San Antonio Spurs Blog – Page 97 – NBA Blog

Spurs sign Anthony Tolliver

The San Antonio Spurs announced today that they signed forward Anthony Tolliver. Per team policy, terms of the deals were not disclosed.

The 6-8, 240-pound Tolliver played on the Spurs summer league teams in Las Vegas and at the Rocky Mountain Revue in Salt Lake City. He averaged 12.3 points and 5.0 rebounds in 23.0 minutes while shooting .571 (12-21) from the field and .615 (8-13) from beyond the arc in three games in Las Vegas. At the Rocky Mountain Revue Tolliver appeared in all four games, averaging 11.5 points and 3.5 rebounds in 26.5 minutes while knocking down 53.3 percent (8-15) of his shots form beyond the arc.

Last season Tolliver played for the Iowa Energy in the NBA Development League. He appeared in 25 games averaging, 11.6 points and 6.4 rebounds in 27.4 minutes per game while shooting .509 (112-220) from the field. Prior to joining the Energy Tolliver was in training camp with Cleveland Cavaliers and appeared in three games before being waived.

Tolliver spent four seasons at Creighton University where he averaged 8.1 points and 4.9 rebounds in 124 career games. As a senior, he averaged 13.4 points, 6.7 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 1.7 blocks in 33 games and was named first-team All-MVC after being the league’s only player to rank in the top 10 in scoring, rebounding and blocked shots per game. Tolliver was also named a Senior CLASS Award All-American and a Second-team CoSIDA Academic All-American.

Spurs re-sign Kurt Thomas

The San Antonio Spurs announced today that they have re-signed forward/center Kurt Thomas. Per team policy, terms of the deals were not disclosed.

The 6-9, 235-lb Thomas joined the Spurs on 2/20/08 in a trade with the Seattle Sonics in exchange for Brent Barry and Francisco Elson . He appeared in 28 games for the Silver and Black, averaging 4.5 points and 4.9 rebounds in 18.7 minutes per game. Thomas saw action in all 17 playoff games, averaging 4.1 points and 4.9 rebounds in 15.8 minutes per contest. The former Texas Christian University standout started the season with the Sonics where he played in 42 games, averaging 7.5 points and 8.8 rebounds.

For his career Thomas has played for six NBA teams (Heat, Mavericks, Knicks, Suns, Sonics and Spurs). In 817 career games he has averaged 9.7 points and 7.4 rebounds in 27.3 minutes.

Two more execs leave Spurs

The San Antonio Express-News (Travis E. Poling) reports: Two more executives have left Spurs Sports & Entertainment, a month after the sudden departure of Executive Vice President Russ Bookbinder. The moves are part of an ongoing shake-up of the Spurs’ front office that could have more repercussions later this summer. Bruce Guthrie, Spurs vice president, and Paula Winslow, vice president of human resources, left the organization that includes the NBA franchise, the WNBA Silver Stars, hockey’s Rampage and the management of the AT&T Center.

Spurs last season were elderly

The San Antonio Express-News (Mike Monroe) reports: The 13 players who suited up for the Spurs in their playoff run last season averaged 32.46 years old. That made them, if not quite as ancient as dirt, the oldest team in the NBA. Depending, in part, on what Popovich and his assistants see from first-round draft pick George Hill, who is 22, and a group of equally young players who will put their skills on display in summer league games in Las Vegas and Salt Lake City over the next nine days, the Spurs figure to be significantly younger when the 2008-09 regular season begins. Simply plugging free agent signee Roger Mason Jr., 27, in the guard spot once occupied by Brent Barry, who is 36, instantly drops the average age to 31.76. It will drop more before next season’s opener, perhaps dramatically, depending on which players make the roster. Fans and media critics who have been calling for the Spurs to get younger and more athletic may finally be getting their wish.

Spurs to sign Roger Mason

The Washington Times (Mike Jones) reports: Roger Mason Jr. is cashing in on his career year with the Washington Wizards, signing a two-year deal with the San Antonio Spurs, Mason said in a phone conversation just a few minutes ago. Mason had been wooed by the Spurs last summer, but instead chose to sign a one-year $770,610 with the beleif that he could benefit from the continuity he had with the Wizards.

2008-09 Salary Cap set to $58.680 million

The National Basketball Association today announced that the Salary Cap for the 2008-09 season will be $58.680 million. The new Cap goes into effect immediately as the league’s “moratorium period” has ended and teams can begin signing free agents and making trades.

The tax level for the 2008-09 season has been set at $71.150 million. Any team whose team salary exceeds that figure will pay a $1 tax for each $1 by which it exceeds $71.150 million.

The mid-level exception is $5.585 million for the 2008-09 season and the minimum team salary, which is set at 75% of the Salary Cap, is $44.010 million.

For the 2007-08 season, the Salary Cap was set at $55.630 million, the tax level was $67.865 million and the mid-level exception was $5.356 million.

Rockets want Brent Barry

The Houston Chronicle reports: The Rockets began free agent recruiting period with an 11 p.m. call to Spurs guard Brent Barry, but the team could have already hit a snag in its hopes to bring back forward Carl Landry. The Rockets called Barry as quickly as NBA rules allow in an effort to land the free agent that got away during the season when Barry was released by the Seattle SuperSonics but chose to return to the San Antonio Spurs.

InsideHoops.com says: Barry is 94 years old.

Tony Parker is cover athlete for NBA Live 09

Electronic Arts announced today that San Antonio Spurs point guard Tony Parker will be the cover athlete and spokesman for NBA LIVE 09. In his seven NBA seasons, the 26 year old is a two-time NBA All-Star, has three NBA championships and was named the 2007 NBA Finals MVP. Parker will be the first European born global cover athlete of NBA LIVE. Off the court, Parker is an avid gamer and won an NBA LIVE 08 tournament against fellow NBA stars at the EA SPORTS All-Star Challenge last February in New Orleans.

“I have a long history with EA SPORTS. I’ve been on the cover in France for five years straight and I’ve been playing NBA LIVE for as long as I’ve played basketball,” said Parker. “It’s a real honor for me as a European player to now be represented on the worldwide cover.”

Parker is joined by some of the NBA’s biggest international stars on packaging around the world, including the Los Angeles Lakers’ Pau Gasol (Spain), Toronto Raptors’ Andrea Bargnani (Italy) and Chicago Bulls’ Luol Deng (UK).

Tiago Splitter not coming to Spurs next season

The San Antonio Express-News (Jeff McDonald) reports: Spurs general manager R.C. Buford acknowledged that Tiago Splitter has indeed informed the team that he won’t be coming to San Antonio next season (2008-09). Splitter, a first-round draft pick a year ago, has instead decided to sign an extension with Tau Ceramica that would keep him in the Spanish League through 2012. This would seem to make acquiring a power forward a priority for the Spurs this offseason. It would also seem to make Kurt Thomas, who is due to become a free agent July 1, an even more valuable commodity.

Robert Horry ponders retirement

The AP reports: “Big Shot Rob” might be done breaking hearts. San Antonio Spurs forward Robert Horry said Saturday he’s considering stepping away from the game after winning seven NBA championships in a 16-season career. “Right now I’m up in the air,” Horry said. “That’s all I can really tell you, up in the air. I want to play, 80 percent of me wants to play and I’m sure as soon as I get in the gym and see people bouncing the ball it would turn into 100 percent. So we’ll just have to wait and see what happens.”