The San Antonio Spurs are close to reuniting with veterans Manu Ginobili and Pau Gasol. Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN reported that both Ginobili and Gasol are finalizing their respective deals that will bring them back to the Spurs. According to Wojnarowski’s sources, Ginobili plans to push back his retirement for at least one more year and return for his 16th NBA season. He will be 40 years old when the season starts.
Last season, Ginobili averaged 7.5 points in 18.7 minutes and earned $14 million. He has won four NBA titles with the Spurs and has been selected to the NBA All-Star twice.
Ginobili has played in 992 regular-season games and made 212 postseason appearances, averaging 14.1 points, 4.0 rebounds and 3.8 assists. As a Spur, Ginobili ranks in the top five in games played (992), points (13,467), assists (3,838) and steals (1,349).
In Game 3 of the Western Conference Finals against the Golden State Warriors, Ginobili made history as the oldest player to score 20 or more points off the bench in a playoff game. After the Spurs were swept by Warriors, Ginobili declared that he will need three to four weeks to “let it sink in” and sit down with his wife and discuss his NBA future.
Ginobili’s heir apparent will not join San Antonio
Ginobili’s decision to return is timely since his heir-apparent, Adam Hanga, will not play for the Spurs this season after he signed a three-year, $8.5 million offer sheet with Spanish team FC Barcelona in the EuroLeague.
Hanga earlier expressed his intention to join the Spurs next season. With the latest development, the Spurs will have to wait three more years or until 2020 to bring Hanga to the NBA.
Gasol opted out of two-year deal with Spurs
Gasol, for his part, opted out of the second year of his two-year deal with the Spurs worth $16.2 million.
After one month, Wojnarowski said Gasol and the Spurs were ironing out details of a deal but terms were not revealed. Earlier, Gasol expressed intention to return to the Spurs on a long-term deal with a lower salary. Last season, Gasol averaged 12.4 points per game and shot a career-best 53.8 percent from three-point range.
Aside from the impending return of Ginobili and Gasol, the Spurs signed Rudy Gay to a two-year, $17 million contract. Last season, Gay averaged 18.7 points and 6.3 rebounds per game on top of a 37.2-percent clip from three-point range for the Sacramento Kings. However, he played just 30 games last season due to a ruptured Achilles. The 11-year veteran is a known scorer throughout his career, averaging 18.4 points in 753 games but he was not selected to any All-Star Game during that span.