Southwest Notes: Gasol, Simmons, Ginobili, Wright

The Spurs tried to lure Marc Gasol away from Memphis, but he was committed to the Grizzlies, tweets Dan McCarney of The San Antonio Express-News. Once GM R.C. Buford realized that, he turned his full attention to LaMarcus Aldridge.

There’s more from the Southwest Division:

• Jonathon Simmons‘ deal with the Spurs is fully guaranteed for next season, according to Jeff McDonald of The San Antonio Express-News (Twitter link). On Friday, Simmons signed a two-year contract for the minimum with a team option for the second season. Simmons was on Brooklyn’s bus headed to a summer league game when his agent told him of the Spurs’ offer (Twitter link).
• In a procedural move, the Spurs renounced their rights to free agent Manu Ginobili, tweets Eric Pincus of The Los Angeles Times. San Antonio will re-sign Ginobili with its $2.814MM room exception, rather than Bird Rights.
• “Love at first sight” is how Brandan Wright described his reaction to being pursued by the Grizzlies, writes Ronald Tillery of The Commercial Appeal. The free agent signed a three-year deal with the team worth about $17.1MM. “Even though we’ve had a strong frontcourt, we haven’t had a great deal of athleticism and length,” said GM Chris Wallace. “He’s a shot blocker and can score on lob passes. He provides defense, athleticism and experience.”
• The Mavericks are hoping to sign another center, tweets Earl K. Sneed of Mavs.com. “It’d be nice to have someone that can play above the rim,” said owner Mark Cuban.