One of the changes the San Antonio Spurs will try to make this offseason has to do with Tiago Splitter and his big contract. In order to sign Marc Gasol or LaMarcus Aldridge, one expensive big man has to, and it might as well be Splitter.

While the Brazilian brings a lot to the defensive side of the ball for the Spurs, his injuries (playing just 111 regular season games over the past two seasons) and limited offensive ability (8.2 points per game) and most importantly his $16.75 million salary over the next two seasons make him a trading prospect, even if the Spurs don’t like to shake up things too much.

Obviously, a lot hinges on whether or not Tim Duncan is staying. Right now it feels like Popovich is going to stay, so maybe Duncan will also, even if he is very close to 40. His numbers this season and in the postseason show he still has plenty of basketball to give. With Boris Diaw locked up until 2018 and the Frenchman brings more to the table than Splitter, someone will have to move.

But that only happens if the Spurs truly have a shot at Aldridge or Gasol. With Splitter on the floor the Spurs had a +16 net rating. The problem was that he misses a lot of games and eats up a lot of cap space considering the kind of numbers he produces. The Spurs didn’t want to lose him to restricted free agency at the time, but considering how much he’s getting, the kind of cap space they’ll have this offseason and the big-man options out there, the best thing for the Spurs is trying to see what they can get for him through a trade.

Image: Source