loveforthegame
05-31-2008, 11:26 PM
Sounds like Finley will play next season be it with the Spurs or not. Horry still undecisive. Thomas might have to be resigned if Splitter stays in Spain.
http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/basketball/nba/spurs/stories/MYSA060108.8C.BKNspurs.freeagents.344d188.html
Spurs face tough calls on older free agents
Web Posted: 05/31/2008 09:57 PM CDT
By Mike Monroe
Express-News
Three members of the Spurs' core, each a veteran of at least 11 seasons, will become unrestricted free agents July 1.
Average age of Robert Horry, Michael Finley and Kurt Thomas: 36.
Could a team hoping to get younger and more athletic seriously consider returning all three for next season?
Finley, who started 61 games and increased his scoring average by more than a point over 2006-07, would love to return to the Spurs.
“I'm not ready to hang it up yet,” he said Saturday, after the final meeting with coaches at the team's practice facility. “I still feel I can give a team some added help.
“In a perfect world, I'd love to stay here and help reclaim a championship. But I understand it's a business, so from that standpoint, I have to remain open-minded.”
Finley, who signed with the Spurs in 2005, said he hasn't thought much about free agency. The sting of losing to the Lakers in the Western Conference finals remains too fresh.
“I haven't had time to think about being a free agent,” Finley said, “but it is my future, so it's something that, at some point, I will have to sit down with my agent and my family and make a decision about what we have in store.”
Horry, 38, finished a disappointing season by never leaving the bench during the Spurs' Game 5 loss to the Lakers.
Nevertheless, he said he's “up in the air” about retiring.
“Eighty percent of me wants to play,” he said. “I'm sure when I get in the gym and see people bouncing the ball, it will turn into 100 percent. We'll just have to wait and see what happens.”
If he returns for a 17th season, he wants it to be as a Spur.
“It's basically here, or nowhere else,” he said, “but I'm not going to close the door. If somebody has a chance of going to the playoffs and has a team I respect and players I like and think I can enjoy battling with, I'd look into that situation. Other than that, no.”
Horry said he understands his physical skills have diminished with age, but believes he remains capable of contributing to a good team.
“If I stuck around,” he said, “I'd still be better than a lot of the players. I might not be as fast as a lot of them, or as quick, but I'm smarter than 98 percent of the league.”
Thomas, meanwhile, played his best game of the playoffs in the Spurs' final game. With 2007 draft pick Tiago Splitter's apparent decision to stay in Spain, it's more likely the Spurs will re-sign Thomas.
Spurs coach and executive vice president of basketball operations Gregg Popovich said the Spurs are certain to adjust their roster.
“We usually adjust,” he said, “first, based on guys who don't have a contract, whether they want to come back or we want them to come back.”
http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/basketball/nba/spurs/stories/MYSA060108.8C.BKNspurs.freeagents.344d188.html
Spurs face tough calls on older free agents
Web Posted: 05/31/2008 09:57 PM CDT
By Mike Monroe
Express-News
Three members of the Spurs' core, each a veteran of at least 11 seasons, will become unrestricted free agents July 1.
Average age of Robert Horry, Michael Finley and Kurt Thomas: 36.
Could a team hoping to get younger and more athletic seriously consider returning all three for next season?
Finley, who started 61 games and increased his scoring average by more than a point over 2006-07, would love to return to the Spurs.
“I'm not ready to hang it up yet,” he said Saturday, after the final meeting with coaches at the team's practice facility. “I still feel I can give a team some added help.
“In a perfect world, I'd love to stay here and help reclaim a championship. But I understand it's a business, so from that standpoint, I have to remain open-minded.”
Finley, who signed with the Spurs in 2005, said he hasn't thought much about free agency. The sting of losing to the Lakers in the Western Conference finals remains too fresh.
“I haven't had time to think about being a free agent,” Finley said, “but it is my future, so it's something that, at some point, I will have to sit down with my agent and my family and make a decision about what we have in store.”
Horry, 38, finished a disappointing season by never leaving the bench during the Spurs' Game 5 loss to the Lakers.
Nevertheless, he said he's “up in the air” about retiring.
“Eighty percent of me wants to play,” he said. “I'm sure when I get in the gym and see people bouncing the ball, it will turn into 100 percent. We'll just have to wait and see what happens.”
If he returns for a 17th season, he wants it to be as a Spur.
“It's basically here, or nowhere else,” he said, “but I'm not going to close the door. If somebody has a chance of going to the playoffs and has a team I respect and players I like and think I can enjoy battling with, I'd look into that situation. Other than that, no.”
Horry said he understands his physical skills have diminished with age, but believes he remains capable of contributing to a good team.
“If I stuck around,” he said, “I'd still be better than a lot of the players. I might not be as fast as a lot of them, or as quick, but I'm smarter than 98 percent of the league.”
Thomas, meanwhile, played his best game of the playoffs in the Spurs' final game. With 2007 draft pick Tiago Splitter's apparent decision to stay in Spain, it's more likely the Spurs will re-sign Thomas.
Spurs coach and executive vice president of basketball operations Gregg Popovich said the Spurs are certain to adjust their roster.
“We usually adjust,” he said, “first, based on guys who don't have a contract, whether they want to come back or we want them to come back.”