Were the San Antonio Spurs a stingy club when you look at their payroll? What you mean by stingy is pretty important with San Antonio. As a team that has been in the process of rebuilding for several seasons, there was little reason to invest in expensive players that didn’t fit the schedule of an organization in the midst of a reboot.
So if we mean “cheap” in the sense of “doesn’t cost much,” that’s a fair assessment. But if we mean the kind of franchise that habitually underinvests in its roster when they could be a competitive team, pre-rebuild history suggests that’s not a completely fair frame for the Spurs.
And Bleacher Report salary expert Eric Pincus agrees, writing about the NBA’s spending situation in a recent league-wide analysis. “The rebuild wasn’t pretty, but it produced Victor Wembanyama,” he notes. “It may take some time for San Antonio to build an expensive roster around him capable of winning at the highest level.”
Will San Antonio Spurs star forward Victor Wembanyama make the biggest leap forward in the NBA after the Olympics? https://t.co/QruLYtGjKz pic.twitter.com/g2DQilZpuS
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“Perhaps (San Antonio) is the best argument for the context of the list, as the Spurs have had no reason to spend lavishly in recent years,” Pincus adds.
“San Antonio paid taxes twice during the 2011 CBA, but that is outside the current scope (spoiler: many current nonpayers were also nonpayers during those six additional years).”
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