The 2025-26 season may have ended in disappointment as the Spurs stumbled their way through 4 fourth-quarter collapses in the NBA Finals, turning what could have been four victories and a championship into four excruciating losses in five games. However, when you look at the broader view, it helps to remember this is nowhere near what was expected of this team this season, how far ahead of schedule they are, and how much more room they have to grow.
Another thing this year’s trip to the Finals has
given us is, after years of watching and waiting for two months once the season ended in April, we immediately get to turn our attention to important summer activities, such as the NBA Draft, Free Agency and Summer League with almost no time gap. Below is a list of important dates to keep in mind as the Spurs build on a highly successful season and prepare for the future.
NBA Draft
June 23, 2026 — First round
- Spurs pick 20th (via Atlanta Hawks)
June 24, 2026 — Second round
- Spurs pick 35th (via the Utah Jazz)
- Spurs pick 42th (via the Portland Trail Blazers)
- Spurs pick 44th (via the Miami Heat)
As of today, the Spurs have four total picks, including 20th overall in the first round thanks to owning the right to swap picks with the Atlanta Hawks, who will in turn pick in the Spurs’ slot of 29th (the Dejounte Murray trade keeps on giving). They also have three second round picks via other teams, while their own is going to Minnesota. (After getting a little spoiled by the lottery in recent years, waiting for 20th is going to seem like a long time.)
Free Agency
June 14, 2026 — Teams can begin negotiating with their own free agents.
This was actually yesterday since it aligns with the first day after the end of the Finals, but with that being said, the Spurs have very few free agents of note. The most notable is Harrison Barnes, who began the season as a starter but fell out of the rotation as the season wore on and played sparingly in the playoffs. The Spurs’ other free agents include Kelly Olynyk, Jordan McLaughlin, Lindy Waters III, Bismack Biyombo and Mason Plumlee, as well as their three two-way players: Harrison Ingram, David Jones Garcia and Emmanuel Miller.
June 29, 2026 — Last day for early terminations and qualifying offers for restricted free agents.
The latter part of this day doesn’t matter to the Spurs since their 2022 draft class is gone, so they don’t have anyone eligible to become a restricted free agent. The part that could matter is if they choose to decline Julian Champagnie’s team option so he can sign an extension, they would need to do it by this time.
June 30, 2026 — Last day for veteran extensions, negotiation period begins (5:00 PM CT).
Should the Spurs take the previously mentioned route with Champagnie, this would be the last chance for him to sign an extension, otherwise he would become a free agent. Also beginning at 5:00 PM CT, teams can begin negotiating with other team’s free agents.
July 1, 2026 — True beginning for Free Agency (list is courtesy of Hoops Rumors).
- Official start of the 2026/27 NBA league year.
- Moratorium period begins.
- Restricted free agents can sign an offer sheet.
- Teams can begin signing players to one- or two-year minimum-salary contracts.
- Teams can begin signing players to two-way contracts.
- Teams can begin signing first-round picks to rookie scale contracts.
- Teams can begin signing second-round picks using the second-round pick exception.
- Teams can begin exercising the third- or fourth-year team options for 2027/28 on rookie scale contracts.
A few notes here. One is as a reminder, the Moratorium Period is five days in which contracts can be negotiated but not signed. The other notable occurrence for the Spurs will be the bottom one, in which they can — and for all intents and purposes will — exercised the fourth-year option on Stephon Castle’s rookie contract and third-year options for Dylan Harper and Carter Bryant. (They technically have until October 31 to get this done, but it’s hard to imagine it would take that long, especially for Castle and Harper.)
July 6, 2026 — Moratorium period ends; trades, contracts and extensions can be officially signed.
Now ink can officially be put to paper for trades, contracts and extensions. The Spurs will be able to sign any new free agents, but most notably, Victor Wembanyama will become eligible to sign his rookie-scale extension, which he is expected to do. Assuming he takes the max, it will be largest rookie contract extension in NBA history and make him one of the league’s highest paid players beginning in the 2027-28 season. The base salary for a maximum extension $251 million (or 25% of the salary cap) across five years, but it can turn into the super-max worth up to $301 million (30% of the salary cap) if earns All-NBA honors or wins MVP or Defensive Player of the Year in the 2026-27 season. Barring him missing the 65-game limit (or earning an exception), expect the super-max to be the case.
These are the main key dates that will be notable for the Spurs, but others within FA include:
- July 13 —Last day to withdraw qualifying offers to restricted free agents.
- July 31 — Players signed using the second-round pick exception begin to count against a team’s cap.
- August 5 — Last day for teams to issue required tenders to unsigned second-round picks..
- August 29 — Last day for teams to waive players and apply the stretch provision to their 2026-27 salaries.
Summer League
July 3-6 — California Classic
Amidst all the chaos of free agency will be Summer League, so you don’t even have to wait a month to watch basketball again! First, the Spurs will participate in the California Classic in San Francisco, along the Warriors, Lakers and Heat. This is usually a good place to at least see the Spurs second round picks for the first time.
July 9-19 — Las Vegas Summer League
This of course is the more notable of the Summer Leagues and where you stand a better chance of seeing the Spurs’ first round pick, as well as possibly some returning faces. While I wouldn’t expect Harper to be in SL this year, (he doesn’t need it) it’s quite possible Bryant gets a run as team captain so he can develop more and show the Spurs how far he has come. This could also be a chance for players like Ingram to vie for another two-way spot with the Spurs or possibly even a guaranteed contract. Unfortunately, one face we may not see is Jones Garcia, who underwent ankle surgery in February and is not expected to be ready for SL.
It’s crazy how much quicker the offseason is when you play two extra months of ball (because math), but the lack of a long gap between April and now is certainly nice. It’s hard to believe that training camp is just a bit over three months away, and while the Spurs have some work to do this summer, expect them to return pretty much the same core team.
We will have plenty of content on potential draft and free agent prospects for the Spurs in the coming days and weeks, as well as Summer League coverage, so be sure to stick at Pounding the Rock all summer. While this season may not have ended ideally, it was certain the best one I have covered since starting in 2016-17, and the future couldn’t be brighter. Thank you all for your continued support!
