The Spurs essentially told Jonathon Simmons they were done with him – or at least ready to be done with him – by rescinding his qualifying offer and letting him become an unrestricted free agent.
So, Simmons will go to Orlando.
Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports:
Spurs free agent Jonathon Simmons has agreed to a three-year deal with the Orlando Magic, league sources tell The Vertical.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) July 14, 2017
The Magic had about $8 million-$9 million in cap space. I’m guessing Simmons, who turns 28 before the season and has received the minimum his first two NBA seasons, got nearly all of it. A starting salary of $8,406,000 is the demarcation line. Any higher, and Orlando couldn’t have made this offer while Simmons was still restricted.
The Magic are loading up on athleticism – Aaron Gordon, Jonathan Isaac, Terrence Ross, Bismack Biyombo, Elfrid Payton and now Simmons. There are a lot of tools for Frank Vogel to craft a nasty defense. (Scoring could remain a problem with a lot on the plate of Evan Fournier and Nikola Vucevic.)
The Spurs will miss Simmons, as they have no mechanism to replace him. But they knew that when they rescinded his qualifying offer, allowing him to get paid elsewhere. While loading up wings like Simmons appears to be the best way to match up with the Warriors, San Antonio is going a different direction.
