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Things have been quiet on the Sixers free agency front, so it was about time they were tied to a player they didn't actually sign. Fire up The Vertical batsignal:
Sources: 76ers force Spurs to more than triple their initial offer to re-sign Manu Ginobili. @WojVerticalNBA report. https://t.co/u3DhH8NW20
— The Vertical (@TheVertical) July 14, 2016
Our pal Adrian Wojnarowski is on video there, and the Sixers-centric info is transcribed below:
The Vertical's Shams Charania reported today that the Spurs had resigned Manu Ginobili to a one year, $14 million deal. Sources tell me the reason the Spurs had to go so far financially on that one-year deal is because of a real dogged pursuit by the Philadelphia 76ers. League sources told me [they] offered a guaranteed deal over two years, that would have guaranteed Ginobili in the first year between $16-17 million.
The Spurs initial offer for Ginobili was for around $3 million. It forced San Antonio to have to raise their offer, and it ultimately helped cost San Antonio Boban Marjanovic.
...
Philadelphia's coach Brett Brown has a long history with Ginobili, he coached him in San Antonio under Gregg Popovich for over a decade, and the 76ers really had Ginobili's attention because of the wide financial gulf between the two offers, but San Antonio was not going to let Ginobili end his career anywhere else.
Woj did not include the details on the second year of Ginobili's contract, but a couple twilight years of Ginobili in Philly would have been a hell of a lot of fun. Adding another sweet-passing, versatile lefty to the rotation would have turned the Sixers into a highlight factory, and he's got plenty of wisdom to pass on to young core members like Ben Simmons, Dario Saric and the rest of the gang.
Alas, Ginobili will finish his career where he started, so we can only dream of Manu in Sixers colors. Bummer.
UPDATE: Marc Stein with some clarity on the second year:
Philly's offer to Manu that forced San Antonio's hand, sources say, was a two-year pact at roughly $30 million (Year 2 partially guaranteed)
— Marc Stein (@ESPNSteinLine) July 14, 2016