Tim Duncan is already retired. Manu Ginobili might follow him into the sunset this summer. Tony Parker will be right behind them.
Or maybe not.
Parker, 34, has two years (including this one) and nearly $30 million remaining on his current contract with the San Antonio Spurs. When it ends, he will be 36, with 17 NBA seasons under his belt.
And, by that point, he will have no intention of calling it a career, as he told The Vertical’s Michael Lee:
Parker considers himself more refined than finished and has no intention of leaving the game when his current deal is up after next season. He retired from the French national team last summer with the hope of extending his career in San Antonio. “I want to play five more seasons after this one,” Parker told The Vertical. “That’s my dream, if I stay healthy … and Pop still wants me.”
Well, damn.
Five more seasons after this one would take Parker into his 40th birthday. He still moves pretty well and has revamped his three-point touch, but he’s already a liability on the defensive end. It’s tough to imagine him playing that long, at least on the Spurs, who are approaching a generational crossroads.
Then again, Parker would be a quality backup to, say, Chris Paul, wouldn’t he? And Chris Paul is a free agent this summer, isn’t he? And the Spurs have the ability to open up more cap space through feasible salary dumps, don’t they?
Paying Parker $15.5 million in addition to giving Paul max money next season would be overkill, if it’s even possible. If the Spurs decide to target another floor general, it could come at the expense of Parker. Or maybe they’ll wait until 2018, when Parker himself is a free agent and can sign at a discount to help grease the wheels of a regime change.
Whatever the case, Parker, like Duncan and Ginobili before him, is a Spurs lifer. It’s difficult to imagine him playing or ending his career with anyone else.
