***** 2026 Spurs Off-Season Thread *****

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Guitarsoup
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7:26p, 8/6/26
AG
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Cave Johnson, CEO
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9:22p, 8/6/26
AG


How is there still more to uncover.
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All I do is Nguyen
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In reply to Cave Johnson, CEO • 9:30p, 8/6/26
So glad we got rid of that clown. He obviously didn't learn jack **** from Pop. Hope he gets the Pete Rose treatment
No matter what!
Epstein didn't do, you know, the thing...
I'm the rare Astros/Cowboys/Spurs fan. We do exist
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All I do is Nguyen
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7:40a, 8/7/26
Wonder if this is true and if it is I know it's because how we fumbled the finals

No matter what!
Epstein didn't do, you know, the thing...
I'm the rare Astros/Cowboys/Spurs fan. We do exist
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Guitarsoup
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In reply to All I do is Nguyen • 9:41a, 8/7/26
AG
Pop never wanted to step down. I doubt he sits on the bench again, but I think he will be more involved in teaching. Players have all talked about how he has done that last year and Chris Paul talked about how Pop would call/text after games the year before. I think it is just a natural progression for him as he gets better.
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Guitarsoup
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In reply to Cave Johnson, CEO • 10:03a, 8/7/26
AG
Cave Johnson, CEO said:


How is there still more to uncover.

For anyone that didn't watch:

1. Kawhi had a no show deal with Daktronics, who is the biggest/best jumotron company in the world and they built Ballmer's (really awesome) $100MM halo jumbotron.
2. Daktronics is publicly traded (DAKT)
3. Daktronics when asked for comment, immediately sent the reporters to a PR Crisis firm
4. Daktronics has never had any endorsements of any kind with any person because they don't sell to the general public
5. Daktronics never mentioned Kawhi or vice versa
6. Daktronics also put in the screens on Kawhi's secret Rhode Island soccer team
7. Kawhi's deal with Daktronics was 7+ figures
8. Daktronics finally said that because of the investigation by the NBA, they could not comment on it, then made comments off the record.
9. The Rhode Island soccer team, in contrast, confirmed they had never be interviewed or part of the NBA investigation.
10. All this happened around the time Kawhi signed his 3y deal for below the max, which he is currently on the 3rd year of.

Also keep in mind that the standard of proof of cap circumvention is extraordinarily low.



TL;DR: That ***** is cooked.
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ThenamesAg
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In reply to Guitarsoup • 10:49a, 8/7/26
AG
Guitarsoup said:
Cave Johnson, CEO said:


How is there still more to uncover.



Also keep in mind that the standard of proof of cap circumvention is extraordinarily low.



TL;DR: That ***** is cooked.

I'd assume the issue will be the establishing the second part of that provision. The NBA cannot infer an agreement unless they also establish that Kawhi's compensation was "substantially below" FMV. If you cannot infer the agreement because they cannot establish this element, then it looks like they will need to actually prove its existence.
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Guitarsoup
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In reply to ThenamesAg • 10:57a, 8/7/26
AG
ThenamesAg said:
Guitarsoup said:
Cave Johnson, CEO said:


How is there still more to uncover.



Also keep in mind that the standard of proof of cap circumvention is extraordinarily low.



TL;DR: That ***** is cooked.

I'd assume the issue will be the establishing the second part of that provision. The NBA cannot infer an agreement unless they also establish that Kawhi's compensation was "substantially below" FMV. If you cannot infer the agreement because they cannot establish this element, then it looks like they will need to actually prove its existence.

Kawhi has been All-NBA 1st or 2nd team every year he qualified or played at least 50 games (prior to the 65 game minimum) and was receiving MVP votes even last season. His current contract pays him less than the max.

While his previous contract paid him the max, he accepted a deal of 2+1 with the Clippers initially instead of a fully-guaranteed 4y deal when he was coming off a Finals MVP and All-NBA/All-Defense MVP/DPOY candidate season at age 27.

Furthermore, he received less than the total possible amount he could have received, because he turned down the SA supermax to take that deal in free agency, so he left money on the table, which correlates to the money received under the table by Kawhi with the Clippers. Additionally, Kawhi's uncle was getting paid under the table by the Clippers back when Kawhi was with the Spurs, so it can be inferred that he turned down such a supermax because the money to make up the money lost was guaranteed under the table by Ballmer.
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HummingbirdSaltalamacchia
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In reply to Guitarsoup • 3:24p, 8/7/26
AG
Guitarsoup said:
ThenamesAg said:
Guitarsoup said:
Cave Johnson, CEO said:


How is there still more to uncover.



Also keep in mind that the standard of proof of cap circumvention is extraordinarily low.



TL;DR: That ***** is cooked.

I'd assume the issue will be the establishing the second part of that provision. The NBA cannot infer an agreement unless they also establish that Kawhi's compensation was "substantially below" FMV. If you cannot infer the agreement because they cannot establish this element, then it looks like they will need to actually prove its existence.

Kawhi has been All-NBA 1st or 2nd team every year he qualified or played at least 50 games (prior to the 65 game minimum) and was receiving MVP votes even last season. His current contract pays him less than the max.

While his previous contract paid him the max, he accepted a deal of 2+1 with the Clippers initially instead of a fully-guaranteed 4y deal when he was coming off a Finals MVP and All-NBA/All-Defense MVP/DPOY candidate season at age 27.

Furthermore, he received less than the total possible amount he could have received, because he turned down the SA supermax to take that deal in free agency, so he left money on the table, which correlates to the money received under the table by Kawhi with the Clippers. Additionally, Kawhi's uncle was getting paid under the table by the Clippers back when Kawhi was with the Spurs, so it can be inferred that he turned down such a supermax because the money to make up the money lost was guaranteed under the table by Ballmer.



Wait, it's been reported Uncle Dennis was getting paid by Ballmer when KL was still with the spurs??! I know he did some shady ass ****, but I missed this part. Wtf?!
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Guitarsoup
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In reply to HummingbirdSaltalamacchia • 3:30p, 8/7/26
AG
HummingbirdSaltalamacchia said:
Guitarsoup said:
ThenamesAg said:
Guitarsoup said:
Cave Johnson, CEO said:


How is there still more to uncover.



Also keep in mind that the standard of proof of cap circumvention is extraordinarily low.



TL;DR: That ***** is cooked.

I'd assume the issue will be the establishing the second part of that provision. The NBA cannot infer an agreement unless they also establish that Kawhi's compensation was "substantially below" FMV. If you cannot infer the agreement because they cannot establish this element, then it looks like they will need to actually prove its existence.

Kawhi has been All-NBA 1st or 2nd team every year he qualified or played at least 50 games (prior to the 65 game minimum) and was receiving MVP votes even last season. His current contract pays him less than the max.

While his previous contract paid him the max, he accepted a deal of 2+1 with the Clippers initially instead of a fully-guaranteed 4y deal when he was coming off a Finals MVP and All-NBA/All-Defense MVP/DPOY candidate season at age 27.

Furthermore, he received less than the total possible amount he could have received, because he turned down the SA supermax to take that deal in free agency, so he left money on the table, which correlates to the money received under the table by Kawhi with the Clippers. Additionally, Kawhi's uncle was getting paid under the table by the Clippers back when Kawhi was with the Spurs, so it can be inferred that he turned down such a supermax because the money to make up the money lost was guaranteed under the table by Ballmer.



Wait, it's been reported Uncle Dennis was getting paid by Ballmer when KL was still with the spurs??! I know he did some shady ass ****, but I missed this part. Wtf?!

Yeah, Ballmer was funneling money to Uncle Dennis through Kawhi's trainer back in the 2017-18 time period. Predates the Zaza dirty foul and coincides with the rumors that Kawhi wanted to go back home to SoCal.
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LawHall88
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4:56p, 8/7/26
AG
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jteagle
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6:47p, 8/7/26
AG
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Iowaggie
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In reply to Guitarsoup • 10:26a, 8/8/26
AG
Guitarsoup said:
ThenamesAg said:
Guitarsoup said:
Cave Johnson, CEO said:


How is there still more to uncover.



Also keep in mind that the standard of proof of cap circumvention is extraordinarily low.



TL;DR: That ***** is cooked.

I'd assume the issue will be the establishing the second part of that provision. The NBA cannot infer an agreement unless they also establish that Kawhi's compensation was "substantially below" FMV. If you cannot infer the agreement because they cannot establish this element, then it looks like they will need to actually prove its existence.

Kawhi has been All-NBA 1st or 2nd team every year he qualified or played at least 50 games (prior to the 65 game minimum) and was receiving MVP votes even last season. His current contract pays him less than the max.

While his previous contract paid him the max, he accepted a deal of 2+1 with the Clippers initially instead of a fully-guaranteed 4y deal when he was coming off a Finals MVP and All-NBA/All-Defense MVP/DPOY candidate season at age 27.

Furthermore, he received less than the total possible amount he could have received, because he turned down the SA supermax to take that deal in free agency, so he left money on the table, which correlates to the money received under the table by Kawhi with the Clippers. Additionally, Kawhi's uncle was getting paid under the table by the Clippers back when Kawhi was with the Spurs, so it can be inferred that he turned down such a supermax because the money to make up the money lost was guaranteed under the table by Ballmer.



Reminder to all of this:
A- Ballmer was fined $250K for cap circumvention during the DeAndre Jordan free agency period.

B- In 2019, both the Raptors and Lakers notified the league about Uncle Dennis's requests for no-show deals, partial ownership, and other ways to circumvent the salary cap, and the league investigated.


Part of me thinks the league does nothing but kick the can down the road.
The other part of me thinks this is taking so long because they are going to bring the hammer down on Ballmer and Kawhi and they want to get everything lined up. While the punishment for the player for circumventing the salary cap might be small. Silver has the option to bring down punishment if he believes Kawhi lied or deliberately misled him during the 2019 investigation (See Morant, Ja)
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FTAG 2000
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7:01p, 8/8/26
AG
I just wonder how much more Pablo has. Every time the nba says nothing there he lays down another card and he's holding all the aces.

When are the idiots at nbahq gonna figure out it's not going away?
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superunknown
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In reply to FTAG 2000 • 11:22a, 8/9/26
AG
Feels at this point Silver knows Ballmer is crooked but how do you punish a guy with a net worth roughly the size of the value of all the franchises combined?

Ballmer has Silver by the money balls.
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Guitarsoup
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1:07p, 8/9/26
AG
Nellie was almost our head coach for the 94-95 season, but Golden State wouldn't let him out of the contract even though they didn't like him and he wanted to leave.

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LawHall88
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3:46p, 8/9/26
AG

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superunknown
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In reply to Guitarsoup • 9:11p, 8/9/26
AG
Legend
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MGS
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In reply to Guitarsoup • 7:35a, 8/10/26
Guitarsoup said:
Nellie was almost our head coach for the 94-95 season, but Golden State wouldn't let him out of the contract even though they didn't like him and he wanted to leave.


But the Spurs did steal Avery Johnson and Pop from the Warriors that summer, so it all worked out.
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Guitarsoup
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In reply to MGS • 8:56a, 8/10/26
AG
MGS said:
Guitarsoup said:
Nellie was almost our head coach for the 94-95 season, but Golden State wouldn't let him out of the contract even though they didn't like him and he wanted to leave.


But the Spurs did steal Avery Johnson and Pop from the Warriors that summer, so it all worked out.

Yeah, and Pop's first move as GM was to try to bring Nellie with him after being his assistant for two years. When the Spurs didn't keep Avery, Pop brought him to GSW with him.
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aggiesherpa
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In reply to Guitarsoup • 1:20p, 8/10/26
AG
Interesting, I didn't know all of this!
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Guitarsoup
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9:20p, 8/10/26
AG
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Guitarsoup
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7:40a, 8/11/26
AG
Opening night vs Thunder.

Christmas Day game 1 at Madison Square Garden.
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LawHall88
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In reply to Guitarsoup • 8:24a, 8/11/26
AG
Guitarsoup said:
Opening night vs Thunder.

Christmas Day game 1 at Madison Square Garden.

I get it's a championship rematch, but it sucks that their reward for winning the Western Conference is traveling on Christmas (albeit to New York).
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Guitarsoup
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In reply to LawHall88 • 11:01a, 8/11/26
AG
LawHall88 said:
Guitarsoup said:
Opening night vs Thunder.

Christmas Day game 1 at Madison Square Garden.

I get it's a championship rematch, but it sucks that their reward for winning the Western Conference is traveling on Christmas (albeit to New York).

The NBA players seem to overwhelmingly hate Christmas Day games, too.
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Guitarsoup
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11:25a, 8/11/26
AG


I am sure the NBA is negotiating everything right now with Ballmer, but I still don't see how they can't drop the hammer. Silver has said in the past that cap circumvention is the cardinal sin of the NBA.
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Guitarsoup
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7:07p, 8/11/26
AG
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AggieEP
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In reply to Guitarsoup • 11:00p, 8/11/26
What if Ballmer is holding proof of Brunson's arrangement in NY as his trump card? Could easily see him threatening to expose the Knicks and throw the NBA into total chaos in order to make this all go away.

It's one thing for the craptastic Clippers to get hammered, but the reigning champs? That would essentially undermine the integrity of the league.

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steve00
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In reply to AggieEP • 1:30a, 8/12/26
AG
The narrative that Brunson gave up money to help the Knicks is false. He took the most money possible at the earliest possible time. This guaranteed he got generational wealth, while also avoiding the risk of an ACL or similar injury ruining his earning power.

It also set him up for another enormous payday sooner as long as he didn't get hurt and played good. Winning the championship virtually guaranteed he gets it, which means he overall made the best decision, and got the best outcome, to make the most money possible.

He did not leave money on the table.
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satexas
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2:35a, 8/12/26
AG
I hear this debate all the time :

"Ballmer should get slammed in some form, everyone agrees - but should Kawhi have anything done to him outside a contract void? - Because It's not his fault, he's just trying to earn the most he can.... This is on the franchise."

I call BS on this.

TONS of players take less than total max money so other players can come, fit and be happy. Players like Wemby doing it at SA to keep his guys is the same as Kawhi taking less so he could get guys like George and Harden. Guess what, Kawhi took $10 mil per year below maximum to make that happen.

Anyone wanna guess how he got that back?

Maybe Kawhi is innocent (yeah right), but it's impossible to prove when he took side money and didn't take a maximum contract.

It's just that simple. Both Ballmer and Leonard need max penalty IMHO.
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AggieEP
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In reply to steve00 • 6:09a, 8/12/26
I don't know the exact details of what is going through Brunson's head, but players almost never extend when they are in Brunson's situation and where waiting makes that big of a difference in the total dollars.

By your logic (injury/decline fears) he bet 100+ million dollars in 2024 that he'd still be healthy and productive in 2028. It would seem way less risky to just play out his 2024/2025 contract and then sign a supermax. Even if he had gotten injured, he still likely had the leverage to force a max deal at that point.

I guess we'll all just have to wait until 2028 to see (or 2027) what his next contract looks like to fully judge the situation.
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Guitarsoup
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6:43a, 8/12/26
AG
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6:45a, 8/12/26
AG
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Enzo The Baker
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In reply to Guitarsoup • 7:29a, 8/12/26
AG
That entire CB interview was great. Didn't even hold back on crapping on RJ.
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All I do is Nguyen
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11:16a, 8/12/26
Lakers were just sold for $12Billion

No matter what!
Epstein didn't do, you know, the thing...
I'm the rare Astros/Cowboys/Spurs fan. We do exist
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