San Antonio Spurs: 5 PG options in free agency for Tony Parker successor

1. Chris Paul

“Chris Paul to the San Antonio Spurs” was a fun, terrifying Twitter hypothetical a few weeks ago, but now it’s actually gaining steam and understandably so — such a union would mark the arrival of the NBA’s true third super-team.

According to ESPN‘s Marc Stein, the Spurs could be a legitimate threat to sign CP3 in free agency this summer. If Paul values winning and reaching his first conference finals over the money, San Antonio would top the Los Angeles Clippers among his best free agency options.

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Lob City should still be viewed as the favorite in a potential Chris Paul free agency sweepstakes, since their five-year, $205 million max offer will trump whatever four-year, $152 million deal other suitors can conjure up. The Vertcial‘s Adrian Wojnarowski recently told CBS Sports Radio that the Clippers are still the leading horse in this race.

However, if the Spurs viewed Chris Paul as a legitimate game-changer in the West — as well they should, despite his glaring flaw of never reaching a conference finals — he’d be the realistic free agent target that’s most worth gutting the roster for.

To be fair, such a move would be unprecedented for a franchise built around depth and continuity. But even at age 32, Paul would be a great addition to Pop’s system after averaging 18.1 points, 9.2 assists, 5.0 rebounds and 2.0 steals per game this season. He’d need to tone down his ball dominance a bit, but as Kawhi’s emergence has shown, Pop is willing to bend his team’s playing style to cater to his players’ talents.

CP3 would make Kawhi’s job easier as the lead facilitator, he’s still a lockdown defender when engaged and he just shot a career-high 41.1 percent from three-point range on a career-high 5.0 attempts per game. His leadership comes off as domineering at times, but on a team with Pop and Kawhi, he wouldn’t need to take that kind of approach anymore.

The Spurs would become an immediate and apparent danger to the Warriors (if they weren’t already) and though filling out the rest of the roster would be a challenge after passing on Mills, Dedmon and Lee, stretching and waiving Gasol and Parker, and then trading away Danny Green, the resulting Big Three might be worth it.

The Spurs have rounded out their bench with unexpected surprises before; they would need to do it again.

That being said, even if the Spurs could clear out the requisite room for a $152 million offer (or something enticing enough to get CP3 to consider a pay cut), the Clippers can still offer at least $50 million more, not to mention the allure of living in Los Angeles.

Next: 5 potential landing spots for Blake Griffin in free agency

Fleeing the Clippers’ curse for the Spurs’ championship culture might not be worth forfeiting that much money. As much as Chris Paul could make San Antonio a powerhouse, that fun idea could amount to little more than a long shot come July, leaving the Spurs in a bit of a bind for a potential Tony Parker successor to bridge the gap until Dejounte Murray is ready.