With the retirement of the great Tim Duncan, the San Antonio Spurs knew they were going to have a huge void to fill in the roster this offseason. Another franchise in the league threatened to make that void even larger for the Spurs and steal away another one of their coveted veterans.
The Philadelphia 76ers offered a huge contract to free agent Manu Ginobili that subsequently forced the Spurs' hand in re-signing the 39-year old veteran guard.
Philly's offer to Manu that forced San Antonio's hand, sources say, was a two-year pact at roughly $30 million (Year 2 partially guaranteed)
— Marc Stein (@ESPNSteinLine) July 14, 2016
With the threat of losing two pillars of the their historic big three, the Spurs were forced to triple their initial offer to Ginobili and re-sign him to a one-year, $14 million contract. Ginobili has consistently taken pay cuts over the years to stay in San Antonio, the only city he has played for in his 14-year career. It would be hard to imagine Ginobili leaving the Spurs, but Ginobili's agent said it would take a “good deal” for him to return for another season. With free agents receiving historic contracts, the San Antonio front office did not want to take any chances on losing another franchise player.
With the Spurs offering Ginobili a significant pay raise from his mere $2.8 million salary last season, they were also forced to let go of second year center Boban Marjanovic. Marjonovic was offered a three-year, $21 million contract by the Detroit Pistons, a deal the Spurs simply could not match.
Despite losing Marjonovic and the legend Tim Duncan, the Spurs will still be a threat in the west. They recently added center Pau Gasol, and of course, they still have two-time Defensive Player of the Year Kawhi Leonard and LaMarcus Aldridge.
[button width=”full” button size=”bigger” color=”custom” align=”center” textcolor=”#ffffff” texthcolor=”#ffffff” bgcolor=”#8b0000″ link=”https://clutchpoints.com/manu-ginobili-thanks-tim-duncan-temporarily-fixing-bald-spot/”]NEXT: Manu Ginobili thanks Tim Duncan for temporarily fixing his bald spot[/button]
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