The San Antonio Spurs are in a similar offseason boat as the Miami Heat. Their own Big Three have some uncertainty in their futures as expiring contracts and potential retirement will headline their offseason after the championship celebrating is over. While Tim Duncan mulls the end of a career, Tony Parker is making a few predictions for the Spurs' future.
Duncan does not have long to decide what his future holds for him. The power forward must notify the Spurs by June 24 if he intends on picking up a $10.3 million player option and return for what would likely be his last season. He is in a similar boat to Kevin Garnett who is pondering the same option with the Brooklyn Nets. At 38, certainly no one would blame Duncan for leaving the money on the table and ending his career on a championship high note, but Parker believes that the Spurs will have everyone return for another year.
"It will come to an end but I don't think next year," Parker said, vi the San Antonio Express-News. "I think everybody's gonna come back. Tim and Manu are going to play until they die, so I think we are in pretty good shape. Tim and Manu want to play until they die, somewhat sincerely, actually."
Parker's assumption follows what ESPN has been reporting, that the Spurs have been quietly operating under the notion that Duncan will indeed return for one more year. He can join his long-time teammates along with NBA Finals MVP Kawhi Leonard and fight for another championship. According to Ginobili, if the Spurs retain everyone, they can easily win back-to-back titles.
"I think I said it many times. There was not one season since I'm in the NBA that I really didn't truly believe that we could have won it," said Ginobili. "Every year we were up there. Sometimes we were No. 1 and we lost in the first round. Some other times we were seventh and we had a shot at winning it. But playing with the teammates I've always played, coached by the guy that is coaching us, I always felt that we had a shot, and I truly never believed it was the last shot."
One free agent that might end up being on the outside looking in is Boris Diaw. According to ESPN.com, Diaw might draw the short stick in free agency as the Spurs also have to worry about a new deal for Parker. They also lose Patty Millers and Matt Bonner to free agency and likely will not be looking to bring them back. The Spurs are in a great position as far as their salary cap is concerned, so they have the chance to chase a few big names.
The team has been linked to a trade for Kevin Love, but according to NBA sources, that is likely not going to be a priority. The Spurs would love to get Love this offseason, but prefer to sign him as a free agent rather than give up a lot for a trade. According to BleacherReport.com, the Spurs could look to Chandler Parsons as a free agent target since the Houston Texans are letting him test the market. The Spurs will attempt to retain their players, but could easily get outbid for many of them.
