Tony Parker Wants Five More Seasons With Spurs

Tony Parker wants to play five more seasons and hopes he can finish his career with the Spurs, Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today reports.

Parker relayed those sentiments after France was eliminated during the quarterfinal round of the Rio Olympics. “I want to end my Spurs career on a high note,” Parker said. “I want to play five more years.”

Parker was expecting to outlast the other members of San Antonio’s longtime Big Three but it’s somewhat surprising that he wants to continue his career through the 2020/21 season. By that stage, he would be 39 years old — ancient by NBA standards, especially for a point guard.

Parker’s longtime teammates are at or near the end of their careers. Big man Tim Duncan retired this summer while shooting guard Manu Ginobili will play at least one more season. He signed a one-year, $14MM contract in mid-July after entering the month as an unrestricted free agent.

Parker has two years and approximately $29.9MM remaining on his contract. Parker averaged 11.9 points and 5.3 assists in 25.7 minutes last season while posting a slightly above average 16.2 PER.

His minutes per game were the lowest of his career and his scoring average was the lowest since his rookie season in 2001/02 . His shooting percentage remained solid at 49.3, right around his career average. He averaged 10.4 points and 5.3 assists in 10 postseason games as the Spurs were eliminated by the Thunder in the Western Conference semifinals.

San Antonio drafted combo guard Dejounte Murray, who could eventually replace Parker at the point. The Spurs reportedly were interested this summer in the top free agent point guard on the market, Mike Conley, who wound up re-signing with the Grizzlies.

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