San Antonio Spurs Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Raptors Notes: Leonard, Lowry, Butler, Monroe

September 24th, 2018 at 11:51am CST by Arthur Hill

Kawhi Leonard sidestepped questions about his falling out in San Antonio and the trade that brought him to Toronto during the Raptors’ media day this morning, tweets Josh Lewenberg of TSN.

“I have no regrets,” Leonard responded to a question about his experience with the Spurs, “but I want to focus on this team and this journey that we have in front of us.”

Leonard was a two-time All-Star and an MVP candidate in San Antonio before suffering a quad injury that limited him to nine games last season. He was cleared by team doctors to return to action, but chose to remain sidelined on the advice of his personal physicians. The incident led to tension with the front office, clashes with teammates and derisive comments from coach Gregg Popovich.

Leonard informed the Spurs that he wouldn’t re-sign with the team once he opted out next summer, which led to his trade to Toronto. He told media members today that he’s doing fine physically.

“Right now I’m feeling great,” he said, “ready to play basketball.” (Twitter link)

There’s more from Toronto’s media day:

Kyle Lowry lost his best friend and backcourt partner when DeMar DeRozan was shipped to San Antonio in the Leonard trade, but he insists it won’t affect his focus for the upcoming season, saying “our relationship is bigger than basketball … that’s still my boy.” (Twitter link from Blake Murphy of The Athletic). Lowry added that he understands the business side of basketball because he has been traded before and watched the Grizzlies draft Mike Conley as his eventual replacement.
The Raptors have been mentioned as a possible candidate to trade for Jimmy Butler, but team president Masai Ujiri insists the team isn’t in trade talks with the Timberwolves. “I know there’s been rumors, but we haven’t had conversations,” he said. “This is our team.” (Twitter link)
Jonas Valanciunas is looking forward to having Greg Monroe as a teammate after playing against him for several years. The Raptors added the free agent center in August to serve as an experienced backup in the middle. “Yes, we had some battles before,” Valanciunas said. “He’s a tough guy. He never backs down, and I never back down, and now we have a chance to play together. So it’s fun.” (Twitter link)

Spurs Sign Okaro White To Exhibit 10 Deal

September 21st, 2018 at 1:11pm CST by Luke Adams

The Spurs have made another addition to their training camp roster, according to ESPN’s Michael C. Wright, who tweets that veteran forward Okaro White has signed an Exhibit 10 contract with San Antonio. Per RealGM’s transactions log, the Spurs have also officially completed reported deals with Drew Eubanks, Olivier Hanlan, and Jaron Blossomgame.

White, who signed a two-year contract with the Cavaliers during the final week of the 2017/18 season, was waived by Cleveland in August before the team owed any guaranteed money for that second year. Formerly a member of the Heat, White has appeared in 41 NBA games over the last two seasons for Miami, averaging 2.9 PPG and 2.3 RPG in 13.4 minutes per contest.

The Florida State alum, who missed a good chunk of the ’17/18 campaign with a broken foot, talked earlier this year about how he’s still working to mentally get over that injury. It appears he’ll have the opportunity to work on it this fall with San Antonio.

The Spurs now have a full 20-man roster, with 15 players on fully guaranteed salaries, four on non-guaranteed deals, and one (Eubanks) on a two-way pact. However, one of those 15 guaranteed contracts is Manu Ginobili‘s — the club will still need to officially release him at some point after he announced his retirement.

Spurs Cut Two Players, Sign Jaron Blossomgame

September 21st, 2018 at 9:30am CST by Luke Adams

The Spurs are making some changes to their roster in advance of training camp. After agreeing to terms with Olivier Hanlan, San Antonio has also signed former second-round pick Jaron Blossomgame to a training camp deal, as he confirmed to Jeff Garcia and Michael Rehome of The Spurs Zone.

“I’m excited for the opportunity,” said Blossomgame, who was drafted by the Spurs with the 59th overall pick in 2017 and played for the Austin Spurs last season. “I’ve played really well in open gym, so it’s exciting.”

In a pair of moves that will open up roster spots, the Spurs waived Amida Brimah and Julian Washburn, just a few days after having signed them, per NBA.com’s transactions log. Brimah and Washburn weren’t expected to compete for roster spots, having presumably been signed for their G League rights.

Blossomgame, however, could be given the opportunity to vie for an opening on San Antonio’s 15-man regular season squad. The 25-year-old, who played his college ball at Clemson, was a starting forward for an Austin team that won the NBAGL championship this past spring. In 50 games (48 starts), Blossomgame averaged 16.5 PPG and 8.1 RPG. He also played for San Antonio’s Summer League team this July, posting 13.0 PPG and 7.6 RPG in five contests in Las Vegas.

Spurs To Sign Guard Olivier Hanlan

September 20th, 2018 at 6:28pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Spurs will sign guard Olivier Hanlan, Michael Scotto of The Athletic tweets.

It’s apparently a training camp deal, as San Antonio has 14 players with guaranteed contracts and another on a partially-guaranteed deal. They recently invited former Thunder swingman Josh Huestis to camp and signed Amida Brimah and Julian Washburn to Exhibit 10 deals.

The former Boston College standout was selected in the second round by the Jazz in 2015. The Spurs acquired his rights the following summer in exchange for Boris Diaw and a future second-rounder.

Hanlan, who has also played professionally in Lithuania and France, spent last season with the G League’s Austin Spurs. The 6’4” guard averaged 14.7 PPG, 2.8 RPG, and 2.8 APG in 30.6 MPG in 44 games, including 30 starts. He averaged 6.2 PPG, 2.4 RPG and 2.6 APG in five Las Vegas outings with the Spurs’ summer league team.

Spurs Sign Amida Brimah, Julian Washburn

September 18th, 2018 at 4:08pm CST by Luke Adams

The Spurs have added a pair of players to their offseason roster, signing Amida Brimah and Julian Washburn to one-year contracts, according to RealGM’s transactions log. Those deals are be Exhibit 10 contracts, tweets Keith Smith of RealGM.

Brimah, who played his college ball at UConn, went undrafted in 2017 and joined the Spurs for training camp. The 7’0″ center has yet to make his NBA debut, but spent the 2017/18 season with the Austin Spurs, San Antonio’s G League affiliate, averaging 6.6 PPG, 7.4 RPG, and 2.6 BPG in 48 games (22.6 MPG).

Washburn, meanwhile, is a former UTEP small forward who went undrafted in 2015 and has spent time with the Austin Spurs and international clubs since then. He helped the Spurs’ G League squad win the NBAGL title earlier this year, starting both games in the club’s best-of-three series sweep over the Raptors 905. Most recently, Washburn played for the Cantebury Rams in New Zealand.

The Spurs now have 18 players under contract. That number will increase by one when Drew Eubanks finalizes his reported two-way deal, but will decrease by one when the club officially removes Manu Ginobili from its roster.

Spurs Will Sign Drew Eubanks To Two-Way Deal

September 17th, 2018 at 11:58am CST by Arthur Hill

Drew Eubanks, who went undrafted out of Oregon State, has reached agreement on a two-way contract with the Spurs, tweets Shams Charania of The Athletic.

Eubanks, 21, played three seasons with the Beavers, averaging 13.2 points and 6.8 rebounds as a junior. He joined the Spurs for Summer League play, participating in both the Utah and Las Vegas leagues.

The Spurs were among a handful of teams with both two-way contracts still available, so one spot remains open a week away from training camp.

Brent Barry To Join Spurs’ Front Office

September 17th, 2018 at 9:17am CST by Arthur Hill

Former Spurs player Brent Barry will leave his TV analyst job to join San Antonio’s front office, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.

Barry spent four seasons with the Spurs toward the end of his playing career and was part of title-winning teams in 2005 and 2007. R.C. Buford and Gregg Popovich have been wanting to add Barry to the front office since he retired in 2009.

He has been working as a TNT commentator for NBA broadcasts and a studio host on NBA TV.

Barry will fill the front office spot vacated by Monty Williams, who left to become an assistant coach with the Sixers, sources told Wojnarowski.

No Former Spurs Champions Left On Roster

September 16th, 2018 at 2:13pm CST by Austin Kent

The Spurs will roster a team without several major contributors to their last championship, this season. A Basketball Insiders report breaks down their chances of being relevant in 2018/19 and the new challenges ahead.

Lack Of Desire Convinced Ginobili To Retire

September 15th, 2018 at 3:59pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Manu Ginobili admitted that his decision to retire was painstaking and that Spurs coach Gregg Popovich tried to convince him to play another year. “I am very sure about the decision, it’s still awkward,” Ginobili said during a press conference that was relayed by NBA.com. “But my finger shaked a lot before hitting that enter (button). It wasn’t an easy decision.”

Popovich was hoping that he could change Ginobili’s mind but realized quickly that his longtime sixth man wasn’t going to budge.

“He briefly tried to convince me. He saw me very convinced,” Ginobili said. “I guess he saw it right away. He respected my decision, of course, and we had a great talk.”

Ginobili announced his retirement on August 27th. The deciding factor was the lack of desire to go through the rigors of an 82-game regular season one more time.

“I couldn’t see my body doing through that kind of grind again,” he said. “When I came back here and came to workout a little bit to lift or bike or whatever, I saw Bryn (Forbes), I saw Dejounte (Murray) and some of the guys working out and preparing for the season and I was so far from that. That’s when I said, ‘For sure, this is it.’ There was a little bit of that door opened, but it closed pretty quick.”

Ginobili, 41, was the 57th overall pick in the 1999 draft. The Argentinian played overseas for three more seasons, then joined the Spurs in 2002, spending the next 16 years with the franchise.

Over the course of his NBA career, Ginobili appeared in 1,057 regular season contests, averaging 13.3 PPG, 3.8 APG, and 3.5 RPG. He also played in 218 more postseason contests, winning four championships with the Spurs. A two-time All-Star and two-time All-NBA player, the Argentinian shooting guard was the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year in 2008.

Spurs Asked For Embiid Or Simmons For Leonard

September 14th, 2018 at 2:00pm CST by Arthur Hill

Before the Spurs agreed on a Kawhi Leonard trade package focused around DeMar DeRozan, they were asking for much bigger names from the Sixers, according to ESPN’s Zach Lowe. (Hat tip to Dale Delgado of NBC Sports).

In his latest Lowe Post podcast, Lowe says Philadelphia turned down San Antonio offers that would have included Joel Embiid or Ben Simmons. The Sixers were reluctant to part with stars in exchange for a player who isn’t guaranteed to stay beyond this season, and Embiid and Simmons are probably untouchable in any circumstances.

Another name that popped up in rumors was Markelle Fultz, whose rookie season was cut short by a combination of injuries and problems with his shooting form. However, Lowe says the Spurs were never interested in the top pick in the 2017 draft.

“There is no evidence that the Spurs wanted Fultz,” Lowe said. “I’ve been told the Spurs never asked for Fultz, and actively didn’t want Fultz, and in fact wanted one of the two big guys.”

Sixers guard J.J. Redick, who was a guest on Lowe’s podcast, defended Fultz and claimed he was poorly treated by the media last season.