An offseason of potentially seismic change for the San Antonio Spurs will have to wait at least a month for clarity.
It sounds as if Gregg Popovich is coming back as head coach, and while he seems confident that Tim Duncan will be back for a 19th season, the status of Manu Ginobili remains a major question mark. Ginobili has been fairly clear that if he plays in 2015-16, it will be his last season, but that remains an appreciably large "if."
Ginobili did little to clear things up in penning an article for La Nacion, explaining that he's going to take some time before deciding. Here's Ginobili, through Google Translate:
There are times that season review and tell me how I'm not going to play some more and there are moments when I do not want to see a ball even close. I'll wait for this month and see how I feel. If I feel like a former player or not. I begin to wonder if or how my body feels. It is a unique moment, I've never been in this situation. I thought briefly in 2013, but a week or 10 days knew I wanted to take another challenge and that was not the point. Now let's see, maybe now is the same or more difficult for me and I have to wait longer. So I'll see calmly what I do, because there are decisions you have to make hurry.
Ginobili will be 38 when next season begins and has been playing professionally since 1995. Considering he's never missed the playoffs and was a long-time regular for Argentina's national team, he has a lot of mileage on his tires, even if the Spurs have always managed his minutes well.
His performance also declined some this season, with Ginobili posting his lowest scoring average since his 2002-03 rookie season and his lowest per-minute scoring average since 2003-04. In 70 games, he averaged 10.5 points, three rebounds, 4.2 assists and one steal in 22.7 minutes, shooting 42.6 percent from the floor.
He remains a capable bench scorer and the Spurs would surely love to have him back, especially if Duncan returns for a final season and if Ginobili is willing to sign in the neighborhood of the $7 million he made last season.
Over 13 seasons with the Spurs, Ginobili has appeared in 865 games, averaging 14.3 points, 3.8 rebounds, four assists and 1.4 steals. He ranks fifth in franchise history in scoring, assists and games played and second in steals, winning four NBA championships in the process.
