Spurs to sign big men
Web Posted: 08/04/2004 12:00 AM CDT
Mike Monroe
Express-News Staff Writer
The Spurs have not given up on signing free agent power forward Karl Malone, but they aren't waiting for Malone to make a decision on his basketball future to address their needs for backup big men.
The Spurs today will announce that Robert Horry, a key backup on the front line last season, will re-sign with the club. In addition, they will announce the re-signing of power forward Sean Marks and the signing of free agent power forward Tony Massenburg.
"We haven't signed Robert yet, but we hope to make it happen soon," Spurs general manager R.C. Buford said Tuesday night. "We intend to go to training camp with a good complement of big men, and if Karl wants to be here, we have made it clear we want him to be here, too."
Horry said from Houston he is happy to be back on the Spurs roster and pleased with the offer the club made to him.
"They made a good offer," Horry said, "and the other teams I'd been talking with wanted to wait and see what Karl was going to do."
Malone, the No. 2 scorer in NBA history, hasn't decided if he will continue his career after having surgery this summer to repair ligament damage in his right knee. He has had discussions with the Spurs and Miami Heat, in addition to the Los Angeles Lakers, for whom he played last season.
The Spurs have told Malone they are willing to wait until January or February for him to be what he calls "100-Karl Malone percent." Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich, who is in Europe as an assistant coach for the U.S. Olympic team, talked with Malone before he departed Jacksonville, Fla., with the team on Saturday. Buford said further discussions with Malone likely will wait until Popovich returns from the Olympics, which are scheduled to end on Aug. 29.
A veteran of 12 NBA seasons, Horry played in 81 regular-season games and all 10 of the Spurs' playoff games in 2003-04. He averaged 4.8 points and 3.4 rebounds in the regular season and shot 40.5 percent from the field, 38 percent from 3-point range.
Massenburg was drafted by the Spurs in 1990 out of the University of Maryland and played 35 games for then-Spurs coach Larry Brown and then-assistant Popovich in the 1990-91 season, and one game in 1991-92 before being traded to the Charlotte Hornets.
Massenburg played last season for the Sacramento Kings. He averaged 4.3 points and 3.2 rebounds in 59 games for the Kings. His best season in the NBA was 1998-99, when he averaged 11.2 points and 6.0 rebounds as a starter for the Vancouver Grizzlies.
Marks, who will compete for New Zealand in the Olympics, was on the Spurs' roster last season, but spent the entire schedule on the injured list after playing in all eight preseason games.
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