San Antonio Spurs Rumors | Hoops Rumors

More On Manu Ginobili’s Retirement

August 27th, 2018 at 8:15pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The decision by Spurs guard Manu Ginobili to retire was a very difficult one for him, one of his agents told Tom Orsborn of the San Antonio Express News. The announcement was made on Monday. Herb Rudoy indicated there were numerous factors that went into the decision, primarily that it’s “much harder to do it at age 41.” Rudoy also cited family and a desire to travel as other factors in Ginobili’s decision, Orsborn adds.

We have more regarding the retirement of the longtime Spur:

Rudoy and fellow agent Luciano Capicchioni praised their client in a statement, which was relayed by Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter links): “It has been our great pleasure to represent Manu. He has not only been an outstanding player, he has also been one of the finest men we have known. He understands playing for the collective good of his team and will go down in basketball history as one of the best to ever play the game.”
As the franchise did for Tim Duncan, Ginobili will likely have his uniform retired quickly, Jabari Young of the Express News tweets. The No. 20 will not be worn again without permission, Young adds.
The 20 defining moments of his career are listed in chronological order by ESPN’s Michael Wright. It begins with Ginobili getting drafted and ends with him being a finalist of the Magic Johnson award this past season.
Compliments and congratulations on a memorable career have poured in from players and coaches around the league via social media, Kurt Helin of NBC Sports relays. Helin’s story shares some of those posts.
Ginobili finished his Spurs career ranked fifth in franchise history in points (14,043) and rebounds (3,697), fourth in assists (4,001) and first in steals (1,392). Those are some of the numbers and facts that Frank Urbina of HoopsHype shares about the Argentinian.

Manu Ginobili Announces Retirement

August 27th, 2018 at 1:07pm CST by Luke Adams

Longtime Spurs guard Manu Ginobili has announced his retirement from the NBA. The team issued a press release today confirming the news, while Ginobili published his own statement via Twitter.

“Today, with a wide range of feelings, I’m announcing my retirement from basketball,” Ginobili wrote. “IMMENSE GRATITUDE to everyone (family, friends, teammates, coaches, staff, fans) involved in my life in the last 23 years. It’s been a fabulous journey. Way beyond my wildest dreams.”

It’s the end of an era in San Antonio, where the Spurs have now seen Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, Kawhi Leonard, and Ginobili depart within the last two-plus years.

Ginobili, 41, was the 57th overall pick in the 1999 draft, making him one of the best second-round picks in NBA history. After being drafted, he 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.

Ginobili, who had been the NBA’s second-oldest active player and now becomes one of just seven players to spend his entire career of 16 years or more with a single time, will eventually be a Hall-of-Famer.

The Spurs had Ginobili under contract for one more season and had wanted him back for the 2018/19 campaign, but he’ll call it a career before finishing out that deal. If Duncan’s retirement in 2016 is any indication, San Antonio figure to waive Ginobili at some point and allow him to earn his $2.5MM salary for the coming season.

Ginobili’s departure will open up a spot on the Spurs’ projected regular season roster — with the veteran guard no longer in the mix, the club has just 13 players on fully guaranteed contracts, so there will be at least one spot up for grabs, if not two. It’s not yet clear if San Antonio will make any roster moves to fortify its backcourt in the wake of Ginobili’s retirement.

According to the Spurs, Ginobili will speak to the media about his retirement decision at some point before training camps begin, but it won’t happen this week.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Spurs Hire Darius Songaila

August 26th, 2018 at 8:58pm CST by clarkcrum

According to Tom Orsborn of the San Antonio Express-News, retired NBA big man Darius Songaila has indicated via social media that he has been hired by the Spurs in a player development role.

The Lithuanian-born Songaila played eight seasons in the NBA from 2003 to 2011 after a stellar career at Wake Forest. He was drafted by the Celtics in 2002 but played a season with CSKA Moscow before coming over to the NBA.

He continued playing professionally overseas from 2011 to 2015 before retiring and becoming an assistant coach for Zalgiris Kaunas in his native country, where he remained before being hired by the Spurs.

Eastern Notes: Leonard, Galloway, Johnson, Ntilikina

August 24th, 2018 at 8:59pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Hiring Kawhi Leonard‘s close friend Jeremy Castleberry away from the Spurs as a player development coach was a wise move by the Raptors, in the view of Danny Green, as Steven Loung of SportsNet Canada details.

Green was traded along with Leonard to Toronto and the Raptors are hoping to convince Leonard to re-sign with them next summer. The addition of Castleberry should help the cause, according to Green

“It’s good to have (Castleberry) on board. Hopefully, it helps Kawhi feel more comfortable at home and keeps him in the city that they want to keep him here,” Green said. “Obviously (the Raptors) traded for him for a reason. They think they can sell him. … It’s an amazing city in Toronto. So the city sells itself. … And now you have your best friend with you. What else could you ask for?”

We have more from around the Eastern Conference:

Langston Galloway was a major disappointment in his first season with the Pistons and he’ll have a tough time making the rotation, Ansar Khan of MLive writes. Galloway didn’t fare well when he played the point on occasion and posted career lows in several categories while mostly seeing action at shooting guard, Khan continues. Galloway, who has two years left on his $21MM contract, has plenty of competition at the guard spots in the upcoming season, Khan adds.
Pistons small forward Stanley Johnson could blossom in coach Dwane Casey’s first season, Khan writes in another post. Casey has praised Johnson’s work ethic and feels that Johnson has untapped scoring potential, Khan continues. Johnson became more aggressive going to the basket last season but needs to improve his outside shooting, Khan adds.
Knicks guard Frank Ntilikina (France) and Bulls forward Lauri Markkanen (Finland) will not play for their national teams in FIBA World Cup qualifiers next month, according to a Sportando report. Both players will focus on preparing for their second season in the NBA, the report adds.

Spurs Announce Partnership With Frost Bank

August 22nd, 2018 at 6:06pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Spurs are the latest organization to have an official corporate partner, according to a release posted on the team website. The Spurs will team up with Frost Bank, a prominent banking, investment and insurance company in Texas, and will wear the company’s logo on their jerseys.

Manu Ginobili Seriously Considering Retirement, Will Meet With Popovich

August 22nd, 2018 at 11:14am CST by Luke Adams

Manu Ginobili has yet to make any decisions about his future, but he’s seriously weighing the possibility of retiring, reports ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. According to Wojnarowski, Ginobili will meet with Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich in the coming days to discuss his future.

Ginobili, who still has one year left on his contract with San Antonio, has been working out at the team’s practice facility in preparation of the 2018/19 season, but has yet to commit to returning, Wojnarowski notes (via Twitter). He has been a Spur since the 2002/03 season, winning four championships during his time with the organization.

If Ginobili does decide to play for another year, he’d be in line for a $2.5MM salary in the final season of the two-year contract he signed with the Spurs last summer. The club remains hopeful that the 41-year-old will decide to keep playing, and is giving him all the time he needs to make a decision, league sources tell Wojnarowski.

Although Ginobili’s best days are behind him, the NBA’s second-oldest player continued to be an effective part-time contributor in 2017/18, averaging 8.9 PPG, 2.5 APG, and 2.2 RPG in 65 regular season contests (20.0 MPG) for the Spurs.

Currently, the Spurs have 14 players on guaranteed salaries on their books, including Ginobili, so if the veteran guard retires, it would create an opening for another player to make the regular season roster.

NBA Teams With Open Two-Way Contract Slots

August 21st, 2018 at 11:18am CST by Luke Adams

Only a small handful of two-way players from 2017/18 had their contracts carried over to the 2018/19 season, while a few more signed new two-way deals. For the most part though, NBA teams have filled their two-way contract slots for the coming season with new faces, including several rookies who went undrafted in 2018.

At the moment, 44 of 60 league-wide two-way contract slots are occupied, with a 45th set to be filled once the Wizards finalize their reported agreement with Jordan McRae. That leaves just 15 two-way deals available across the NBA as training camps approach.

Some clubs may not fill these slots before camps get underway, preferring to sign players to non-guaranteed NBA contracts and then convert those deals to two-way pacts later, depending on how players perform in camp and in the preseason. By the time the 2018/19 regular season begins though, I don’t expect many two-way slots to still be open.

With the help of our two-way contract tracker, which lists all the players currently on two-way deals, here are the teams who can still offer two-way contracts without waiving anyone:

Two open slots:

Brooklyn Nets
Houston Rockets
Portland Trail Blazers
San Antonio Spurs

One open slot:

Charlotte Hornets
Chicago Bulls
Golden State Warriors
New Orleans Pelicans
Phoenix Suns
Sacramento Kings
Toronto Raptors

Fellow Rookies Pick Ayton, Sexton As RoY Favorites

August 21st, 2018 at 9:55am CST by Luke Adams

For the 10th time in 12 years, John Schuhmann of NBA.com got the opportunity to ask the NBA’s incoming crop of rookies a series of questions related to their fellow draftees.

Historically, the NBA rookies haven’t been particularly clairvoyant when it comes to their predictions — they haven’t accurately identified a Rookie of the Year winner since Kevin Durant in 2007/08. Still, it’s an interesting exercise, and one that occasionally results in a dead-on prediction, like when last year’s rookie class named Donovan Mitchell the steal of the 2017 draft.

Here are a few of the most interesting responses from this year’s rookies about the 2018/19 class:

Deandre Ayton (Suns) and Collin Sexton (Cavaliers) are viewed as the co-favorites for the Rookie of the Year award this season, with each player earning 18% of the vote. No other rookie had more than a 9% share of the vote.
Opinions were a little more divided on which player would have the best long-term NBA career, with Wendell Carter Jr. (Bulls) narrowly earning that title by receiving 13% of the vote. Interestingly, reigning EuroLeague MVP Luka Doncic (Mavericks) wasn’t picked by a single player for this question.
No. 48 overall pick Keita Bates-Diop (Timberwolves) was named the steal of the 2018 NBA draft by his fellow rookies, edging out 14th overall pick Michael Porter Jr. (Nuggets) and 18th overall pick Lonnie Walker (Spurs).
Trae Young (Hawks) is widely considered the best shooter and play-maker in this year’s class. Jevon Carter (Grizzlies) earned the most votes for best rookie defender, while Zhaire Smith (Sixers) is viewed as the most athletic rookie.
Be sure to check out Schuhmann’s full piece for the rest of the rookie survey results.

Latest On Kawhi Leonard

August 21st, 2018 at 8:56am CST by Luke Adams

The Raptors are making an addition to their coaching staff, according to Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports and Ian Begley of ESPN.com, who both report that former Spurs staffer Jeremy Castleberry will join the club.

As Begley details, Castleberry is a close friend of new Raptor Kawhi Leonard, having played with the star forward in high school and at San Diego State. An assistant video coordinator with the Spurs, Castleberry will serve as a player development coach in Toronto, per Charania.

While it’s unlikely that the Raptors would be making the hire if they hadn’t previously acquired Leonard, Castleberry is – by all accounts – “more than qualified” for his new position, tweets Begley. According to Begley, the Spurs didn’t want to lose him from their staff.

With Leonard heading into a contract year, the Raptors figure to pull out all the stops in an effort to convince him that re-signing with the club and remaining in Toronto long-term is the right move. The addition of Castleberry will likely play at least a small part in the Raps’ season-long recruiting efforts.

Still, as has been reported since his trade request first went public earlier this year, Leonard’s preference is to eventually sign in Los Angeles, either with the Lakers or Clippers, sources tell ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.

Belinelli To Skip World Cup Qualifiers

August 20th, 2018 at 9:57pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Marco Belinelli will focus on the upcoming NBA season instead of playing for Italy’s national team, according to a Sportando report. The veteran shooting guard will skip World Cup qualifiers next month against Poland and Hungary in order to prepare for the Spurs’ training camp, the report continues. Belinelli, who had a previous two-year stint with San Antonio, played a combined 80 regular-season games last season for the Hawks and Sixers and averaged 12.1 PPG. He’ll back up DeMar DeRozan and could also see some action at small forward after signing a two-year, $12MM deal.

Tony Parker will come back to San Antonio to end his career, he told the Chinese website Hupu.com in an interview that was relayed by AmicoHoops.net. Parker, who signed a two-year deal with the Hornets, intend to sign a one-day contract with the Spurs when he’s ready to call it quits. “Yes, I will retire as a Spur,” Parker said.