San Antonio Spurs Blog – Page 52 – NBA Blog

Spurs re-sign guard Patty Mills

The San Antonio Spurs today announced that they have re-signed guard Patty Mills. Per club policy details of the contract were not released.

“Patty came in and impressed us from the moment he joined us last season,” Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich said. “He gives us some added depth at the guard position and we are excited to have him back in San Antonio.”

Mills, a 6-0, 185-pound product out of St. Mary’s (CA), was signed by the Spurs this past season on March 27. In 16 games (three starts), Mills averaged 10.3 points, 2.4 assists and 1.8 rebounds in 16.3 minutes. In his final two games of the regular season Mills set career-highs for points and assists. On April 25, he registered a career-best 27 points at Phoenix only to surpass that the following night in Golden State scoring 34 points and handing out a career-high 12 assists.

A native of Australia, Mills spent part of the 2011-12 season playing overseas in his home country and China. Originally drafted by the Portland Trail Blazers with the 55th overall pick in the 2009 NBA Draft, Mills appeared in 74 games in Portland, averaging 5.1 points and 1.5 assists in 11.1 minutes.

Mills is a member of the Australian National Team which qualified for the 2012 Olympics.

Spurs re-sign Boris Diaw

The San Antonio Spurs today announced that they re-signed forward Boris Diaw. Per club policy details of the contract were not released.

“Boris was a key addition to our team late last season and we are happy to have him back,” Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich said. “The depth of his game and his basketball IQ make him a special player.”

Diaw, signed last season by the Spurs on March 23, played in 20 games (seven starts) with the Silver and Black, averaging 4.7 points, 4.3 rebounds and 2.4 assists in 20.3 minutes while shooting .588 (40-68) from the field. In the postseason, Diaw started all 14 games for the Spurs and averaged 6.2 points, 5.2 rebounds and 2.5 assists in 24.7 minutes.

The 6-8, 235-pound Diaw started the 2011-12 season with the Charlotte Bobcats before being placed on waivers on March 21. In 37 games with the Bobcats, Diaw averaged 7.4 points, 5.3 rebounds and 4.3 assists in 27.5 minutes.

A nine-year NBA veteran, Diaw was originally drafted by the Atlanta Hawks with the 21st overall pick in the 2003 NBA Draft. He was traded to the Phoenix Suns on Aug. 19, 2005. In his first season with the Suns, Diaw won the 2006 Most Improved Player Award, after averaging 13.3 points, 6.9 rebounds and 6.2 assists in 35.5 minutes over 81 games.

For his career, Diaw has appeared in 680 NBA games, averaging 9.5 points, 4.9 rebounds and 4.0 assists in 30.1 minutes while shooting .492 (2,685-5,457) from the field, .333 (301-904) from three-point territory and .708 (785-1,109) from the foul line. He has posted six triple-doubles during his career. Diaw has seen action in 53 playoff games, averaging 11.9 points, 5.4 rebounds and 3.9 assists in 32.2 minutes.

Danny Green will stay with Spurs

When word began to leak Monday that Spurs guard Danny Green had agreed to terms of the first guaranteed, long-term contract of his NBA career, his cell phone blew up with calls that interrupted the very reason he was offered such security.

“I’m at the gym, trying to work out,” Green said when another phone call imposed. “Got to get stronger and sharpen my skills.”

Bill Duffy, the agent for the hard-working 25-year-old swingman, confirmed Monday that Green will sign a contract with the Spurs worth $12 million, fully guaranteed, over a three-year span.

His first opportunity to sign the deal will be Wednesday, when the NBA-imposed ban on free-agent signings is lifted.

— Reported by Mike Monroe of the San Antonio Express-News

Wizards hire Don Newman as assistant coach

The Washington Wizards announced today that Don Newman will join Randy Wittman’s staff as an assistant coach.

Newman brings more than 20 years of coaching experience to the Wizards’ staff, including the past seven seasons as an assistant coach for the San Antonio Spurs. During his successful tenure with the Spurs, Newman worked under Gregg Popovich and helped lead San Antonio to a pair of NBA Championships (2005 and 2007), a pair of Western Conference championships (2005 and 2007) and five Division titles (2005, 2006, 2009, 2011 and 2012). In each of Newman’s seven seasons on the bench, the Spurs won 50 or more games, including a 50-16 mark last season en route to a Southwest Division title.

“Don is an outstanding coach and a great addition to our staff,” said Wizards Head Coach Randy Wittman. “He brings championship experience from his time with the Spurs and has been very successful in every stop of his career.”

Newman originally joined the NBA as an assistant coach with the Milwaukee Bucks in 1999. In his four seasons with the Bucks, Milwaukee made three playoff appearances and won the Central Division title in the 2000-01 season. Newman served as an assistant with the New Jersey during the 2003-04 season, in which the Nets captured the Atlantic Division title and advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals. He also served as an assistant for USA Basketball during the 2002 World Championships.

Newman spent 10 years in college basketball prior to his time in the NBA. He served as a head coach with Sacramento State (1992-97) and was named the interim head coach at Arizona State in 1997, leading the Sun Devils to an 18-14 record and a trip to the NIT Tournament. Newman also had stints as an assistant coach with Oregon and Washington State.

Newman played three seasons of basketball at the University of Idaho (after spending his freshman year at LSU) and was originally drafted by two NBA teams. After being selected by Indiana in the fourth round of the 1979 Draft (as a junior eligible selection), he was selected by Boston in the third round of the 1980 Draft. He played three seasons in the CBA (for the Montana Golden Nuggets where George Karl was his head coach) and also played seven seasons in the CFL. He was invited to training camp with both the Seattle Seahawks and the New York Jets.

Tony Parker cleared to play in Olympics

Spurs guard Tony Parker can play for European runner-up France in the Olympic Games after San Antonio’s doctors agreed he has recovered from an eye injury.

Parker scratched his left cornea during a nightclub melee in New York last month.

“The two ophthalmologists (from the Spurs) confirmed the opinion of the French doctor who operated on Tony Parker, and the two Swiss specialists who also examined the player last Thursday, and indicated that he can resume playing,” the French Basketball Federation said on Friday, adding that Spurs coach Gregg Popovich also gave his blessing.

Parker is joining the French squad in Orleans and he could play in a tuneup against England on Saturday.

— Reported by the Associated Press

Tony Parker may miss Olympics due to eye injury from Drake vs Chris Brown fight

French basketball team leader Tony Parker could miss the Olympics because has not recovered as fast as expected from an injury to his left eye.

The San Antonio Spurs guard was injured in a New York nightclub 10 days ago and said he eventually had to undergo surgery to have a shard of glass removed from his eye, which he was at risk of losing.

Parker had expected to be back training after a week-long rest but said on Sunday he was still sidelined and may have to withdraw from the London Games.

“As required by the Spurs, I will go back to the U.S. on July 5… I will visit a specialist in New York, hoping he will give the green light to compete at the Games,” Parker said on his official website (www.tp9.net).

— Reported by Reuters

Atlanta Hawks may want Danny Ferry as next general manager

The Atlanta Hawks have spoken with Danny Ferry about becoming the club’s next general manager, according to league sources.

Ferry, currently the vice president of basketball operations for the San Antonio Spurs, would replace Rick Sund as the Hawks’ lead basketball decision maker.

Sund’s contract ends on June 30 and, sources say, he is not interested in returning for a fifth year as the Hawks’ GM. Sund could either remain with the organization as a consultant or move on altogether.

— Reported by Chris Broussard of ESPN the Magazine

Tony Parker sues NYC club over eye injury

San Antonio Spurs guard Tony Parker is suing a New York City club and its operators for $20 million over a scratched cornea he says he suffered during a fight involving singer Chris Brown and members of hip-hop star Drake’s entourage.

The suit was filed in State Supreme Court in Manhattan on Thursday. It says the W.i.P club in SoHo and its operators were negligent in security and supervision, which allowed the fight to take place.

Chris Brown, his girlfriend and his bodyguard were among eight injured during the fight inside the club last week.

— Reported by the Associated Press

Tony Parker suffered eye injury during Drake vs Chris Brown nightclub fight

San Antonio Spurs guard Tony Parker suffered an eye injury during a nightclub fight, but it will not stop him from playing in this summer’s Olympics.

Parker told multiple media outlets that he got some shards of glass in his eye during the incident Wednesday in Manhattan.

“I was there with a bunch of friends when a fight broke out. They started to throw bottles about … I got it all,” Parker said.

“The cornea has been touched. I can’t do anything for seven days. … But I was lucky. The injury won’t prevent me from competing the Olympics in any way.”

— Reported by the Associated Press

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Tim Duncan not ready to decide on future

The 36-year-old veteran of 15 seasons in silver and black faces a summer of big decisions. He will become an unrestricted free agent July 1, already having declared himself a Spur for life. With a left knee that requires wearing a brace even when he is not playing, he must decide if another summer or two of conditioning and healthy eating is something he wants to continue.

Decision-making will wait until Duncan and his family have had a chance to exhale after the compressed post-lockout season concluded in such disappointment.

The disappointment, he said, won’t factor into his decision.

“Not really,” he said. “Bottom line is the summer is going to come. The summer is going to be here, and it is what it is. I’ll figure it out when I come to it. I haven’t even thought about it, and I really don’t care. I’ll figure it out when it happens, just like everything else.”

For a while, though, Duncan will think about what happened in the final four games of the Thunder series, when a 2-0 lead became four straight losses and elimination.

— Reported by Mike Monroe of the San Antonio Express-News