Great Texas Team Gets Even Better

Michael Finley chose to stay in the Lone Star State when he signed with the defending NBA Champion San Antonio Spurs yesterday. The 32-year old Finley joins his former Dallas teammate Nick Van Excel as two big pieces towards helping the Spurs win a fourth NBA title in just eight years. The Spurs think Finley will give them much needed points and energy off the bench and can also count on him to be another solid starter in place of either Bruce Bowen or Manu Ginobili.

The specifics of the deal haven’t been finalized, including the length of the contract, but Finley will receive a starting salary of approximately $2.5 million this season. Finley was free for the taking after Dallas decided they should waive Finley earlier this summer. The NBA Amnesty clause will spare Dallas future luxury-tax payments on almost $52 million it still needs to pay him. He was courted heavily by several teams including the Miami Heat and Phoenix Suns, two teams that expect to be in the hunt for next year’s championship.

I think this deal along with the resigning of Robert “Big Shot Bob” Horry and the signing of Nick Van Excel will put the Spurs right back on top of the NBA. It should be interesting to see Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, Ginobili, Horry and the new additions take aim for another title.