligible to eschew the rookie pay-scale and garner the Mid-Level exception from the team which held his rights. It wasn't a forgone conclusion Splitter would receive the whole Mid-Level exception, but the smart money was on him securing the majority of it and probably winding up at a number around $4 million in his first year.

Tiago Splitter: San Antonio Spur

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Signed, sealed, delivered. Tiago Splitter is officially a Spur.

Taken 28th overall in the 2007 NBA Draft, Splitter's become both the bane and hope of Spurs fans' existence over the years. But now that he's here, that bane seems a distant memory.

The 6-11 forward-center was officially introduced today -- alongside Spurs General Manager, R.C. Buford -- as the 25-year-old Brazilian showed off his new number (22) and expressed his excitement and gratitude for a day he'd always hoped would come.

"I'm very happy to be a San Antonio Spurs," Splitter said. It's been three years for me and San Antonio to wait for this moment. I'm very happy. I knew that I want to be part of the NBA, part of the San Antonio Spurs. You never know when."

Part 1: Executing The Plan

Reigning Black

(Note: The reported Jefferson agreement was -- at best -- premature. The following was posted July, 9 following Ticket 760's report.)

All eyes on the self-proclaimed King as he aired "The Decision," Gregg Popovich, R.C. Buford and Co. awaited the final verdict. The Spurs' front office awaited the biggest and most significant domino to be set into motion, as to reveal the landscape in its wake.

Thanks to Ticket 760 and the Union Leader, we now have an idea as to what this newly found landscape means to the Spurs -- the Spurs have apparently come to agreements with Tiago Splitter, Richard Jefferson and Matt Bonner, which would all-but complete their frontline and lock them into a roster with minimal addition, sans a trade.

Splitter -- a 25-year-old Brazilian bigman -- has long been on both the NBA and Spurs' radar. His draft status became a bit of a running joke, as word of his presence in it goes back to as far as 2004. He was thought to finally declare for the 2006 NBA Draft but with teams reluctant to use a high pick on him for fear of a contract buyout, Splitter would remain with his Spanish team. In 2007, at the age of 22, Splitter became automatically eligible for the NBA Draft. Still under contract and overseas with his Saski Baskonia team -- then sponsored by Tau Ceramica -- the Spurs would select him with the 28th overall pick in the NBA Draft.

Knowing full well Splitter was a year away from joining the team, the Spurs simply capitalized on an opportunity to draft a lottery talent that wouldn't otherwise be available to them. They were competing for championships -- just coming off their fourth -- and the value to be had with the 28th pick was just too great to pass on. Splitter would have another year to season his game in one of the finest leagues outside the NBA -- Spanish ACB -- and would seemingly be available to join the Spurs the following year. But confronted with a severely ill sibling and an economic downturn -- one that presented Splitter with an opportunity to sign a contract worth 8-times the rookie pay-scale the NBA had to offer -- the Spurs would have to wait at least another year. Splitter re-signed with his Spanish League team, Caja Laboral (Tau Ceramica sponsored Saski Baskonia before ceding way to Caja Laboral; like billboards... these things change), on a two-year deal that would keep him overseas through the 2009-2010 NBA season.

Death, Taxes and Bruno (Opt-Out Capology)

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Any avid Spurs fan who's frequented a message board over the last handful of years knows the name, "Bruno." He's one of the most respected posters in the Spurs community and he's earned that respect largely for his mastery of NBA finance -- it's safe to say there are a fair amount of front-office types that could learn a thing or two from him.

That's not hyperbole.

Naturally, if you choose to put yourself out there and swim in the Frenchman's waters, you better be on point. You better have a grasp of the subject matter and be mindful to pay attention to detail. Because if you don't, you just might end up getting your feelings hurt (or at least find yourself getting humbled).

Murphy's Law- Options for the Bi-Annual Exception

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If we're to work from the premise of Murphy's law ("Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong."), Richard Jefferson's on his way out the door and the Spurs have nothing to show for it: no cap room, no sign and trade in place, nothing. The Spurs have been left high-and-dry without the means to find or acquire a comparable replacement, at least talent-wise.

If Spurs are left with nothing to show for Jefferson, the Spurs will then be left with the Bi- Annual Exception (roughly $2 million) to find a suitable replacement at the small forward position-- due to Tiago Splitter receiving most, if not all, of the Mid-Level Exception.

Because of how powerful and true Murphy's law can be, Reigning Black will dissect the realistic options that should be available for the LLE (Bi-Annual Exception).