Tag: NBA

Source: Duncan will not opt out

By Jeff McDonald
jmcdonald@express-news.net

Tim Duncan is not expected to opt out of the final year of his contract, and the Spurs don’t plan to offer him an extension before the collective bargaining agreement expires Thursday, according to a source familiar with talks between the team and the franchise icon.

As such, Duncan will play out the final year of his existing deal, during which he is scheduled to earn $21.2 million, and remains on track to become a free agent after the 2011-12 campaign.

Duncan also faces a Thursday deadline to exercise an early-termination option. His apparent decision not to do so is not surprising in light of the league’s unsure labor climate.

With a contentious fight broiling between the NBA’s owners and players’ union this summer, and with so much uncertainty still surrounding the next CBA, Duncan has apparently determined it is in his best interest to stand pat on what, at age 35, is likely to be his last high-dollar payday.

Should Duncan choose to continue playing after next season, the Spurs would prefer to re-sign him under the new set of salary rules, which are generally expected to be more favorable to small-market clubs.

There had been some speculation Duncan might decide to trigger his early-termination option and renegotiate his contract, in a manner that might give the Spurs payroll flexibility to better fortify their roster next season.

Duncan took a similar approach in signing a four-year extension before the 2007-08 season, accepting less than maximum money and leaving the Spurs room to eventually add Richard Jefferson in the summer of 2009.

A 13-time All-Star, two-time league MVP and three-time Finals MVP, Duncan logged career lows last season in scoring (13.4 points per game), rebounding (8.9 per game) and minutes (28.4 per game).

Though more of a statistical bit player than he was in his prime, Duncan in his 14th NBA season remained the central figure for the Spurs, both on the court and in the locker room.

He’s not going to look like rookie Tim Duncan,” coach Gregg Popovich said in an interview conducted during the season. “Nobody is going to look like they did 14 years ago. He’s still so steady. He’s still our rock out there.”

Enes Kanter: ‘I am the best player in this draft’

Despite not playing at Kentucky last season after an NCAA rules violation, Turkish center Enes Kanter apparently isn’t lacking in confidence that he can make it big in the NBA (Hat tip to Pro Basketball Talk.com)  

Kanter was set to play for the Wildcats last season before the NCAA declared him permanently ineligible as a collegiate athlete because he received approximately $33,000 from the Turkish professional team Fenerbahce Ulker in excess benefits.

“I believe if I could have played [at Kentucky], I would go with the No. 1 pick,” Kanter said in . “I believe I am the best player in this draft…”

That lack of playing experience last season has made Kanter the mystery player of this draft. He’s only 19 and is considered physically ready at 6-feet-11 and 260 pounds. Most mock drafts have him as one of the top five picks of the draft.  

Kanter said that not playing last season will not hurt his value to an NBA team.

“I’m not worried about anything,” he said. “Even if I could have played, I would have just played like, 22-24 games, because we’d have won many games by 30. I don’t think I missed anything.”

After being ruled ineligible, Kanter remained around Coach John Calipari’s program as a student assistant. The Wildcats dropped a 56-55 loss to eventual national champion Connecticut in the national semifinals.

That disappointing defeat has convinced Kanter that his presence would have changed how his team finished.

“We would have won the national title,” he said during one point of Wednesday’s interview.

A reporter followed up. “Easily?”

“Yes,” was Kanter’s immediate response.

He’s not lacking in motivation or ego, which only adds to his appeal for many teams with top draft picks in tomorrow’s lottery as the most NBA-ready center prospect in the draft.

Draft prospect: Kyle Singler

The Spurs own the 29th pick in the June 23 draft, one of the lowest slots of the Tim Duncan era. This year’s draft pool is considered to be uncommonly shallow, and it wouldn’t be surprising to see the Spurs either deal the pick or select a future prospect to stash overseas. Over the next few weeks, the Courtside blog will profile selected players who could be wearing silver and black, should the Spurs elect to keep their pick.

Kyle Singler was a four-year starter for Mike Krzyzewski at Duke, and there was a time when that line on the resume would have been enough to make him one of the more highly regarded prospects in any NBA draft. With the growing multitude of early-entry candidates and foreign additions to the draft pool, however,  being a four-year Dookie isn’t enough to earn lottery consideration anymore.

Still, Singler — a 6-foot-9 forward — could slip into the bottom of the first round, at which point the Spurs might be willing to take a flier on his blueblooded pedigree. Singler isn’t exactly an athletic wunderkind, isn’t much of a defender and won’t help the Spurs on the glass.

What Singler was in college is what he is projected to be in the NBA: A smart, solid role player who can knock down an open jumper. The Spurs, who had Singler in for a workout last month, could do worse at the end of the first round.

Singler averaged 16.2 points over his four-year career at Duke, peaking at 17.7 per game as a junior. His Duke background doesn’t hurt his stock, either. Generally speaking, players who do a four-year tour of duty under Coach K tend to hit the NBA with an ingrained sense of professionalism (see Shane Battier).

Singler’s draft stock probably would have been higher had he entered following the 2009-10 season, when he was named the Most Outstanding Player of the Final Four in Indianapolis. He returned for his senior season, which was solid but unspectacular as compared to the rest of his collegiate career.

Though in no way, shape or form suited for an NBA frontcourt, Singler could provide the Spurs with depth at small forward, an area of need. As the draft winds to the end of the first round, there are worst ways to roll the dice than on a four-year Dookie.