The San Antonio Spurs have a full roster ahead of the 2024–25 season but it could look far different by the end of the season. While the Spurs have a roster full of young players, several of them face make-or-break seasons that may determine their futures with the team. With that in mind, here are three players that might not last the season with the Spurs.
3) Zach Collins
Spurs backup center Zach Collins should, hopefully, have a good season after struggling last year but that may not result in him finishing out the 2024-25 season in San Antonio. If Collins plays well, then the Spurs may look to trade him to get off of his big contract, which was signed when he was still the team’s starting center.
Paying a backup center $35 million over the next two years is an overpay; with Charles Bassey healthy to start the year and Mamu playing well in the preseason, that might make a center expendable. If the Spurs can package him in a deal to get better, then they should. Especially if it means consolidating contracts to land a star to pair with Victor Wembanyama.
2) Keldon Johnson
Speaking of pairing contracts, if Zach Collins were to be moved in a trade, Keldon Johnson might also be in that deal. With Johnson and Collins making a combined $37 million, that would be in the ballpark of many NBA stars’ salaries and will give these Spurs ample matching power to make a blockbuster deal midseason.
Johnson has slimmed down and looked quicker in the preseason, leading to hope that he could have a strong year. In that event, holding on to him might make more sense, especially since he’s only making around $20 million over each of the next two seasons. If he doesn’t dramatically improve, however, then he would be a prime trade candidate for the Spurs.
1) Chris Paul
Surprisingly, Chris Paul may not finish the year in San Antonio if the Spurs struggle. While the Spurs should be much improved, Kelvin Pelton of ESPN and his projection models still expect the team to win only around 30 games. If that is the case, then it is hard to imagine that Paul would play out potentially his final season on an awful team.
The Spurs probably accounted for that possibility when they pitched him on playing in San Antonio. His $10.4 million contract is easily tradeable. If they are out of play-in contention, they could do him a solid by trading him to the team of his choice, hopefully for a player who isn’t on a bad contract as well as a second-round pick. That would be the worst-case scenario for this season but it’s a possibility.
