Who else could the San Antonio Spurs sign in free agency after signing Chris Paul?

Since Paul George announced his decision to sign with the Philadelphia 76ers on Monday, the NBA free agency period has moved quickly as more and more players sign new contracts.

Despite not being big players, the San Antonio Spurs have signed an all-time star in Chris Paul to a one-year, $11 million contract. Even though the 39-year-old is nearing the end of his illustrious career, his unparalleled offensive IQ and playmaking skills will go a long way in elevating Victor Wembanyama’s game even further. A major goal of the offseason was to make life easier for the reigning Rookie of the Year, and Paul can certainly help with that.

READ MORE: What do the San Antonio Spurs qualifying offers mean?

However, there is still plenty of room for the Spurs to strengthen before the end of the offseason. Signing at least one more member could help their efforts to make the playoffs next year, whether through free agency or a trade. Star players are potentially available across the league, and even influential supporting players would be beneficial to add to the roster.

San Antonio will have to make some decisions as time goes on, but there is no shortage of options available.

Here are three players that Spurs could still sign:

Given the historic transfer fee that the Utah Jazz reportedly asked for Lauri Markkanen, the idea that San Antonio would pursue the 7-foot-4 player seems unlikely.

That is, until rumors started circulating in the NBA that they were one of the teams actively courting the star striker.

The idea of ​​using Markkanen as a Spur is certainly exciting. He would fit perfectly alongside Wembanyama at power forward, forming perhaps the best frontcourt duo in the entire league. His scoring ability and excellent space-shaping would give a huge boost to their offense, which left a lot to be desired last season.

READ MORE: Would the Spurs make a Lauri Markkanen deal with the Jazz?

It will cost a lot of money to pry the 27-year-old away from the Jazz, so San Antonio might be wary of giving up a big part of his future. The timeline revolves around a 20-year-old, so there’s no need to rush to start winning right away. With players like Devin Vassell and Keldon Johnson continuing to develop and a draft class topped by Stephon Castle, it might be better not to make any franchise-changing moves right now.

If Markkanen’s name continues to be in play in transfer talks, the Spurs should remain a team involved in the talks. If the talks go nowhere, they still have hope that he remains an unrestricted free agent next season, but that’s always a risk.

Staying with Utah, Horton-Tucker is a far more realistic option for San Antonio to cut from its roster.

The 23-year-old has yet to truly find his place in the NBA. He started three years with the Los Angeles Lakers before moving to the Jazz for the last two years. Last season, he averaged 10.1 points, 2.4 rebounds and 3.5 assists in 19.8 minutes per game, but struggled to score the ball efficiently, with shooting percentages of 39.6/33/80.7 percent.

Horton-Tucker is still a solid player who deserves another contract. He’s still young enough to continue to develop his game, and the Spurs could be a team that allows him to do that. There’s an opening at their backup shooting guard/small forward positions for similar playing time to what he got in Utah, so he would certainly have the opportunity to make his mark in the rotation.

READ MORE: Stephon Castle is modestly ready for his rookie season with the Spurs

Signing Chris Paul still leaves the Spurs with plenty of room to sign another player in his price range, which is where Horton-Tucker would likely fall. It probably wouldn’t be a long-term deal or cost much more than $10 million per year, but just signing another quality player for at least one season can help get the team back to a winning culture.

There hasn’t been much discussion about the free agent market for Horton-Tucker, so if San Antonio wants to sign him, it will likely have very little competition.

The only question is whether it will happen.

Although Lopez has been an important part of the Milwaukee Bucks roster in recent seasons, the experienced center could move on during the offseason.

Lopez only has one year left on his contract and the two sides have not yet agreed to a long-term extension. Spurs are one of the teams rumored to be interested in him, which makes sense given their current situation. It would be difficult to find a better big man in the entire league to help Wembanyama develop.

Even at age 36, Lopez still averaged 12.5 points, 5.2 rebounds and 2.4 in 30.5 minutes per game on shooting percentages of 48.5/36.6/82.1 percent. He has established himself as one of the NBA’s best centers while maintaining his reputation as an elite defensive player. The pairing of him and Wembanyama in the frontcourt?

A defensive nightmare for the opposing team.

Acquiring “Splash Mountain” would obviously have to be done via a trade, but a package deal could be quite feasible for San Antonio. Milwaukee is still a championship contender, so it would need a rotation player and possibly some draft capital, but given his age and contract status, it could lower the asking price.

REGARD: Why the San Antonio Spurs courted Chris Paul as a free agent

The Spurs would add veteran talent to their young roster with Paul and Lopez, which would be very beneficial. These are two players who have spent a lot of time in the playoffs and have experienced almost every scenario you can imagine in basketball, so the learning potential would be enormous.

It’s unclear if the Bucks have fully decided which direction they’re going with Lopez, but if he’s on the draft, San Antonio should pursue him.