Manu Ginobili Rumors | Hoops Rumors

And-Ones: Gasol, Ginobili, Barnes

July 3rd, 2016 at 2:40pm CST by Will Joseph

The market for Pau Gasol appears to be around $18-22MM per year with the Raptors, Bulls, Blazers, Wolves and Spurs among the teams talking with him, according to Ramona Shelburne of ESPN.com (ESPN Now link). Of those teams, the Wolves have made an “aggressive” two-year offer to reunite Gasol with his former coach Tom Thibodeau, Marc J. Spears of The Undefeated reports. It is unclear whether or not Gasol will wait for Kevin Durant to make a decision before pulling the trigger on his own move, Shelburne adds. The Blazers may have a two-year deal worth $40MM out there for Gasol, per Marc Stein of ESPN.com.

Here’s more news from around the league:

Manu Ginobili, who announced he intends to play this season, plans to re-sign with the Spurs, but the two sides have yet to begin negotiations, Ginobili’s agent Herb Rudoy told Jeff McDonald of of the San Antonio Express-News. Rudoy has fielded calls from multiple teams gauging interest in his client since Ginobili’s announcement, McDonald reports. However, most teams strongly believe the veteran will reach a deal with the Spurs, McDonald adds.
Matt Barnes has received interest from the Clippers, Kings, Mavs and Warriors, Shelburne reports.
Derrick Williams‘ future with the Knicks is uncertain because New York could have only about $5MM in available cap space and Williams would likely be able to fetch a larger sum elsewhere, Ian Begley of ESPN.com relays.

Manu Ginobili To Play Next Season

July 3rd, 2016 at 10:26am CST by Arthur Hill

San Antonio’s Manu Ginobili has announced his intention to play next season, tweets Marc Stein of ESPN.com. Ginobili tweeted the announcement today on his personal blog.

Ginoibili declined a player option with the Spurs last month, making him a free agent. That option would have paid him $2.94MM for next season, but there’s a chance he can earn more on the open market.

The 38-year-old has been with San Antonio for his entire 14-year NBA career. He appeared in 58 games this season, all as a reserve, and averaged 9.6 points in 19.6 minutes.

Manu Ginobili Declines Player Option

June 22nd, 2016 at 9:43am CST by Luke Adams

9:43am: In his full story on Ginobili’s decision, Charania writes that the veteran Spur is leaning toward re-signing with San Antonio for at least one more season.

9:33am: Veteran guard Manu Ginobili is the latest player to decline a player option for 2016/17, opting not to pick up his $2.94MM option for next season, according to Shams Charania of The Vertical (Twitter link). ESPN’s Marc Stein first reported (via Twitter) that Ginobili was expected to head to free agency, as he continues to weigh his options.

While Ginobili will become a free agent, that doesn’t necessarily mean he’ll leave San Antonio, or even that he’ll continue his NBA career. Ginobili and the Spurs may ultimately work out a deal that allows him to return for another season, but it doesn’t sound like the 38-year-old has made a decision yet on whether to keep playing or retire.

The longtime Spur did show signs of slowing down in 2015/16, his 14th season in San Antonio. He played fewer than 20 minutes per game for the first time in his NBA career, and scored just 9.6 points per contest, his lowest mark since his rookie year. Still, while Ginobili’s role has been reduced, he continued to be reasonably effective when he did play — his 2015/16 shooting percentages (.453 FG%, .391 3PT%) were slightly better than his career averages.

The Spurs are expected to make a run at Kevin Durant this summer, and could take a look at some other top-tier free agents, but the looming decisions for Ginobili and Tim Duncan, who also has a player option for 2016/17, may have an impact on their offseason approach. Assuming both players want to continue their careers, it’s hard to imagine the Spurs not welcoming them back.

Southwest Notes: Mavs, Pelicans, Spurs, Ginobili

May 24th, 2016 at 11:42am CST by Luke Adams

Even though they have several players eligible for free agency this offseason, the Mavericks could attempt to keep most of their 2015/16 roster intact for next season, says Earl K. Sneed of Mavs.com. The team was plagued by injuries down the stretch, but head coach Rick Carlisle likes the group and would like to see a number of players return.

Whether or not the Mavericks’ roster undergoes significant changes, the club will be on the lookout for players that can contribute on the glass, Sneed writes in separate piece. “We’ve got to get some monsters that push and shove, throw people out of the way and go get the ball,” Carlisle said, suggesting that rebounders will be a priority in Dallas. Eddie Sefko of The Dallas Morning News identifies 20 free agents that would make sense for the Mavs, and many of those players – including Al Horford, Hassan Whiteside, and Dwight Howard – would help address the team’s mediocre rebounding numbers.

Here’s more from out of the Southwest:

Jeff Duncan of The Times-Picayune wouldn’t be surprised if the Pelicans, who are in win-now mode, use the sixth overall pick in a trade, like they did three years ago when they acquired Jrue Holiday using a pair of draft picks.
It’s rare for a 67-win team to face a significant amount of roster questions and potential turnover, but the Spurs find themselves in that situation as the summer approaches, writes Bobby Marks of The Vertical. As Marks outlines, San Antonio has a pair of foundational pieces in Kawhi Leonard and LaMarcus Aldridge, but it could be tricky to upgrade the roster around them.
Speaking of those Spurs, veteran guard Manu Ginobili intends to meet with Gregg Popovich, Tim Duncan, and others eventually as he weighs his options and decides whether to continue his NBA career. RealGM.com has the details, via La Nacion.

Southwest Notes: Duncan, Grizzlies, English

May 15th, 2016 at 11:01am CST by Dana Gauruder

Retirement decisions by Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili will determine the volume of roster moves made by Spurs GM R.C. Buford this offseason, Jeff McDonald of the San Antonio Express-News opines. Addressing the team’s five burning questions this summer, McDonald believes there’s a good chance that Tony Parker will be the only member of San Antonio’s longtime Big Three to return next season. The Spurs probably won’t overhaul their roster following a 67-win season, but there will be spots to fill if Duncan and Ginobili call it quits, McDonald continues. The Spurs will make runs at top-level free agents Kevin Durant, Al Horford, Mike Conley and possibly Pau Gasol but they will also attempt to infuse the bench with more youth and athleticism, McDonald adds.

In other news around the Southwest Division:

The Grizzlies are unlikely to use their first-round pick on a power forward, Chris Herrington of the Memphis Commercial-Appeal opines. Memphis, which holds the No. 17 pick, drafted Jarell Martin last June and the team views him as their future starter at the position, though he underwent a foot procedure after the postseason, Herrington continues. Zach Randolph still has at least one more quality season in him and JaMychal Green can bridge the gap between Randolph and Martin, Herrington adds.
Point guard A.J. English will work out for the Pelicans, Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv tweets. It was previously reported that English, who is considered a potential second-round pick, had scheduled workouts with the Pistons, Bucks, Cavaliers, Wizards, Clippers, Mavericks and Lakers.
Swingman Justin Anderson and power forward Dwight Powell give the Mavericks two young building blocks, Eddie Sefko of the Dallas Morning-News reports. The organization has big plans for both players after they showed flashes of promise this past season, as president of basketball operations Donnie Nelson told Sefko. “They are two young cornerstone-type pieces,” Nelson said. “Big hearts. Great work ethic. Those two guys are a piece of the fabric. Our hope is that we can keep that young core going.”

And-Ones: Spurs, Celtics, Sixers, Pistons, Nuggets

May 13th, 2016 at 9:00am CST by Chuck Myron

Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili aren’t certain whether they’ll retire, as Michael C. Wright of ESPN.com details, but they’re not the only Spurs liable to hang it up in the wake of the team’s playoff elimination Thursday night. Andre Miller has strongly considered retirement, though he, too, hasn’t made up his mind yet, as he told Marc Spears of The Undefeated (Twitter link). San Antonio’s contract with the 40-year-old Miller expires at the end of next month while Duncan, also 40, and Ginobili, who turns 39 in July, have player options. David West also has a player option, and though he turns 36 over the offseason, the talk surrounding him isn’t of retirement but of the lack of regrets he has about sacrificing roughly $11MM to sign his two-year minimum-salary contract with San Antonio last summer, as Tom Orsborn of the San Antonio News-Express relays (Twitter links).

“It’s been a great experience,” West said of his season with the Spurs. “I wouldn’t trade it for anything.”

See more from around the NBA:

The Celtics, Sixers, Pistons, Nuggets, Pacers and Trail Blazers all benefited this season from set-off rights, reducing their obligations to waived players who had guaranteed salary remaining on their contracts, as Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders details. Boston saved $620,306 from the money it owed David Lee because he signed a deal with the Mavs that paid more than $845,059, a figure equivalent to the one-year veteran’s minimum salary, Pincus writes. The Sixers saved $227,241 on JaVale McGee the same way. The Nuggets were spared $68,144 on Pablo Prigioni, the Pacers avoided paying $159,900 to Toney Douglas and the Trail Blazers shaved $327,064 from their bill for Mike Miller, according to Pincus. The Pistons saved $341,353 on Josh Smith, though that figure will be spread evenly over each season of the five-year obligation Detroit still has to him because the team used the stretch provision.
The Pistons also got cap relief for Aaron Gray, whom they owe $452,049 each season from 2015/16 through 2017/18, Pincus points out. Gray had to retire because of a heart condition, but a team can remove the cap hit for a player who had to retire because of a medical reason one year after his final game. Gray last played in 2014. Detroit still must pay the money to Gray, but it doesn’t count against the team’s cap, Pincus notes.
Agent Jason Glushon and the Wasserman agency mutually agreed to part ways, and Glushon will start his own agency, a source told Spears (Twitter link). Glushon has a short list of clients, with none more prominent than Hawks soon-to-be free agent Al Horford, who left Wasserman, Glushon and B.J. Armstrong to sign with Bill Duffy of BDA Sports last fall only to rejoin Wasserman a couple of months later. Jrue Holiday and Norman Powell are other Glushon clients.

Western Notes: Duncan, Durant, Griffin, Nuggets

April 16th, 2016 at 9:56pm CST by Arthur Hill

Kobe Bryant claimed the spotlight with his season-long retirement tour, but Tim Duncan could be wrapping up his career more quietly, suggests Jeff McDonald of The San Antonio-Express News. Duncan will turn 40 on April 25th, a day after Game 4 of the Spurs‘ first-round series with Memphis. He has a player option worth $5.5MM for next season, so it’s possible his career will end with the playoffs. “He’s going to wake up one day and say, ‘I’m done,’” said Manu Ginobili, “and you’re never going to see him again.” Ginobili is 38 and has a $2.94MM player option of his own, meaning two members of San Antonio’s historic Big Three may not return next season.

There’s more tonight from the Western Conference:

Kevin Durant managed to prevent his impending free agency from becoming a distraction as he re-established his place among’s the NBA’s top players, writes Michael Lee of The Vertical. The Thunder star kept reminding himself of his elite status as he worked his way back from a broken bone in his right foot that limited him to 27 games last season. “Yeah, I wasn’t around,” Durant said. “And there are two or three players that they kind of talk about as the best. They didn’t really talk about me. It’s not that I was mad or anything like that. I just tried to use all that stuff as extra fuel and I tried to push myself higher.” Durant bounced back to average 28.2 points and 8.2 rebounds this season and will be the top name on the free agent market.
The Clippers are happy to have Blake Griffin back for the playoffs, even if he isn’t fully healthy, writes Peter Socotch of CSNNW. Griffin recently returned to the court after being out since Christmas with a partially torn quad tendon. “He’s had not only five games, but he’s had some practice time,” coach Doc Rivers said. “Obviously, it’s not the exact way you would have wanted it, but we’ll take what we can get. We got him back, and that’s better than not getting him back. So I’ll take that.”
There are four difficult issues to resolve before the Nuggets can get the “championship results” that coach Michael Malone desires, writes Christopher Dempsey of The Denver Post. He identifies them as the future of Danilo Gallinari and Jusuf Nurkic, whether to offer a max contract to anyone in free agency and whether to keep three first-rounders and two second-rounders in June’s draft.

Southwest Notes: Harden, Durant, Howard, Spurs

April 3rd, 2016 at 11:52am CST by Arthur Hill

James Harden will play a key role in the Rockets‘ efforts to bring Kevin Durant to Houston, writes Calvin Watkins of ESPN.com. Many teams will be chasing Durant in free agency, but the Rockets have several selling points. In addition to reuniting with his friend and former Thunder teammate, Durant will have the chance to go a state with no income tax and a large city with vast marketing opportunities. Watkins says the Rockets have talked to Harden about recruiting Durant and he has agreed to do his part. “In order to put yourself as an elite team, you always got to have talent, right?” Harden said. “You always got to get better and find ways to improve.” Houston will have plenty of cap space if Dwight Howard opts out as expected.

There’s more news from the Southwest Division:

Howard’s role in the Rockets‘ offense continues to decline, according to Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle. Howard has averaged 9.3 points on 5.8 field goal attempts over Houston’s last 12 games. It’s a significant dropoff from earlier in the season and has led many to speculate that the 30-year-old center will seek a new team in free agency. “His impact can be felt more and should be felt more,” said interim coach J.B. Bickerstaff. “… We have to get him the ball in his spots and he has to finish when he gets there.”
Free agent addition LaMarcus Aldridge has teamed with Kawhi Leonard to become the nucleus of a record-setting Spurs team, writes Jeff McDonald of The San Antonio Express-News. The two All-Stars have eased the burden on the aging Big Three of Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili. San Antonio picked up a franchise record 64th win Saturday and is two victories away from posting the first perfect home record in league history. “There’s not much we’re allowed to care about,” Danny Green said. “… Being healthy and winning games in the playoffs – those are the things we care about.”
James Ennis had little time to prepare for his first game with the Pelicans after being called up from the D-League this week, relays Jim Eichenhofer of NBA.com. “He just got here to the arena about 20 minutes ago,” coach Alvin Gentry said before Wednesday’s contest with the Spurs. “We’ll give him a quick overview of what we try to do, but he’ll definitely be in the game tonight.”

And-Ones: Duncan, Ginobili, Simmons

March 26th, 2016 at 9:54pm CST by ChrisCrouse

The Pelicans are 26-46 on the season, which is good for sixth place in our Reverse Standings, but the team isn’t planning on tanking over the next 10 games in order to secure a better draft pick, John Reid of The Times Picayune writes. “We try to play at the highest level that we can,” coach Alvin Gentry said. ”Wherever that gets us in the draft, that gets us in the draft. I’ve never been a guy that thought, ‘Hey let’s get some extra pingpong balls or whatever.’ I don’t know how you sell that to your players.”

Here’s more around the league:

Tim Duncan says he and Spurs teammate Manu Ginobili will make their retirement decisions individually rather than as a group, Melissa Rohlin of the San Antonio Express-News relays (Twitter link).
The Magic are 30-43 on season and unless they go on a historic run, they will be in the lottery for the fourth straight season. Still, coach Scott Skiles hasn’t given up on the season and he’s looking to improve in a few areas down the stretch, Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel writes. “We haven’t guarded well enough and then we haven’t handled a run well enough by the other team,” Skiles said.
Many believe Ben Simmons will be a star in the league down the road, but A. Sherrod Blakely of Comcast Sportsnet (video link) believes Simmons will make an immediate impact. Blakely also predicts that the 19-year-old will be the No. 1 pick in the 2016 draft.

Texas Notes: Miller, Ginobili, Parsons, Lawson

March 2nd, 2016 at 12:39pm CST by Chuck Myron

Spurs coach/president Gregg Popovich had no shortage of praise for new addition Andre Miller, who signed Monday with San Antonio following his buyout from the Timberwolves, as Jeff McDonald of the San Antonio Express-News relays. Miller is just as glad to be with the Spurs as Popovich is to have him, McDonald notes.

“He’s one of those players you look at and say, ‘Boy, I could figure out how to fit him in,’” Popovich said. “He has been such a great player for several teams, and he does the same thing (everywhere). He’s just a pro, the consummate pro.”

See more on the Spurs amid news from the Texas triangle:

Manu Ginobili is progressing much more quickly in his recovery from a testicular injury than the Spurs thought he would, Popovich said Tuesday, as Express-News scribe Melissa Rohlin chronicles. The Spurs expected Ginobili would miss at least a month when they announced that he underwent surgery February 4th, but Tony Parker hinted Tuesday that Ginobili could return next week. It’s unclear what that means for the team’s reported pursuit of fellow wing player Kevin Martin.
Chandler Parsons thinks he’s playing the best basketball of his career, and it’s clear that he’s moved past the early-season struggles he went through as he recovered from a knee injury that prematurely ended his playoff run last spring, as Eddie Sefko of the Dallas Morning News examines. Parsons is set to turn down his player option this summer and entertain an aggressive pitch from the Magic, as well as interest from the Rockets, Heat, Lakers, Nets, Knicks, Trail Blazers, Nuggets and possibly Thunder, but the Mavs remain the favorites for him, as Tim MacMahon of ESPNDallas.com reported Tuesday.
Ty Lawson‘s failure to produce for the Rockets was a product of lost confidence, people around the team told Calvin Watkins of ESPN.com (Twitter link). Houston waived Lawson in a buyout deal Tuesday.