Appendectomy sidelines Neal one week

Spurs guard Gary Neal will miss at least a week of training camp after undergoing an appendectomy.

Neal began feeling pain in his abdominal region Sunday night. After consulting with team doctors Monday, a decision was made to remove Neal’s inflamed appendix.

The procedure went off without complication, according to a Spurs medical release.

Neal, 27, is entering his second season with the Spurs after earning first-team All-Rookie honors in 2010-11. He will be prohibited from physical activity for the next week, after which doctors will re-examine him and provide a more specific timeline for recovery.

A day before falling ill, Neal had been looking forward to completing his second Spurs training camp.

“It’s a great feeling to be a part of this for another year,” Neal said Saturday. “Hopefully, I can have another successful one.”

HOWARD IN THE MIX? The Spurs apparently haven’t abandoned their plan of adding another small forward, and perhaps replacing incumbent starter Richard Jefferson.

According to a member of Josh Howard’s camp, the Spurs tendered a formal offer to the Washington small forward over the weekend.

Considered among the top free-agent swingmen on the market, Howard’s list appears down to three teams, with Utah and Washington also possible destinations.

Howard’s representatives say the Jazz have also made him an offer, though — perhaps as a matter of semantics — Utah general manager Kevin O’Connor denied to the Salt Lake Tribune over the weekend talks had progressed that far.

Either way, Howard is scheduling a visit to Utah this week.

The details of the Spurs’ bid are unclear. They could offer a deal starting at a maximum of $5 million if they use amnesty on Jefferson to get below the luxury tax threshold.

The most they could offer otherwise would be a $3 million deal using the so-called “mini mid-level exception.”

ROSTER MOVES: The Spurs waived former UTSA guard Devin Gibson on Monday and signed small forward Gani Lawal and shooting guard Antoine Hood to the camp roster.

Lawal, a 2010 second-round pick of the Phoenix Suns out of Georgia Tech, could make an interesting addition to the end of the Spurs’ bench.

Lawal, 6-foot-9, logged just two NBA minutes as a rookie, and was just beginning to practice well when he tore knee ligaments in a team workout in January. He underwent surgery on the knee later that month.

Lawal, 23, made his return to the court in Poland during the lockout, averaging 16.5 points and 11.7 rebounds in 10 games.

Hood, 28, was a former All-Mountain West performer at Air Force. He has spent the majority of his professional career in the Czech Republic.

A DAY OFF: So far, Spurs coach Gregg Popovich has made good on his vow to take it easy on his team during the shortened training camp.

After putting players through the first two-a-day workouts Sunday, Popovich gave them Monday off. The Spurs will return to the practice floor this morning, with an eye toward Saturday’s preseason opener at Houston.