Chris Paul sets up his next team after managing Wembanyama at Spurs

The headline for the San Antonio Spurs after the start of free agency is clearly positive: They have signed future Hall of Fame point guard Chris Paul, perhaps the best player in the league, who is suited to coach this young Spurs team and put Victor Wembanyama on the road to success.

Last season, the Spurs gave the ball to Jeremy Sochan, who was unable to rise to the occasion. San Antonio played some of the worst offensive basketball in the league and Wembanyama’s ability to break through was hampered. When the ball fell back into the hands of a pure point guard, Tre Jones, Wemby flourished and the Spurs finished the season much better.

Now Jones can settle into his more natural position as a backup with Chris Paul coming to town. The 19-year-old veteran has made 12 All-Star teams and is one of the best passers of his generation. He sets up the offense in his methodical way and is excellent at putting roll men in the perfect spot, whether it’s a bounce pass on the roll or a lob at the basket.

The Spurs still have a very young team, so even with a young prodigy and the “Point God,” they still have some work to do to remain competitive in the difficult Western Conference. That’s not the goal this year; it’s more about developing the Spurs’ young core, players like Sochan and Malaki Branham and Blake Wesley and Stephon Castle. Paul can serve as a veteran mentor on the court and in the locker room, and his wisdom and determination will do wonders for the squad now and in the future.

While Paul is aware of the job he’s taking on, he may also want one more shot at winning an NBA title before his career is over. Although he played a smaller role with the Golden State Warriors last season, Paul clearly has something left in the tank, and as recently as 2021-22 he led the league in assists. He could really help a contender, and that’s probably why several teams looking to compete inquired about him before he signed with the Spurs.

Unless San Antonio is planning to do something big with their salary cap, they could have given Paul a bigger contract than the $11 million he got. If they keep Devonte Graham or make another move and are over the salary cap, even the entire mid-level non-taxpayer exception is $12.9 million. Why did Paul leave money on the table?

Keith Smith, an NBA salary cap expert who works for the wonderful website Spotrac, noted the amount and gave fans some reasons why Paul and the Spurs may have agreed to that amount:

The NBA’s Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) now allows teams to use exceptions to obtain players through trades, meaning a team whose MLE is available during the season could acquire Paul through trades even if they don’t have the capacity or salary to do so otherwise.

The second part is even more interesting. Many of the top contenders in the league are fixated on the luxury tax and likely won’t have the MLE to get Paul back in a trade. They also can’t sign players off large contracts during the season, which has often been the way to sign “buyout” players late in the year.

Paul’s salary is so low that he could be released by the Spurs late in the season and sign with a playoff contender – whether it’s the Los Angeles Lakers, Phoenix Suns or Denver Nuggets. That opens up a world of opportunity for Paul to help a team win the playoffs and still make a lot of money this year.

It may be that Paul is fully committed to the Spurs and intends to stay there for the rest of his career, throwing lobs to Victor Wembanyama and building his post-playing career around learning from Gregg Popovich. The salary level may be a coincidence or, at worst, a backup plan he doesn’t intend to use.

It’s also possible that the plan from the start is to play most of the season with Spurs and then move on. His contract amount is designed for that, and Paul is always thinking several steps ahead when it comes to contracts and his career.

The combination is ideal and the match with Wembanyama is appealing; time will tell what ultimately happens. If he goes to a competitor this season, through a trade or a severance package, the line will be traced back to the start of free agency, when Paul took a little less money than he had to.