It's officially official. The San Antonio Spurs waive Manu Ginobili according to Shams Charania of The Athletic. This move finalizes San Antonio's roster as they prepare for their season opener against the Timberwolves on Wednesday. Obviously, Ginobili's retirement was announced earlier this summer, but Spurs fans may have been holding onto a sliver of hope that Ginobili would return.

It was a pipe dream, to be clear, but there's no doubt that Ginobili's retirement is coming at a difficult time for the organization. The roster turnover this offseason was downright dramatic. Kawhi Leonard and Danny Green were shipped north to Toronto in exchange for DeMar DeRozan and Jakob Poeltl. Tony Parker departed for the Charlotte Hornets and of course, Ginobili hung it up.

Furthermore, Gregg Popovich's squad was recently hit with a string of injuries in the backcourt. Dejounte Murray was lost for the season when he tore his ACL. Derrick White, a possible replacement for Murray in the starting lineup, then went down with a foot injury.

The backcourt is thin and San Antonio would have benefitted greatly from the presence of Ginobili — or even Parker. Ginobili isn't a classic point guard, but he could handle the ball and his veteran presence would have helped prop up the battered backcourt.

But alas, Ginobili won't be making a heroic comeback to save the Spurs. The team will need to figure out how to distribute minutes amongst the guards and Popovich faces a major challenge to begin San Antonio's quest for a 22nd straight playoff appearance.