The Manu Ginobili free agent conversation, so far
Back on March 11, I suggested that Manu Ginobili’s recent strong play would have the effect of complicating his upcoming contract negotiations with the San Antonio Spurs. Quoting myself:
This [Manu Ginobili's return to form] complicates Ginobili’s impending free-agent status, and so does another salient fact entirely beyond his control: only one team can sign LeBron James.
Put differently, several teams enjoy the luxury of significant cap space this summer, but the Spurs are not one of them. San Antonio is financially strapped and could be forced into a hard decision if a ready-to-spend team turns to Ginobili as a free-agent consolation prize. That, and the possibility that someone will include the promise to bid for Ginobili as part of their sales pitch to a max-level free agent.
The unique intangibles derived from winning the Euroleague, an Olympic gold medal and multiple NBA titles is a nice fallback for teams that fail (or simply can’t afford) to acquire two max-level free agents. Some clever GM could parlay Ginobili’s resurgence into a relatively inexpensive but nevertheless compelling selling point in pursuit of the market’s biggest prize.
The question before the Spurs is not simply the judgment of how much, and for how long. There is a prior question. Who will the Spurs be bidding against in their attempt to re-sign Ginobili?
Earlier this week, Peter Vecsey wrote a love song to Manu Ginobili that attempted to play matchmaker between Ginobili and the Knicks.
While the Knicks’ silo of salary cap room has fans hypnotized into believing the summer signing LeBron James and/or Dwyane Wade isn’t hallucinatory, I fantasize of soon seeing Manu Ginobili trippin’ the night fantastic for the home team at the Garden.
My take, of course, is slightly different than Vecsey’s: Ginobili could be the cute carrot Donnie Walsh dangles in front of LeBron James to make him think twice about shunning the Knicks.
This morning Jeff McDonald chimed-in with word that San Antonio wants Ginobili back, and, Ginobili, for his part, sort of, kind of wants to return to the Spurs.
“I’m not going to be unemployed,†Ginobili said. “I don’t hold any hard feelings for anybody. It’s a business, so you’ve go to do what you think is best for the franchise, and for you.â€
Manu Ginobili’s will likely add postseason gate revenue to the San Antonio Spurs’ bottom line in the coming weeks, but with each dominant performance he’s also adding tax dollars to the Spurs 2010-11 cap. Â But, of course, if the Spurs lose Ginobili’s draw at the gate next season, it’s money lost the other direction. That’s not good either. Peter Holt is in a hard spot.
And now John Krolik has joined the conversation. His take is from the gut, but it bears resemblance to Kevin Pelton’s recent statistical analysis of the 2010 free agent class. Pelton argues that after LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh, Manu Ginobili is the next best player of the 2010 free agent class.  If not for age, I would actually rank Ginobili alongside Chris Bosh, rather than just behind. Pelton:
There are several surprising numbers here, probably none more unexpected than the top player in this group, Manu Ginobili. Outside of the top three players, Ginobili is the only other free agent projected to be worth double-digit WARP next season despite turning 33.
It’s a terrible cliché, but it seems entirely apt here: Rumors of Ginobili’s demise have been greatly exaggerated. In part, he probably is hurt by a comparison to his own younger self. Ginobili is no longer at that level, but he had plenty of room to take a step back and remain a valuable contributor. Let’s compare him to Johnson, for example.
Player Win% WARP TS% Usg Reb% Ast% SB% --------------------------------------------------------- Ginobili .647 6.3 .555 .243 7.6 7.8 3.7 Johnson .544 5.4 .542 .267 7.3 5.6 1.6Johnson is known as one of the league’s most versatile guards, yet Ginobili has him beat across the board except in terms of the ability to create his own shot. Does that explain why Ginobili is at the top of the group and Johnson the bottom, especially when the latter is four years younger? Not entirely, but in terms of players who could make an immediate impact by changing teams next year, Ginobili belongs in the discussion.
Krolik says the same thing, with his usual intelligence:
Last weekend, Manu Ginobili put up a combined 75 points in wins against two of the best three teams in basketball. A week earlier, Ginobili scored a combined 58 points in wins against Cleveland and Boston. Manu’s missed one game in the past couple of months. That was the game the Spurs lost to the Nets. He’s got the 2nd-best PER among shooting guards this season, and the 9th-best PER of any player in the league. And it’s not like this is a fluke year for him — Manu’s had a PER mark of 22 or higher in his last six seasons. On top of all that, if you believe in the “proven winner” thing, Manu Ginobili is definitely a proven winner.
Here’s the kicker. Manu Ginobili is a free agent in 2010, and there doesn’t seem to be anywhere near as much speculation surrounding him as there should be…Manu Ginobili is going to quietly make the team that signs him very happy while the rest of the league goes for broke chasing marquee names
Krolik is spot-on. Â I suspect the league’s best GMs would read his assessment and ‘amen’ and ‘uh-huh’ themselves into a huffy pant. And, somewhat strangely, I suspect that many casual fans would shake their heads and demur. “Don’t you know how old Manu Ginobili is? And that Rudy Gay is pregnant with potential?”
But despite such protests, there really isn’t an honest metric that would teach us to value Rudy Gay or Joe Johnson more than Manu Ginobili.
When folks knock the free agent value of Manu Ginobili–and trust me, they do–they’re floating their discontent beneath the balloon of perceived entertainment value. Rudy Gay is better because he’s more fun to watch.
And that’s the part I really don’t get.
Set aside the fact the Manu Ginobili is a much better player than all but a few of his free agent class peers. Forget that for a moment. Â If you’re just paying money to watch an exciting basketball player, and not one who helps your team win, would you rather watch Manu Ginobili or Rudy Gay? Manu Ginobili or Joe Johnson? Â If I’m a GM whose interest primarily, perhaps exclusively, lies in improving my team’s draw at the gate, it’s hard to pass on Ginobili, unless, of course, you’re doing so in favor of James, Wade, or, perhaps, Stoudemire. But I would never pass over Ginobili for Joe Johnson or Rudy Gay. No disrespect, but they’re not in the same class of talent.
In other words, Manu Ginobili will not only improve your basketball team, he’ll make it–in a completely independent evaluation from wins added–much more entertaining. The man is a nightly highlight reel.
Taken together, I’m with Krolik. Tell me again why Manu Ginobili isn’t a marquee free agent target?
Extend Manu now!
Would you really pay to see Joe Johnson or Rudy Gay play?? I wouldn’t.
Would I pay to see Manu play? Yes!!
You also cannot underestimate the Latino nation that Manu would attract. Especially in places like New York.
Johnson and Gay are good players, but like the article says, Manu is in another class.
Manu would make Johnson and Gay better.
I wouldn’t be surprised if The Spurs didn’t resign Manu. It is a business and Manu ain’t a rookie.
Having said that, it is a business and MANU can still be a cash cow for the next few seasons. So why wouldn’t they resign him?
My biggest fear is that THE LAKE show is gonna come in a steal him away. I know the Latino Community would be happy.
The only way to drop Manu’s FA values, will be if he insists on playing for the national team this offseason. I wouldn’t be terribly sad to see him go if he plays for the NP and comes back out of shape and banged-up. I’m also against signing him up with a over-the-top contract (say, something like what Hedo got this season: long-term and overpaid). Then again, he’s Manu freakin’ Ginobili and seeing him in other than silver-and-black would be a heart breaking thing, I must add.
@junierizzle – I seriously doubt Lakers can afford Manu, other than offering him a full mid-level. The team’s loaded with big contracts already.
Would you please quit trying to convince the world why their teams need Manu Ginobili!? He’s doing a good enough job of that as it is, already.
I mean Nation Team, not NP…
U know what, I am hoping Manu is offered top $$$ this summer. I know that would mean that he will probably not be a Spur, but I really want to see Manu make 13-14 Million + rest of the way. No spurs pay him more than the Jason Kidd deal (3 yr 27 mill).
I am a spurs supporter 1st before a fan of manu and I will have to live with watching manu playing in another uniform. Manu just deserves a lot more money than wht the Spurs ca offer and I wouldnt want him to settle for less. When a Koby can get a 90 million deal, manu should surely get a 50 million deal.
NO WAY* spurs pay him…
I’m a Spurs supporter first, and it’s because I am that I want Manu back!
@IAN
The LAKE show wouldn’t necessarily need to pay a lot to get MANU. He took less money once before.
I only see MANU going to a contender. If it’s only about money then he would go overseas. I see Manu taking less money as long as there is a chance to win.
If not The LAKE SHOW then wherever the KING Show ends up.
Crazy as it sounds, could the Mavs make a play at him? Seems like they need a guard with more size than Terry and Barea, and his shooting and passing would fit alongside any of their guys. Plus, Cuban’s already invested in older guys, so why not go all in?
My bet is he stays in SanAn.
With the rate things are going on right now, I don’t think any NBA team would be able to really afford Manu, unless they offer him a contract that’s similar to that of Kobe. I mean, yes, he’s not in the same calibre as that of Kobe (not to mean disrespect), but Manu’s capable of bringing out the best in his team rather than carrying the entire team on his shoulder. Based on the posts I’ve read here, I see Manu as a passionate player that would yell at the player who’s not giving the game his best shot every minute.
Yes, he might be the potential “cute carrot” that the Knicks can dangle at James or Wade, but I don’t think that they’d be capable of getting this carrot that easily. Yes, there’s a large Latino community in New York (and L.A. too), but I think that he’d rather go to a place where he could get the minutes and the salary.
I think that would be in Europe. Just like how people like Tiago Splitter would most probably stay.
Offer him 2yrs 24-28mil to play out his career with Tim. Take the tax hit, because I’m guessing it would outweigh the money the franchise would lose it they let him walk.
Manu should retire from the NBA as a Spur.
Europe is completely unrealistic for Manu. The guy is all about the competition, he’s already dominated Europe, and the best competition is in the NBA. He’s going to stay in the NBA and my guess is the Spurs will offer to pay him longer than to pay him more. Manu’s wife is giving birth to their first children this summer (twins), so while making money is important, long term financial security would be more of a factor. Instead of offering Manu a giant, front loaded contract (3 years, 10 mil a year) i see the Spurs offering Manu between 5-10 million per for the next 4-5 years. This allows the Spurs to keep cap room, and offers Manu more long term security. I think Manu stays a Spur, although i acknowledge it’s not 100% for certain.
Manu will not play overseas. He has twins on the way. Same with playing in the olympics. Resign Manu. Bring in Scola.
I think one of the biggest problems for the spurs in resigning Ginobili is his insitance on playing for the argentinian national team. I wonder how you approach something like that in the negotiations “ok the deal is if you DONT play for argentina youd get a 5m bonus.” haha.
not to sound overly glib or piss off peta, but two words:
bat swat
bring back ginobili!
Sperm Fans think they can Beat LA in the first round.
Lakers Rule the west with an iron fist.
Spurs are no longer who they were back in the day
You no longer put fear in hearts Sperms fans
We want the Sperms in the first round
We will dominate/Kill/Murder Sperms
then Ginobili will realize, Lakers are the team
it was good while it Lasted Sperms fans you had a good run for too long anyway about time you started sucking
Welcome to mediocrity HA HA
I just threw up after reading that article. I couldn’t bear to watch him play for another team.
I doubt we can resign him unless he doesn’t ask for a lot of money
Way to go….
Keep Manu on the down low already.
If Manu played for the Knicks it would be a horrible kick in the humanities.
I don’t want to see Manu behind another ball-hogging star (pardon me, TP). I think what the past few games have shown is that Manu with the ball in his hands as the primary option/STAR in a team is a Manu that is in the top 3 players in the league. He’s probably always had that before, but was quite inconsistent in his brilliance because he had to defer to TP. Seriously, watch Manu play with TP. He just stands there in the elbow (actually, everyone else is just standing around, too) because the only player TP ever passes the ball to by design is TD, and if he passes it to another player, it’s because he was forced to.
I’m not saying we should trade TP (actually, I think I am), but TP should power our bench and leave the real leader of this team on the starting 5.
Holt should probably just bite the bullet and trade RJ. Obviously the Spurs can’t get market value for his contract, but someone will bite, and if that’s the price you have to pay to keep Manu, you kind of have to do it.
Or Bonner/Mason. Basically Holt has to trade someone.
Is it an insane idea to trade Tony Parker in the off-season? I have no idea what his trade value is (maybe a 2010 first round pick and a later second round pick? [certainly not the CP3 deal that was apparently discussed earlier this season] ), but I think it could make sense on a few levels.
Trading Parker would free up some cap space for Manu and Splitter, plus theoretically give the Spurs some cap space for two first round picks.
While Parker is (by a long shot) the youngest of the big 3, Hill is a much more viable replacement for Parker than there is for Timmy or Manu, and the FO has a better history of drafting PG’s over the last few years (Parker, Udrih, Hill) than any other position (I’m intentionally forgetting Scola).
I’d be very content if we can keep Ginobili and sign Splitter this off-season without blowing up the roster at all, but I think that Manu is more important to the team than Parker, so it would at least be worth a thought.
The FO needs to figure out a way to keep him. Duncan and him are what makes the spurs the spurs. True baller
I don’t get why everyone seems to act like Manu would be getting screwed over if he doesn’t get the ‘max’ contract. Do we all forget that a) even 3-8 million a year is a hell of a lot of money, and b) is Manu really such a big spender that he’s going to be financially unfit if he doesn’t make 30 million over the next 4-5 years?
Sorry but he’s no Kobe or Wade… He’ll for sure want a good deal, but money isn’t going to be the biggest factor… nor whether he can support his kids. Last time I heard, Manu wasn’t blowing his entire salary each year. It’ll come down to where Manu is treated with respect and feels he’s needed/wanted and can make an impact. With Pop, Duncan, and Parker, and all of SA… I like the Spurs chances.
Manu, is the man! and he is the spurs(now) and if we lose him, then we go into sub-par rebuilding stage….and money isn’t the world to manu, winning and being with family and friends, he said it him self and he said he would love to play along side scola again….watch for him to go to the rockets if we don’t resign him….i promise that one!
Somebody needs to convince RJ to opt out of his contract so the spurs can pay Manu the money RJ is taking away.
That’s the only way feasible, in the interim.
But no one would deny money. Threaten RJ by saying to trade him to a sucky team if he doesn’t opt out and take a lesser contract.
my friends aunt does the ultrasound for Manu’s wife and maybe she can convince his wife to keep Manu in SA haha
It could just work.
@David G
I’m from Argentina and let me tell you that last season, Manu’s brother told in National television that the spurs offered him 6 million back in 2008 if he didn’t play in Beijing.
And one other thing, today the NT coach told a newspaper that Manu is thinking about playing the Olympics in London instead of playing in the World Championship. Here is the link:
http://www.ole.clarin.com/notas/2010/04/06/basquet/02174640.html
(it’s in spanish, sorry)
I honestly don’t see why people are so worried about the Spurs’ supposed inability to pay Manu. Right now the Spurs are obligated to pay 56 million dollars in salaries next season. The luxury threshold will probably stay somewhere around the 68-9 million mark. This means that the spurs can offer Manu around 10 million next year, resign Bonner for about 3 and then fill up the roster with two or three minimum salary players. Yes they will probably move slightly into luxury tax territory but not by much. Under those circumstances I am inclined to believe that the franchise would be taking an even bigger hit by letting Manu go and thus doom the team to first round playoff fodder at best.
A small addendum:
I realize that I completely forgot about Splitter. Now its not certain that he will be coming at all but the picture does indeed become a bit murkier if he opts to try his hand in the NBA. But I am guessing that since he is no longer bound by the rookie salary scale it would be possible to backload his deal to minimize the luxury cost this year. And since Jeffersons deal will come of the books a year from now thing will become much simpler then.
@HJay: It’s not as pleasant as you imagine.
We have $19,579,797.00 that will come off the books including Manu’s salary. That will leave us with 7 players that have guaranteed contracts. The league minimum is 13. If the front office wants to make our team a contender, we have no choice but to resign Manu. I say we give him a 3 yr – 27 Million dollar deal. When he is playing, he is worth it. I think there should be a clause to where if he is injured playing for the national team, that his contract be voided.. I dont know if thats possible or not.
Any way you look at it;
No Manu = No Championship
No Manu = FO loses tons of money from attendance
No Manu = Boring Spurs basketball
HJay –
The the cap for 2010-11 is projected to drop to $50.4 – 53.6M (or about 5% from last year). Your $69.9M luxury tax figure is also projected to drop by a similar amount to around $65M for next year.
That means that if we want to resign Manu and put together a title contender + Splitter + our 1st round pick, you’re looking at $75 – 80M. That equals $10-15M is pure tax alone. That’s quite a hit for any organization, much less a small market team with limited earnings power.
Could Manu make a crap-load of money somewhere else? Yes. But, I can’t see him playing with someone like LeBron or Kobe due to the type of game being played. I don’t think they can share roles of both going to the basket every time. I think he wants to win, make money, and have a significant role, where others don’t step on his toes. Now, what team can offer that? hmmmm….
Anything less than a Championship will mean the Spurs will explore all options available including salary dumping RJ and trading Parker for a package of players. If we don’t win the titke no way will we see Manu, Parker, and RJ all in a Spurs uniform at the same time. I think the Spurs would extend Manu now if they weren’t so worried about not being able to get rid of RJ’s contract. One team that has a hole at SF and the cap space to absorb RJ’s salary is the LA Clippers, if the Clippers don’t get Rudy Gay, RJ could be a Plan B for them.
@Tyler
If the luxury threshold falls as much as you say it will then this obviously becomes more of a dilemma.
As DieHardSpur wrote we have seven people under contract at 56M and lets say that Manu accepts a three year deal worth 27M. This deal certainly could be structured somehow like this:
First year 8 million
Second year 9 million
Third year 10 million
The first round pick will cost us 1 million and the three min wage players will together cost around 3 million
By then we have 12 players costing 68 million dollars and a pretty competitive core.
Then there are two questions unanswered (or really three). Do we resign Bonner and is Splitter willing to come and for how much? We will probably end up with one of those two meaning that the club could end up paying about 71-72 million dollars in wages. That is certainly a lot for a small market team but this is obviously the price that the club will have to pay if it wants to stay competitive.
Are there any obvious flaws in this analysis?
So, total payroll + tax is going to be roughly $85-90M next season barring any offseason moves. Also, the Spurs will also lose out on the tax rebate that all non-tax paying teams receive. In recent years, it has been between $4-6M.
To simplify:
$75M (payroll) + $10M (tax) + $5M (rebate lost, which we usually get) = $90M in total salary.
Compare that $90M we will be paying next year to what we typically pay each year – about $65M when you factor in the tax rebate – and you’re looking at a payroll increase of 38% from the norm! That’s enormous! And I took the low estimates!
Now you see why there has been a sense of urgency on the part of most NBA teams to slash salary for the coming years. This is also a reason why the upcoming CBA negotiations/fight/brawl could get ugly.
No, we pretty much agree on the #’s, although I think the market will push Manu’s salary higher, closer to $11-12M per on average (he did sign for below market value last time we resigned him).
In the end though, I think we do what it takes to resign Manu, even if that means 11-12 per. Holt, if nothing else, needs to fills seats and the only way to do that is to put a competitive product on the floor. The payroll hit he takes would most likely be less than the gate hit he’d take if we didn’t resign Manu and had no legit shot to contend.
But make no mistake – there is going to be a sense of urgency on the FO’s part to bring down salary this offseason and before next year’s deadline.
I love the way Manu has played of late but everybody stop the “Manu is back” hysteria. He has played solid for a little over one month but that does not necessarily mean he will stay consistent for X amount of years. There is a reason we are fans and not GM’s because many of us will just see this one month and want to throw plenty of greenbacks into Manu’s bank account. GM’s and front office personnel on the other hand will see this current Manu and then look back at his recent body of work and then make a decision. As much as I enjoy Manu the Spurs team comes first and if we could dangle Manu for solid players, picks and/or cash then I say put Manu out there. I like the young studs of Hairston, Blair, Hill, Parker and the ones still in overseas and in D-league. Sure I’d love for the Spurs to retain Manu but not if he wants 14-15 Million a year. No way. No matter how much he’s meant to us.
Yeah all those teams with plenty af salary space are quite scary especially since they are not all going to be getting LBJ or the marquee players. I however very much doubt that Ginobili would be willing to join a poor team even if it would mean a wage hike. He just doesn’t seem to be that sort of a guy. If however the Knicks or another such team would manage to entice a big name then Manu would be definitely be a very interesting addition to fill up the remainder of the cap.
So Ginobili will certainly have a big decision to make this summer. If he opts to leave (or the FO decides not to resign him) then I can only see the Spurs being an above average team at best in a very tough conference for the forseeable future. That in itself will cost the owners a lot of money in the long run.
I agree with El Ganzo comments about signing Ginobili. He has played great lately because he has been our #1 option. Like it or not he he and Tony will share the bulk of the offense when he comes back. So his numbers will drop. I would love to see the spurs re sign Manu. It would have to be in the 10-11 million a year range for 3 years. Anything over that i think is to much of a risk considering his age and past injuries. Lets not forget he has help bring SA three championships. He has done more than enough for this orginization. If some other team offers him 12-13 then so be it. Let him walk and start re building. This will give us a chance to let hill blair hairston splitter (no reason we cant sign him if we dont resign manu) and start looking forward to the future.
Firstly, I completely agree Ginobli is the ‘best of the rest (i.e. players not named ‘LeBron’, ‘Wade’ or ‘Bosh’)’ so to speak in this free agency class. I have no idea why people were thinking the likes of Johnson were above him… I mean SERIOUSLY? Joe Johnson?
Secondly, I reckon if we contend this year (i.e. get to the Finals) he wants to stay and the FO want him to stay. If we don’t get contend (i.e. blown out in 4 in the 1st round) Ginobli doesn’t want to stay and neither do the FO.
Thirdly… To cheer everyone up about Ginobli possibly leaving:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nejQMtkyLgY
You can’t base Ginobili’s value based on play but if you did he would still deserve a fat contract. Ginobili’s value comes from the fact he’s tailor made for this market and he puts buts in the seats.
The Spurs do a great job of maintaining a good relationship with their season ticket holders. They literally treat them like family. Many of those folks have occupied the same seats since the Hemisfare Arena and are just as recognizable as some of the former Spur greats. Those season ticket holders have made it known to Spurs Mgmt. that if Manu is not signed they are not going to renew their season tickets. In this economy when there are only a limited number of folks in this market who can actually afford season tickets the Spurs will not risk losing a large contingent of season ticket holders.
I have to agree with the point that the SAEN columnist Buck Harvey made this past weekend and that is that Ginbobili’s recent play has made it an easier decision for the Spurs to re-sign Manu due to his recent stellar play. If Ginobili was playing as he did in the first half of the season then the Spurs would have a dilemma on their hands but it’s obvious he can still compete at a high level and his injury situation wasn’t a chronic ongoing issue.
Isn’t the consensus here something like, Manu is the ultimate priority, in both gate revenue and winning (except for TD of course, but that’s beside the point)?
Meaning, amongst Parker, Jefferson, and everyone else (except MAYBE Hill or Blair), getting salaries cleared out is the thing. Of course, clearing TP or RJ’s salary is LIKELY to come with a trade request of including Hill or Blair in the deal.
Tony will play tonight in Sac town
http://www.facebook.com/tp9network/posts/111370568890777
Hopefully he’ll have some sort of groove back by the playoffs. We need wins.
I know it sounds crazy and all, but I wouldn’t be surprised if Daryl Morey is going after Manu on the DL this summer…it’d make perfect sense, and I think the Rockets could pull it off. If they end up keeping Scola I’d say it becomes a 70% chance of snagging Manu.
phoebus –
Correct.
However, if we play well this postseason, I can see the FO only making minor moves and keeping the team intact, taking one more financial hit next year, and then letting RJ roll off the books. To me, that seems like the most logical outcome if the goals are to try and win before TD’s window shuts and to keep people in the seats.
I don’t think we’ll entertain the idea of moving TP though. And for what it’s worth, if push came to shove, I’d much rather let Blair go than Hill – Blair’s production at the PF spot is much easier to replace than Hill’s.
Another way to think about resigning Manu, though, is to consider the total amount of the next contract rather than the per-year numbers.
Let’s say rather than trying to match the precise terms of teams like the Knicks, Heat, Bulls, etc. who might make a big push, we simply offer a 5-year deal at an amount that will allow us to re-sign him without having to gut the team. For example, if they offer 3 yrs @ $12 mil/year, we could offer 5 years at $8mil/year and still be offering Manu a better package of guaranteed money.
Yes, the last few years of the deal are almost certain to be a cap burden, but Manu would be the only long-term deal still on our books by that time, and one bad contract at that amount doesn’t kill your rebuilding flexibility if you rebuild mostly through the draft. Having a big expiring deal, especially if the new CBA brings in a hard salary cap, can actually be an advantage in certain situations.
If Holt is willing to take the huge tax hit for one more season, we could then bring over Splitter at mid-level money if he’ll take it, fill in w/ min. salary guys, and let RJ’s deal just expire after next season to reduce the long-term tax burden.
If the Spurs need to dump salary to sign Manu, what they should do is trade Parker (or more honestly, give him away). Jefferson would be ideal but no one wants his salary. But Parker would make a lot of mediocre teams better. But I’ve argued for years that Manu is the engine that drives the machine. Parker gets Parker going, Manu gets the Spurs going. Last year at this time Manu was out and Parker was their number one option. Now honestly, was the team better a year ago or right now? It’s not even close.
And yes, Manu has only recently come around. But I think it’s because he wasn’t given the playing time necessary to get into a rhythm. If Manu had been starting from the get go this season he would have been back by December 1st, not February 1st.
The Spurs have made some bonehead moves in the last couple of years, but not re-signing Manu would be by far the dumbest of the dumb.