Manu Ginobili Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Western Notes: Ginobili, Hollins, Shaw, Nuggets

June 15th, 2013 at 4:58pm CST by Chuck Myron

Manu Ginobili said before the Finals that he would consider retirement after the series, and he reiterated that sentiment today in speaking to reporters, including Ramona Shelburne of ESPNLosAngeles.com. "There's a small chance," Ginobili said. "It's not that I'm really considering, but I can never say 'no' for sure, because I sometimes consider it." If the soon-to-be free agent returns next season, it seems overwhelmingly likely he'll do so with the Spurs, notes Chris Sheridan of SheridanHoops.com. Here's more from a busy Saturday around the Western Conference:

Lionel Hollins was so impressive in his interview Friday with the Clippers, he may have moved ahead of front-runner Brian Shaw, Shelburne tweets. Of course, the Clippers are in heavy pursuit of Doc Rivers as well, so the situation appears fluid.
If Shaw doesn't land the Clippers job, he probably won't be coaching in L.A. anytime soon. Late Lakers owner Jerry Buss adored Shaw, but his successors aren't as high on him, according to Jason Lloyd of the Akron Beacon Journal (Twitter links).
Hollins was supposed to interview with the Nuggets today, but flight delays prevented that, tweets Broderick Turner of the Los Angeles Times. The interview has been rescheduled for Wednesday, reports Chris Dempsey of the Denver Post (Twitter link).
New Kings coach Michael Malone had input in the decision to bring Pete D'Alessandro aboard as GM, writes Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports, who adds that D'Alessandro is a proponent of DeMarcus Cousins.
Sacramento mayor Kevin Johnson recounts his successful efforts to keep the Kings in town to Dale Kasler of The Sacramento Bee.
Jody Genessy of the Deseret News details the free agent mini-camp the Jazz are holding this week with two dozen NBA hopefuls.
HoopsWorld's Joel Brigham sizes up six teams likely to be in the running for Andre Iguodala, who's set to opt out of his contract with the Nuggets.
Fellow HoopsWorld scribe Susan Bible ponders what's next for the Thunder.

Manu Ginobili To Consider Retirement After Finals

June 6th, 2013 at 4:02pm CST by Luke Adams

Although he said just a week ago that he had no plans to retire after this season, Manu Ginobili wasn't quite so adamant about that stance in a conversation with NBATV's Rachel Nichols. As Marc Weinreich of SI.com writes, Ginobili suggested to Nichols that he'll at least consider the possibility of retiring after the Finals are over.

"I don't know," Ginobili said, when asked whether he would continue his playing career. "I think so. The chances are… yes, I will keep playing and probably with the Spurs. But I'm going to just wait. Once [the Finals are] over in July, I'll sit with my family and think about it and decide."

Ginobili will turn 36 this summer, and isn't under contract beyond this season, so if the Spurs were to beat the Heat to win the 2013 Finals, it might be a good time for the veteran guard to go out on top. Still, despite health problems and declining scoring totals over the past two seasons, Ginobili has still been a key contributor for the Spurs, and clearly has something left in the tank. I'd be surprised if he didn't return, though he'd certainly have to take a paycut after earning $14.11MM in 2012/13.

Ginobili isn't the only veteran Spur who will mull retirement after the Finals. Tracy McGrady said the same thing earlier this week.

Odds & Ends: West, Cousins, Ginobili, Celtics

May 31st, 2013 at 11:21pm CST by Chuck Myron

David West seems content with the Pacers, as he tells Chris Tomasson of Fox Sports Florida, but the Hawks, armed with plenty of cap space, might be planning to make a run at him in free agency this summer, a source tells Sean Deveney of The Sporting News. That's not entirely surprising, since Atlanta is on track to have enough cap room for a pair of max free agents. The Hawks probably wouldn't make West their top priority, since they seem ready to go after Dwight Howard and Chris Paul, but if they strike out on them, West might not be too far down the list. Here's more as we enter the final month before free agency starts:

Rival teams may have been behind a report that the Kings are ready to trade DeMarcus Cousins, Deveney hears, adding that the team's new owners have yet to decide what they want to do with the turbulent big man. Deveney wonders if the Kings might do some message-management of their own and have incoming coach Michael Malone talk up Cousins to increase his value.
As for Cousins, sources tell Jason Jones of The Sacramento Bee that he isn't looking for a trade (Twitter link).
Manu Ginobili's contract is up June 30th, but he told Jeff McDonald of the San Antonio Express-News that he has no plans to retire. The 35-year-old seems likely to return to the Spurs and expects to take a paycut to do so, though he and agent Herb Rudoy aren't starting negotiations with the team until July 1st.
The Celtics attempted to acquire either Paul Millsap or Al Jefferson at the trade deadline, but couldn't work out a deal with the Jazz for one of their big men, tweets Greg Dickerson of CSNNE.com. Boston is reportedly interested in Millsap as a free agent.
The Rockets plan to pursue Dwight Howard and Chris Paul, but with the league telling teams to expect a $58.5 million salary cap and $71.5MM tax line next season, squeezing both onto the team will be nearly impossible, as HoopsWorld's Bill Ingram examines.
Kelvin Sampson would have been Brandon Jennings' choice to coach the Bucks, reports Gery Woelfel of the Racine Journal Times. The team hired Larry Drew instead, a choice that was definitely GM John Hammond's call, unlike the team's hiring of former coach Scott Skiles (Twitter links).

Odds & Ends: T’Wolves, Temple, Magic, Mavs

April 14th, 2013 at 12:24am CST by Ryan Raroque

Kevin Love seemed optimistic about being able to bounce back from a difficult season with the best offseason of his life, writes Kent Youngblood of the Star Tribune. He also spoke about his desire for Rick Adelman to continue coaching the team, saying: "We need to have him back…I know his family comes first, but hopefully we can sit down and talk to him. This year has given us a lot of perspective, and hopefully he can see we have the making of a very good team here. We can make a push and have a special year next year…I think he’ll come back.”

You can find more of tonight's miscellaneous links below:

According to Ray Richardson of the Pioneer Press, Rick Adelman has deemed finding a quality shooting guard among the top of Minnesota's priorities this offseason.
Garrett Temple hopes to have found a home with the Wizards, telling J. Michael of CSN Washington that he'd "love" to be back with them next year.
Brian Schmitz of the Orlando Sentinel thinks that the Magic should look to move Arron Afflalo, Jameer Nelson, and/or Glen Davis (at least one of them) in order to continue creating cap space for the future.
Jan Hubbard of Sheridan Hoops wonders if a 35-year-old Dirk Nowitzki will have to endure another season like this one, especially if the Mavericks are unable to hit a home run in free agency for the second straight year after breaking up their championship roster.
Though Mark Cuban isn't happy that Dallas is going to miss the postseason, he vouched for coach Rick Carlisle: "Rick’s a great coach…We obviously didn’t have what we thought we would have, but we obviously should have had more. I don’t know if we could have, but we should have, so it’s all on me. If that means I let Rick down, I let Rick down" (Dwain Price of the Star-Telegram reports).
Jeff McDonald of Spurs Nation writes that Manu Ginobili has been "progressing" in rehab according to coach Gregg Popovich, and that the Spurs veteran shooting guard could be cleared for full contact soon. On a more unfortunate note, Boris Diaw is expected to miss three-to-f0ur weeks (including the start of the playoffs) after the forward underwent a procedure to remove a synovial cyst that had been bothering his spine.

Manu Ginobili Would Like To Play Two More Years

March 4th, 2013 at 8:49am CST by Luke Adams

One longtime San Antonio mainstay hit free agency last offseason, and Tim Duncan and the Spurs were quickly able to work out a three-year contract at a discounted rate. Another Spurs veteran will become a free agent this summer, and Manu Ginobili isn't entirely sure what his future holds, telling Buck Harvey of the San Antonio Express-News that, with his 36th birthday approaching, he's taking things year by year.

"But ask me right now," Ginobili said Sunday, "and I’d like to play two more years for sure."

While Ginobili is currently the highest-paid San Antonio player, making $14.11MM this season, Harvey writes that it's likely the two sides could reach a "hometown compromise" similar to the one the Spurs and Duncan worked out last July. Assuming Boris Diaw and Patty Mills exercise player options for 2013/14, the Spurs will have a guaranteed $38.72MM on their books before making decisions on Matt Bonner's partially-guaranteed contract and free agents like Ginobili, Stephen Jackson, Tiago Splitter, and Gary Neal.

Even at age 35, Ginobili has been his usual productive self for the Spurs this season. His 21.4 PER, 19.1 points per 36 minutes, and .448 FG% in 2012/13 are all just slightly below his career marks (21.7, 19.5, and .452, respectively).

Odds & Ends: Ginobili, Bogut, Cavaliers, Bobcats

November 24th, 2012 at 10:30pm CST by Michael Pina

After a startling slow start to the 2012/13 season, Manu Ginobili is beginning to break out and play like the future Hall of Famer we're accustomed to seeing, writes the San Antonio Express-News' Jeff McDonald.

According to Yahoo! Sports reporter Marc J. Spears, Warriors center Andrew Bogut will return to the lineup on Saturday, December 1st against the Pacers.
In a mailbag from her readers, the Cleveland Plain Dealer's Mary Schmitt Boyer discusses whether or not the Cavaliers would have any interest in acquiring Sixers swingman Evan Turner.
Charlotte Observer reporter Rick Bonnell gives five reasons why the Bobcats are different this season than they were last year.
With all their injuries in the front court, the Spurs are thankful to have re-signed Boris Diaw in the offseason, writes the San Antonio Express-News' Jeff McDonald.
Magic center Nikola Vucevic is beginning to receive playing time down the stretch of close games, writes the Orlando Sentinel's Josh Robbins. He could develop into a major asset for the team sooner than later.

Odds & Ends: Ginobili, Smith, Knicks, Fields

October 5th, 2012 at 12:47pm CST by Zachary Links

Earlier this week, Manu Ginobili told reporters that if he continues playing beyond this season, he absolutely wants it to be in San Antonio. The 35-year-old will make over $14MM in 2012/13 but sounds willing to take a pay cut, as teammate Tim Duncan did, to help keep the club under the tax threshold. The Spurs tend to keep things quiet when it comes to contract extensions and Yannis Koutroupis of HoopsWorld wouldn't be surprised to see the team suddenly announce that they've reached agreement with the veteran. The interest is obviously mutual, which should allow for an agreement to be struck before next summer. Here's more from around the league..

In his latest mailbag, Sam Smith of NBA.com writes that he doesn't see the Hawks making the playoffs and doesn't see Josh Smith staying quiet for long. Hawks General Manager Danny Ferry recently said that the forward wants to remain in Atlanta but wasn't optimistic about working out an extension with him as he can get a larger deal by first hitting the open market.
Knicks coach Mike Woodson believes that the team's greatly improved depth this season will be key to their success, writes Jared Zwerling of ESPNNewYork.com. The Knicks are currently looking to see what Rasheed Wallace has left in the tank and could conceivably give Josh Howard a look if they trim their camp roster down from the maximum of 20.
Offseason acquisition Landry Fields could fill the same "glue guy" role for the Raptors as Jorge Garbajosa did in the past, writes Mike Ganter of the Toronto Sun. Fields inked a lucrative three-year, $18.7MM deal with Toronto over the summer.

Manu Ginobili Talks Impending Free Agency

October 2nd, 2012 at 9:35am CST by Luke Adams

Back in May, when he was just weeks from becoming an unrestricted free agent, Tim Duncan told Johnny Ludden of Yahoo! Sports that he "wasn't going anywhere" in free agency, adding that he was a "Spur for life." While Duncan joked that he was reducing his leverage by making such a public statement, his comments came as no surprise.

Now, just over four months later, Manu Ginobili is borrowing a page from Duncan's playbook. The veteran guard is entering the final year of his contract, and was asked about his situation yesterday at the Spurs' media day. Like Duncan, Ginobili probably didn't do his agent any favors with his response.

"I don’t care," Ginobili said, according to Mike Monroe of the San Antonio Express-News. "If it’s for a lot of money, a huge amount of money, I don’t care. I’m fine with what I’ve earned in my career. That is not a point of emphasis this year. I just want to play well and help my team make it as far as last year…. If I’m going to play next year, it’s highly likely it’s going to be here. So I really don’t care (about this being a contract season)."

Duncan, who made over $21MM in 2011/12, took a significant pay cut with his new contract, and will earn under $10MM this season, keeping the Spurs under the tax threshold. It wouldn't be a huge surprise if Ginobili worked out a similar deal with San Antonio next summer. The 35-year-old will make over $14MM in 2012/13, but could accept a seven-digit annual salary next July, if he feels as if he has some more years left in the tank.

Odds & Ends: Morrison, Turkoglu, Lin, Ginobili

October 1st, 2012 at 2:15pm CST by Luke Adams

Let's round up a few odds and ends from a busy day around the NBA….

Blazers coach Terry Stotts told the media today that summer signee Adam Morrison has a "legitimate" chance to make the team, according to Ben Golliver of Blazer's Edge (Twitter link).
Hedo Turkoglu says he'd like to finish his career with the Magic, tweets Joshua Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel.
Asked about the Knicks' decision to let Jeremy Lin walk in July, GM Glen Grunwald told the media that the Rockets made a commitment to Lin that New York wasn't prepared to make, and that Raymond Felton was a better fit for the Knicks. Marc Berman of the New York Post has the quotes.
Manu Ginobili expects to return to the Spurs if he continues playing when his contract expires at season's end, tweets Jeff McDonald of the San Antonio Express-News.
Jason Lloyd of the Akron Beacon Journal poses five burning questions facing the Cavaliers heading into the 2012/13 season. Among Lloyd's five: Whether Dion Waiters was the right choice in June's draft, and whether Anderson Varejao will finish the year with the Cavs.
Ben Wallace won't be in camp with the Pistons, since the team doesn't want to put him a position where it may have to cut him, tweets Vincent Goodwill of the Detroit News.
Appearing on KJR in Seattle, Mavericks owner Mark Cuban said he didn't think any NBA owner would stand in the way of the city of Seattle getting another NBA franchise (link via Sports Radio Interviews).
Former NBA veteran Jayson Williams tells ESPN.com's Matt Wong that he's healthy and misses the NBA, but stopped short of saying he's interested in making a comeback.

Odds & Ends: Blazers, Timberwolves, McGrady

July 31st, 2012 at 9:55pm CST by Ryan Raroque

The NBA does not make a profit by sending its stars to play at the Olympics, and a move to re-direct their headline players into a rebranded World Cup of Basketball would certainly change that. While Ken Berger of CBS Sports understands the idea of pulling NBA stars out of the Olympic games in the future, he says that it should be based on the premise that "Dream Teams" have run their course, and not because it is driven by an opportunity for David Stern and NBA owners to try to make money elsewhere. With that aside, here are some of tonight's miscellaneous links…

Bill Ingram of HoopsWorld mentions that Jeremy Lamb, Royce White, and Terrence Jones cannot be included in a potential Dwight Howard trade until the end of August, specifically 30 days after each of them signed their rookie deals with the Rockets on July 26 (Sulia link).
In a series of tweets, Jason Quick of The Oregonian reports that Trail Blazers GM Neil Olshey has concluded the second round of interviews and will "move on to the next phase" of the process once all four finalists are given due consideration. Although team owner Paul Allen was not involved in the interviews with Terry Stotts, Steve Clifford, Kaleb Canales, and Elston Turner, Quick assumes that Olshey will ultimately present a recommendation for hire to Allen after deliberation. Chris Haynes of CSNNW.com (via Twitter) pointed out that Turner's interview lasted for four-and-a-half hours today.
When asked if the Timberwolves had more changes to make after the Olympics, GM David Kahn replied, "Maybe it’s a tweak here and there, maybe even something big, to make us even better still" (according to a tweet by Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune). In a separate piece, Marcus R. Fuller of the Pioneer Press documented Kahn's thoughts on the team's new additions this offseason.
HoopsWorld's Alex Kennedy says that although the Bulls and Tracy McGrady have flirted in the past, it doesn't sound like a deal is close (Twitter link).