The San Antonio Spurs have traded big man Tiago Splitter to the Atlanta Hawks, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. The deal, which comes on the first day of free agency this offseason, will free up salary cap space for San Antonio as it looks to reload for next season.
Spurs reportedly trade Tiago Splitter to Hawks to clear cap space for LaMarcus Aldridge
Atlanta will absorb Splitter’s salary, giving San Antonio room to sign Aldridge.
The Hawks have salary-cap space to absorb Splitter’s salary after seeing DeMarre Carroll depart for the Raptors. It’s unclear what they will send back to San Antonio, but it’s unlikely to be anything of value.
After agreeing to re-sign Danny Green to a four-year, $45 million contract earlier Wednesday, the Spurs needed to move quickly to shed salary as they continue to pursue LaMarcus Aldridge, one of the top names on the market. Moving Splitter, who makes $8.5 million in 2015-16 and $8.25 million in 2016-17, was the easiest way for the team to do that.
San Antonio is set to meet with Aldridge soon, and after getting Green under contract and Splitter off the books, the team can now turn all its focus to the All-Star big man without financial concerns. The Spurs wouldn’t have been able to retain Green and offer Aldridge a max contract with Splitter still around, and assuming no major contracts come back in the deal, they should be able to now.
In Atlanta, Splitter, 30, will be reunited with former Spurs assistant Mike Budenholzer, who is now the president of basketball operations and head coach. Last season, Splitter averaged 8.2 points and 4.8 rebounds in 52 games. He's only played more than 60 games once in his five NBA seasons.
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