Spurs’ Tim Duncan tells paper: ‘I’ll be back on the court’

While all the signals had pointed to Duncan coming back, nothing is certain until, well, it’s certain. Davis was no-brainer to give whatever he wanted and is worth more than what he got in his contract.

Sprinkled throughout the offseason, however, were hints of a Duncan return.

Green was a second-round draft pick of the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2009, but the ex- North Carolina Tar Heel struggled mightily to find his footing early in his career. There truly has never been a player like Tim Duncan in terms of longevity outside of maybe Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. But all eyes are on Wade, who has met twice with Heat leadership in recent days to discuss his future, though it remains far from certain that he comes back to Miami for a 13th season. He aspired to compete in the 1992 Olympics before Hurricane Hugo destroyed the only Olympic-sized pool in his hometown.

The biggest question for Duncan the last two season has been whether he will retire or not, but as long as he’s averaging a double-double in the playoffs, why would he?

Thompson, 24, played the final year of his contract for $4.06 million, turning down an offer for about $50 million over five years. The hell with Tony, the hell with Timmy, the hell with Manu, you play the game.

Duncan was different and turned out to be, as Odom put it, a coach’s dream. His 2.0 blocks ranked seventh in the league. Duncan made the third team.

Timmy says a chat with head coach Gregg Popovich this Wednesday helped him make up his mind to lace up his kicks for yet another season.

The Spurs already have agreements in place to retain forward Kawhi Leonard (five years, $90 million) and guard Danny Green (four years, $45 million). Atlanta needed a bit more bulk on the inside, and a trio of Al Horford, Paul Millsap (if he re-signs) and Splitter would be an extremely imposing one.