Manu Ginobili will likely play at least one more season, but it won’t be because he’s chasing another title, writes Mike Finger of The San Antonio Express-News. Ginobili has been to the playoffs in all of his 16 seasons with the Spurs, but that’s no longer a guarantee with Kawhi Leonard and Tony Parker both gone. Instead, like fellow elder statesmen Vince Carter, Dirk Nowitzki and Jason Terry, Ginobili is motivated by his love for the game.
San Antonio expects Ginobili to make an official announcement soon on social media, but Finger notes that he dropped fewer hints about retirement during 2017/18 than he did in past seasons. He is under contract for one more season at $2.5MM.
Finger cites an old quote from Ginobili, who turned 41 today, that “the outcome isn’t everything.” A desire to keep playing, rather than a quest to add to his legacy, will be the prime motivator if he decides to return to the NBA.
There’s more from the Southwest Division:
- Re-signing Rudy Gay for another season at $10MM was the Spurs‘ best move in free agency, according to Rob Wolkenbrod of Forbes. The addition of DeMar DeRozan should take some of the scoring load off Gay, who ranked second on the team in points per game last season. He also gets another year to prove he’s fully recovered from a 2017 Achilles injury before testing the market again next summer.
- Pelicans star Anthony Davis chose not to appeal to GM Dell Demps to keep free agent DeMarcus Cousins, tweets Andrew Doak of WWL-TV in New Orleans. An endorsement from Davis would have carried some weight, but he liked the way the team played — and the locker room atmosphere — better without Cousins, Doak adds.
- Dwight Powell believes a playoff spot is realistic for the Mavericks in light of their offseason moves, relays Eddie Sefko of The Dallas Morning News. Powell became a big fan of first-round pick Luka Doncic after working out with him during summer league play in Las Vegas. “He’s a great kid and you can tell he knows the game and can shoot,” Powell said. “And he’s bigger than I expected. You hear about some [international] guys saying they are such-and-such a height and they come over and it’s not necessarily the case. But he’s a big boy. He’s going to do well for us. He’s going to have a lot of ability to see the floor for us and take command of the offense when it’s time.”
Good on Manu if he comes back for one more year.
Gay was the 3rd PPG in San Antonio not the 2nd.
Also Gay is the worst move Spurs did, not the best he ain’t worth half of the 10MM.
Despite all the public bromance between AD & DMC, as soon as I saw DMC signing for GSW I knew that AD hadn’t made a real go at the FO to keep him, if he had no doubt he would have stayed, so now things are becoming more clear.
Well I cannot see Dallas having a real shoot at the playoffs, but I agree with Powell in reference to Doncic, this kid is gonna really shine, a superstar is gonna be born next year.
Yeah, couldn’t disagree more.
Does this guy even watch basketball??? Rudy Gay was a big part of the Spurs last year and is a very good scorer & team leader. He was the second leading scorer, as Kawhi’s 9 games are absolutely not enough to qualify.
Yes and after losing Leonard and Anderson, Gay becomes very important to the Spurs for next year. He may be the only 3.
Pelicans are crazy for not keeping Cousins. That was their shot at actually being a good team.