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http://www.cbssports.com/nba/news/report-manu-ginobili-likely-to-return-and-pau-gasol-could-join-him-with-spurs/

It looks like the San Antonio Spurs are going to be contenders again next season. While Tim Duncan's decision about retirement is still up in the air, The Vertical's Adrian Wojnarowski reported that Manu Ginobili is likely coming back and Pau Gasol could be joining him.

"There's a strong belief that Manu Ginobili is probably going to play another year," Wojnarowski said on The Vertical podcast with Chris Mannix. "I think he's not tying himself to Tim, what Tim does. It's not like, 'Hey we're going to go out together.' I think Manu feels -- if he feels like he has more in him, he's going to play."

Ginobili will turn 39 in a month, and he's going to play for Argentina at the Olympics in Rio. He officially opted out of his $2.9 million salary for next season, but that was just a formality. He averaged the fewest minutes of his career this past season, but was still effective as a playmaker and shooter off the bench.

Looks like the gangs going to stick together for at least another season!

Not liking this. If any of the big three is done it's well and truly Manu.

Phreak50 wrote:Not liking this. If any of the big three is done it's well and truly Manu.

I thought he played pretty well last year. Best of the big 3. In limited minutes he is still valuable to us. Where we get into trouble is when we have to rely on him and Timmy and Tony for heavy minutes. Like when Danny Green sucks and David West is useless. Thats what we have to fix. Who wouldnt want a bench of Duncan, Parker and Ginobili?

Phreak50 wrote:Not liking this. If any of the big three is done it's well and truly Manu.

He's still somewhat useful and if he comes back for the vet min the price is definitely right.

But we all know both he and Pop won't play him like a vet min player. He played far too many minutes and important minutes then he could handle.

He also limits the growth of guys like Simmons and other potential players because Pop thinks he is Manu from five years ago.

It's not like old big guys who are always tall no matter what. Guards who are slow on d and turn the ball over are going to hold this team back come playoff time.

Phreak50 wrote:But we all know both he and Pop won't play him like a vet min player. He played far too many minutes and important minutes then he could handle.

He also limits the growth of guys like Simmons and other potential players because Pop thinks he is Manu from five years ago.

It's not like old big guys who are always tall no matter what. Guards who are slow on d and turn the ball over are going to hold this team back come playoff time.

That is very true.

Phreak50 wrote:But we all know both he and Pop won't play him like a vet min player. He played far too many minutes and important minutes then he could handle.

He also limits the growth of guys like Simmons and other potential players because Pop thinks he is Manu from five years ago.

It's not like old big guys who are always tall no matter what. Guards who are slow on d and turn the ball over are going to hold this team back come playoff time.

I have to disagree. We were forced to play Manu more minutes because Simmons didn't step up when he had the opportunity. When Simmons played a lot, he became a turnover machine who was average defensively and that could only score if he got a dunk. Don't get me wrong, I like Simmons but last season IMO he didn't progress from the beginning of the year to the end like I had hoped. Pop didn't trust his game obviously which is why he used Manu more than he should have late in the season. It also didn't help that Danny Green sucked the entire year because that fed into more minutes for Manu as well.

Same thing with Duncan. I don't think the plan was to play Tim heavy minutes in the playoffs but we were forced to because Boban was in over his head and West did almost nothing all season.

Sure I agree, maybe Pop needs to just ride it out a little more when these new guys aren't playing well but I really don't think Simmons could handle more than 15-20 minutes a game at this point. I hope he improves, I love his athleticism and we really need it.

Thank god for that. The Spurs have nobody reliable to run the 2nd unit yet. When Manu went down last season, it was a nightmare to watch Simmons trying to play the Manu role bringing up the ball to set the offense.

Don't even know how we can argue about having Manu in a really friendly 2.8m contract. He is still a positive impact player, even at his age. If anything, there's only one player not worth the money from the BIG 3 and it's not Manu or Duncan.

I love Gino, but I think he's done. I wish he were resigning instead of re-signing.

Cut his minutes and he'll have a good season like last year. We still need him for the bench and if he comes back for the min it's a steal.

http://basketball.realgm.com/wiretap/242761/Manu-Ginobili-Agrees-To-One-Year-Deal-With-Spurs

Manu Ginobili has agreed to re-sign with the San Antonio Spurs on a one-year deal.

Ginobili's agent said he turned down a "very serious, big offer" from another team to remain with the Spurs.

“Happy to tell you guys that I’ll be coming back to the Spurs for another season,” Ginobili said via Twitter.

So it's official now. Glad to have him back in the fold, yes he's fallen off but he's still a useful player. Hopefully he can talk Tim into staying too.

We still need Manu because that second unit has no playmaker. Atleast we could count on Diaw before but we need Manu even more now.

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Sounds like Manu's going to get a little bit of a pay bump this year.

Seems like a lot of money for him at this stage but doesn't seem like we're signing anyone else so I guess it doesn't matter.

I love Gino, but this is an overpay. I don't think the Spurs would've done this unless they felt like they're basically done restocking/shopping and want to reward Gino because the money's there to do it.

Sixers apparently offered him 30 million for two years, just silly.

turns out Philly did offer more which made us up ours. We probably lost Boban because of it but honestly how the **** are you gunna see manu retire in a jersey that isn't a spurs one? nah.

We had his Bird Rights so it doesn't hurt our cap at all to pay him whatever. He deserved to get paid after taking pay cuts for years to help the franchise.

14 mill is just wrong. I know they wanted to avoid the whole Riley/Wade drama but 6 or 7 would have been fair in that sense.

As it is, I still think he needed to call it a day and don't see him being worth any more than the minimum.

Ah well.

Phreak50 wrote:14 mill is just wrong. I know they wanted to avoid the whole Riley/Wade drama but 6 or 7 would have been fair in that sense.

As it is, I still think he needed to call it a day and don't see him being worth any more than the minimum.

Ah well.

doesnt really matter because there are no more moves happening this off season. the organization has essentially raised the white flag for 16/17 and it is pretty clear they are trying to look for cap space for the next free agency class. which in my opinion is a great move.

also this is the perfect time to pay manu back for those lean salary years of his.

2017 free agency is going to be huge for the spurs. i can't wait.