7:42pm: The Spurs have officially re-signed Bates-Diop, the team announced in a press release.
9:34am: Restricted free agent forward Keita Bates-Diop has agreed to re-sign with the Spurs on a two-year contract, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link).
Bates-Diop spent last season on a two-way deal with San Antonio. At season’s end, the club made him an RFA by tendering a qualifying offer that was equivalent to a one-year, two-way contract with a $50K partial guarantee. Based on Wojnarowski’s report, it sounds as if the 25-year-old was able to work out a new standard deal with the Spurs rather than accepting that QO and playing on a two-way contract again.
The 48th overall pick in the 2018 draft, Bates-Diop began his career with Minnesota and has since spent time in Denver and San Antonio. In 2020/21, he averaged 2.6 PPG and 1.6 RPG on .448/.294/.667 shooting in 30 games (8.2 MPG) for the Spurs.
Given Bates-Diop’s underwhelming numbers in his first three NBA seasons, it’s a little surprising that the Spurs were willing to give him a two-year deal, even if it’s almost certainly not fully guaranteed. San Antonio waived Chandler Hutchison over the weekend, but still has 16 other players on guaranteed contracts — adding Bates-Diop to the mix does nothing to clear that roster crunch.
We’ll have to wait for more details on Bates-Diop’s agreement with the Spurs to get a better sense of whether the team envisions him claiming a spot on the 15-man regular season roster. If so, San Antonio will have to trade or release two other players by opening night.
Always liked his game.
The spurs made sure to add several pieces for that 4 spot, which has been an issue for a few years. Still think they could use another big, besides Poeltl and Collins, but if they can stay healthy this year, they could potentially be one of those teams fighting it out in the 5-10 range in the west.
I am wondering when Luka Samanic is going to get an opportunity though
Feels like a trade might go down at this point. Didn’t think Diop would get a standard contract.
Perhaps Thad will be on the move?
They signed emoni not yet
The NBA is littered with players whose career began with or spent time with the TIMBERPUPPIES !!