About two weeks after he chose not to exercise his player option with the Pacers, the 34-year-old power forward will join the San Antonio Spurs, according to respected reporters David Aldridge and Adrian Wojnarowski. Ginobili, who will turn 38 this month, made the announcement on Twitter. Ginobili has averaged 14.3 points throughout his career in the regular season and 15.2 points per game in the postseason.
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West will be joining LaMarcus Aldridge, the Spurs’ other prized free agent forward who agreed to leave the Portland Trail Blazers for San Antonio on Saturday.
Washington could’ve offered West the mid-level exception, which is worth just over $5 million, while the Spurs only had the veteran minimum to work with. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the deal has not been announced.
West, a burly veteran, opted out of a $12.6 million contract for the 2015-16 season with Indiana to chase his first-ever National Basteball Association championship. Duncan is coming off one of his best seasons in the last five years and rightfully earned an All-NBA Third Team spot.
The Spurs roster is going to be very deep with Leonard, Tony Parker, Aldridge, Tim Duncan, Boris Diaw, Manu Ginobili and Matt Bonner along with Patty Mills. Those maneuvers should put the Spurs square into contention for their sixth championship. He already has a Finals M.V.P. under his belt and I think he will become a perennial all-star starting this season. Viewership topped the previous mark of 26.5 million set when Germany beat Argentina in last year’s men’s World Cup final.
At 34, any National Basteball Association player knows that he is nearing the twilight of his career.
Koufos played behind Gasol and Zach Randolph in Memphis the past two seasons. He took almost an $11 million pay cut to join the Spurs and play off the bench.
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The deal shows that West only cares about winning this season. Details of the deal were not available.
