# Spurs land Michael Finley



## Brian34Cook

Finley chooses Spurs over Heat, Suns










The team that won the Michael Finley Sweepstakes is the same team that just won an NBA championship.

Finley told ESPN.com on Wednesday that he has chosen to sign with the San Antonio Spurs, spurning a richer offer from the Miami Heat and the lure of an emotional return to the Phoenix Suns to reunite with close friend Steve Nash.

The Dallas Mavericks tried for weeks to move Finley to an Eastern Conference team to prevent him from joining the Spurs or the Suns. When it couldn't swing a trade before the Aug. 15 deadline to exercise the NBA's new amnesty clause, Dallas reluctantly waived the two-time All-Star, making Finley an unrestricted free agent and the target of an intense two-week courtship that also involved the Detroit Pistons and Minnesota Timberwolves.

Miami's Pat Riley, Phoenix's Amare Stoudemire and Minnesota's Kevin Garnett were among the big names to fly to Chicago last week to make face-to-face pitches to Finley. In the end, he went with the team that sent a one-man delegation Spurs coach Gregg Popovich -- to Finley's hometown.

[More in URL]


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## Weasel

Whoaa...
With this news Spurs should repeat again, no problems.


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## STUCKEY!

Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!


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## kamego

Better SA then Miami


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## DaFranchise

wow. the rich got richer. great pickup


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## Brian34Cook

From the article



> The complete structure of the deal with San Antonio hasn't been finalized, including the length of the contract, but Finley will receive a starting salary of roughly $2.5 million this season.
> 
> "To be a part of a championship team, I'm excited," Finley said. "This is the closest I've ever been to a championship. I'm looking forward to the challenge of helping this team repeat."
> 
> Asked why he picked the Spurs, Finley said: "In a nutshell, they're already a championship team but they have room for improvement. And I feel my game can help them in the areas where they need improvement."


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## Dwyane Wade

> "To be a part of a championship team, I'm excited," Finley said. "This is the closest I've ever been to a championship. I'm looking forward to the challenge of helping this team repeat."



I wish him the worst down there in SA, i hope we win the championship and shut him up.


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## UD40

That Pop is one sneaky, sneaky man. Ill give him credit for thorwing everyone off....but now this means I probably can keep my name!


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## MJG

San Antonio is just the coolest organization in the league. I can't imagine how anyone dislikes you guys.


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## UD40

As long as Timmy is on the Spurs, I could never hate them


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## DaBobZ

Hey Pat Riley have a look :nah:


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## FreeMason Jr.

Ha! Take that Miami and Phoenix. In your face! :biggrin: 

Banana dance time :banana:


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## DaBobZ

Red pepper dance time :dpepper:


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## DaBobZ

DaFranchise said:


> wow. the rich got richer. great pickup


And what a bargain at 2.6 M$ !!!!


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## UD40

I'm still happy, Jwill, Walker, Fitch, Posey, Dre, Zo, Simien, and now(hopefully) DJ....thats a pretty good off-season


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## MiamiHeat03

good job finley good signing might as well not play any NBA games since the SPURS WILL WIN it all unless TD gets injured(oh please let that happen if Heat ever gets to the Finals).


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## Miamiballer2k5

I am completly shocked by this. I mean wow. The Heat waited for this guy for months and lost out on lots of good players.


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## sheefo13

Yes!!! I am so happy now. I mean I would be happier if the Wolves got him but this was the next best place. Now the Wolves will be able to offer Devin Brown a contract and the Spurs won't match it because they cannot affored it. And my 2nd favorite team just got better!


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## The Future7

Man I'm happy for Finley knowing that he will win a championship. I'm just happy that he didnt go to the Suns.


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## texan

Wow. This is really suprising. Like really. I thought it was Miami for sure. This gives us easily the most talented team in the league, IMO, but we aren't guarenteed to repeat, and I hope Spurs fans don't think so. I don't want any of us gettin' cocky just cuz' we got a couple big names. 

That being said, our team looks great on paper, and adding Fin boosts our chances of repeating.


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## GODisaSpursFan

sheefo13 said:


> Yes!!! I am so happy now. I mean I would be happier if the Wolves got him but this was the next best place. Now the Wolves will be able to offer Devin Brown a contract and the Spurs won't match it because they cannot affored it. And my 2nd favorite team just got better!


Devin is most likely going to Utah.


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## The Future7

There will be a lot of great shooters coming off the Spurs bench. I'm Jealous.


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## DaBobZ

:biggrin:


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## KokoTheMonkey

Hot damn. I know this isn't the Finley of 4-5 years ago, but this is a Finley that's better than any reserve wing players we currently have, and the best one available on the market. Awesome stuff. We've got shooters, experience, and depth pouring out of our noses, so this is going to be one damn exciting season. The expectations are now officially soaring through the roof for the Spurs.

This is a two-part story, which has already been mentioned. This means Devin is gone, which is a little sad, but he's going to get a better chance to play and show his stuff elsewhere. No matter where Devin goes (Except Phoenix maybe) I will root for him and will be more supportive of the team he goes to. I loved Devin as a player and it's tough to see him go elsewhere, but business is business. Hey, at least Devin got a ring, right?


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## The Future7

I cant help but Bring up the Fact that Texas is the is loaded with Talent. I can see SA being real rested for the playoffs with all that talent.


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## KokoTheMonkey

Now we have the issue of how PT will be sorted. I don't see everyone getting their desired amount of minutes, but you know what, winning will cure whatever problems they have. If we go out and win a championship no one should be dissatisfied with their PT. If we go out and come up short of a championship, there might be some problems. 


The good thing is that there are unselfish players all through this organization, so Ginobili will get his 30 minutes again, and I bet Bowen will get around 30 minutes as well to make room for Finley. Brent Barry's PT is gone though. He's the odd man out.


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## DWadeistheTruth

How the hell this did happen. I was sure It was between Miami and the Suns. I thought the fact they had Steve Nash, and he could easily get his minutes after J.J Johnson left. And get his stats overthere. Miami has the money. Championship talent. But the fact the team has never played together could offset all the talent in the world. But Finley could have shined down here. And I thought San Antoinio was to loaded there. With Manu and Bruce, were does Finley fit in the equation. Damon Jones is back, no doubt for Miami. Damn I still got to think we have two knuckle heads in Walker and J Dubb. I thought Finley was a captain. Shaq ,Wade and Finley combo, would offset Walker and J Dubb's attitudes. I think know we are second to third favorite in the East. Finley was the missing link. FOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOCCCCCCCCCC.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


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## TheRoc5

YES IM SO happy!!! :rbanana: 
im so happy right now, ill post my thoughts on this later right now i cant say anything im shocked :biggrin: 
we have no excuse to not win the ship next yr


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## tone wone

lets get real here folks...Miami didn't deserve him. 


Well, i guess this is why their the champs...it will make more sweet when Houston knocks them off...whenver that is.

Personally I wanted Finely to go Detroit or Denver...i thought those teams were the best fit....I didn't even think of San Antonio as a option. I guess this was the reason it took him a while to sign when everyone assumed he would go to miami


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## Dwyane Wade

I hope D-Wade does a cross over and brakes his ankles...Im thinking about starting a Fudge You finley Fan Club..well anways for now, Fudge You finley!


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## Guth

Good Gracious Almighty.

This is out of control, guys. We just landed two pieces that puts the most pressure on the Spurs than there has ever been, probably in the history of the franchise. I don't think there is any way that the Spurs don't get any respect from the national media now, so if we do anthing less than win the championship, the season was a failure.

That said, I LOVE this signing. I guess I have been a little reserved on this topic because I have pretty much been tired with this saga from the very beginning, but Michael Finley is probably one of the players in the NBA who I like to see succeed the most.

The ceiling has officially been taken off for us, guys, but if anyone can manage these egos and keep everything in perspective, it is Pop. I trust him more than anyone and for some reason, I trust Van Exel that he is willing to play an Horry type role, with a lot of rest during the season and waiting for the playoffs. He has shown way to much humility over these past couple of days for me to not take him at his word.

I think it is safe to say that I will be more excited about this season than any in recent memory, but there are a ton of expectations. Here's hoping our guys can live up to it.


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## Long John Silver

Was that Finley billboard in Miami real? Cocky *******s, serves them well...
:banana:


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## texan

I'm a little concerned with egos and PT, but not enough to make my excitement of this signing wear off.


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## UD40

The posters and stuff were stricktly tools too get him there, not cockyness. If you consider that cocky, then the Suns are as well. Question, did the Spurs send anyone too meet with him or use any recruiting tools? If not, lol, damn you guys have one hell of a managment.


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## TheRoc5

texan said:


> I'm a little concerned with egos and PT, but not enough to make my excitement of this signing wear off.


im not, pops our coach and duncans our leader, these players new they werent going to play much and nve even said so.


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## MJG

A (personal) bonus to all this is that Finley -- a player I have always really liked -- goes to the Spurs -- who have been my third favorite team pretty much forever -- instead of to the Heat -- who let's just say are not one of my most liked squads.

--!


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## Bron_Melo_ROY

Man, I thought the MIA locked him up for good. The Spurs are stacked and have tons of veteran leadership to boot. I am curious to see how the PT is distributed however. As *KokoTheMonkey* said before, Brent Barry seems to be the odd man out but I don't see this bothering him too much as their were some stretches during the regular season where he saw limited action. I think the expectations are as high as ever for this Spurs team and anything less than a championship would be classified as a MAJOR dissapointment.


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## Long John Silver

Go DJ! said:


> The posters and stuff were stricktly tools too get him there, not cockyness. If you consider that cocky, then the Suns are as well. Question, did the Spurs send anyone too meet with him or use any recruiting tools? If not, lol, damn you guys have one hell of a managment.


The Suns also had posters? Cocky *******s, serves them well... :biggrin: 
I think the only Spur sent to court Finley was Pop.


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## -33-

congrats for getting him........




..........but i hope he breaks his leg and you lose the NBA title to the Heat in 4 games.

OT: Is it odd that nobody has questioned adding Finley to the mix as "throwing off chemistry" as it seems he was getting questioned everywhere else?


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## Long John Silver

texan said:


> I'm a little concerned with egos and PT, but not enough to make my excitement of this signing wear off.


Some food for thought:

What happens if/when Duncan goes down? Who becomes the top dog? Will Finley and NVE accept Ginobili's role as the "alpha male"?

Come to think of it, if Duncan goes down we're going nowhere, so it doesn't really matter.


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## Long John Silver

Also, what about the bad blood between Finley and Bowen?

Maybe Bruce is being traded? :joke:


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## Yao Mania

We were suppose to have a chance to be better than you this year!!!


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## texan

Long John Silver said:


> Some food for thought:
> 
> What happens if/when Duncan goes down? Who becomes the top dog? Will Finley and NVE accept Ginobili's role as the "alpha male"?
> 
> Come to think of it, if Duncan goes down we're going nowhere, so it doesn't really matter.



Thats a really big if. Its not likely that TD goes down, so I'm not going to worry about that unless it happens.


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## TracywtFacy

Oh man what are you guys doing signing an American? Should be illegal


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## KokoTheMonkey

Come on you Miami fans, there's no reason to be bitter with Finley. He didn't owe you guys anything, so I'm not sure why you're hating on him.


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## nextghitman

Why are there so many damn miami fans up in here...lol

nywayz this is an awesome pickup for the Spurs. Win one, get one free championship?


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## BG7

Good decision by Finley, who wouldn't want to play next to Tim Duncan?


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## GM3

you guys are just too good now, i give up!! lol 

good sign.


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## Guth

Long John Silver said:


> Also, what about the bad blood between Finley and Bowen?
> 
> Maybe Bruce is being traded? :joke:



That is a good thought, but I read in a couple of articles during this whole saga that that "bad blood" was something that was in the context of the game and that was it.

I don't think Finley would sign to play behind someone he didn't like, when he had so many other options. I could be wrong, but I hope that is true.


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## DWadeistheTruth

Long John Silver said:


> Was that Finley billboard in Miami real? Cocky *******s, serves them well...
> :banana:


Yeah it was real. We really wanted him to land. Know lets see, what we get. I though it was a done deal. I had a little doubt the he might go to Phoenix, so he could get his numbers and play with Nash. But San Antonio has a deep team in that position, so I didn't see that one coming. And we had more money to offer.


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## DWadeistheTruth

Long John Silver said:


> Also, what about the bad blood between Finley and Bowen?
> 
> *Maybe Bruce is being traded?* :joke:


Bruce will be a hot commodity, but I doubt you be stupid enough to trade him.


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## DWadeistheTruth

sloth said:


> Good decision by Finley, who wouldn't want to play next to Tim Duncan?


Tim is one of of favorites. But he seems like he is wearing down to. Maybe it was his ankles. But who knows. And why does Finley want to sit in the bench. Manu and Bruce are the starters.


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## DaBobZ

Long John Silver said:


> Was that Finley billboard in Miami real? Cocky *******s, serves them well...
> :banana:


absolutely real


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## KokoTheMonkey

DWadeistheTruth said:


> Tim is one of of favorites. But he seems like he is wearing down to. Maybe it was his ankles. But who knows. And why does Finley want to sit in the bench. Manu and Bruce are the starters.



Well, all in all, I think the results from last year played a huge part of this all. Plus, don't forget Finley played in Dallas for a long time.....San Antonio isn't that far of a move for him, so take that into consideration too. There are reasons why Finley picked SA (damn good reasons too), so that's about enough of the "Why didn't he choose us" stuff.


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## ballstorm

As every single fan , i'm quite surprsied by finley's decision , but to chose the best place to win rather than the biggest salary just means how bad he wants to win . He is not one of these old grumpy player who keeps playing for the cash , he wants a title and selected the best available place to win it  . Now with such a nice roster , the spurs are going to receive lots of hype , and it will need all the wisdom of both duncan and Pop to keep a low profile and stay focused .


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## arcade_rida

MJG said:


> San Antonio is just the coolest organization in the league. I can't imagine how anyone dislikes you guys.


Agreed


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## Drk Element

wow Nick Van Exel and Michael Finley will tear it up from the bench.


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## The Future7

It amazes me how everyone on the Spurs bench is a shooter. That disturbs me. Finley is lucky.


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## XxMia_9xX

yeah! i couldn't believe it when i heard NVE and Finley is gonna be a spurs... it's not like i'm complaining but just shock they were able to sign them.... i can't wait 'till the season starts!


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## DaBobZ

Long John Silver said:


> Also, what about the bad blood between Finley and Bowen?
> 
> Maybe Bruce is being traded? :joke:


At the press conference Finley said he expects to learn for BB and it'd be a good thing not to play him 4 games in the season... Pop added "Yeah it's gonna be every day" lol. 
Finley then said he expects to learn a lot from Bowen and add a few tricks to his defensive game, whether these are legal of illegal tricks lol.


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