The San Antonio Spurs have $27 million in cap space. They’re turning that into draft picks.
While the Spurs may still be looking to trade veterans like Jakob Poeltl, Doug McDermott and Josh Richardson, their most desirable asset might be their cap space. They don’t have to send players back since they’re under the cap, so San Antonio may become a landing spot for unwanted deals this week.
Dedmon makes $4.7 million this year, but he’s not playing at all for the Heat. He played only three games in January, having lost his backup center spot to rookie Orlando Robinson. Dedmon’s fate may have been sealed after he was suspended for a game after arguing with the coaching staff during a game Jan. 11. It’s the first NBA suspension we can remember that involved a massage gun.
While Robinson fractured his thumb last week, the Heat apparently decided they preferred the financial flexibility over Dedmon’s services on the court.
Miami was only $193K under the luxury tax before this move. This gives them a chance to make moves without sweating every dollar of the transaction – perhaps to get a different backup center. It also opens up a second roster spot, useful if they decide to promote Robinson from his two-way deal – otherwise, he’s only eligible to play ten more games.
Of course, to make this a legal trade, the Spurs have to send something back to Miami. Which means this will be the first time we see trade deadline legend “cash considerations” changing teams this week.
Expect San Antonio and Miami to continue to wheel and deal before Thursday and for cash considerations to be a valuable piece all over the league.
