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The NBA has been an absolute circus since July 1, the day teams can officially begin negotiating with players. News of private pick-up games, Cavs owner Dan Gilbert's private jet flying to South Beach, and two Exotic Auto Transport trucks outside of LeBron James' home have all sent the internet into a total frenzy. New rumors and reports break so frequently that this off-season already feels more dramatic than the entire past season of actual basketball.
Amid all the chaos, it's been easy to miss the fact that the San Antonio Spurs, your current NBA champions, are bringing back their entire team.
Tim Duncan kicked things off, very quietly opting into the final year of his contract at $10.3 million. Next, the Spurs re-signed two key role players, Boris Diaw (three years, $22.5 million) and Patty Mills (three years, $12 million). The rest of the team's core — Parker, Ginobli, Leonard, Green, Splitter — are still under contract.
Yesterday, news broke that coach Gregg Popovich agreed to a multiyear extension with the team he's now guided to five championships.
Today marks the first day teams can officially sign free agents, so the dominos should (hopefully) start to fall soon. But unless LeBron can create another super team, it'll be the Spurs who will — yet again — enter the regular season as the heavy favorites.
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