The San Antonio Spurs have agreed with free agent Manu Ginobili to a two-year contract worth a total of $14 million, according to Yahoo! Sports' Adrian Wojnarowski. That means the aging Argentinian will take an annual pay cut equal to half of his 2012-13 salary.
Ginobili, who is 35 years old, announced his agreement via Twitter and made the decision to return after speculation that he would retire.
The Spurs are well on their way to keeping together the core that took them to a seven-game NBA Finals series. The team previously agreed to re-sign center Tiago Splitter to a four-year, $36 million contract when the free agency negotiation period ends July 10. Keeping Ginobili on board for a final few go-arounds was the next hurdle to clear, and now the Spurs have only reserve guard Gary Neal to chase after if they want, essentially, the same roster back next season.
San Antonio was reportedly interested in free agent small forward Andrei Kirilenko, according to Marc Stein, but he will likely have a market value too high for the Spurs to afford after the re-signings of Splitter and Ginobili.
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