Among the Golden State Warriors' advantages in the LeBron James sweepstakes is the ability to offer the full non-taxpayer mid-level exception of $15 million. Among their biggest potential challengers, the San Antonio Spurs stood out as a team that could offer that contract to James. Well, they can't anymore. ESPN's Shams Charania reported that the Spurs used their non-taxpayer mid-level exception to sign Tobias Harris to a two-year, $31 million deal. The Stein Line's Marc Stein reported that the Spurs are not expected to pursue James after signing Harris, but he added that the Nuggets are joining the chase. Warriors Have Easiest Access to NTMLE Among Remaining ChallengersThe Cavaliers, Heat and Nuggets are currently the three biggest challengers to land James, and they all have cap constraints that affect how much they can offer the four-time MVP. The Heat used part of their NTMLE on Tim Hardaway Jr.'s one-year, $6.5 million contract, so they don't have the ability to make an offer even close to the $15 million offer the Warriors can make. The Cavs haven't officially come to terms with James Harden, but unless he takes a bigger pay cut than expected, they won't have access to the full NTMLE. The Nuggets' five highest-paid players make about $186 million. They would have to salary-dump one of them to have access to the full NTMLE. Add us as a preferred source on GoogleFollow