Manu Ginobili announced that he will play another season in the NBA with the San Antonio Spurs. The Argentine shooting guard will play his sixteenth season in the NBA.
This time, the big difference will be his salary as he will take a huge pay cut to remain with the team. In the upcoming season Ginóbili will receive the veterans minimum a total that is below four million dollars. In contrast, last season the Argentine international earned a salary of about 14 million dollars.
Ginobili, winner of four NBA titles with San Antonio, is the fifth-highest scorer in Spurs history. Last season the Argentinian averaged 7.5 points and shot 39 percent from the field, which are the lowest season totals of his career.
After being eliminated in the playoffs by the Golden State Warriors, Manu hinted that he could retire in the offseason and said that he needed to take some time off to think about his future.
Last week, the Spurs made a move that suggested what path Ginobili would take. With the roster practically complete, the Spurs decided to give up the rights for Jonathan Simmons.
The departure of the American shooting guard insinuated that the Spurs were saving a spot for Ginobili in case he decided to come back. In the end the Argentine decided to reward the Spurs’ gesture by deciding to play one more season.
With the signing of Manu, the team led by Gregg Popovich, is now waiting on the decision of Spanish Power Forward Pau Gasol. The 37-year-old Power Forward has yet to announce if he will return to the Spurs after trying the free agent market.
Besides Simmons, other players that left were David Lee, Dewayne Dedmon and Joel Anthony.
Some of the new faces in San Antonio for the upcoming season are Rudy Gay (Sacramento Kings), Joffrey Lauvergne (Chicago Bulls) and Brandon Paul ( concluded the Summer League with the Cleveland Cavaliers).
