Part of having money to spend in free agency is the ability to drive up the price for other teams to keep their own players.
That was reportedly the case with the Sixers and San Antonio great Manu Ginobili. Per The Vertical's Adrian Wojnarowski, the Sixers made the 38-year-old Ginobili a lucrative offer before the guard opted to remain with the Spurs on a one-year deal.
"The Vertical's Shams Charania reported today that the Spurs had re-signed Manu Ginobili to a one-year, $14 million deal. Sources tell me the reason the Spurs had to go so far financially on that one-year deal was because of a real dogged pursuit by the Philadelphia 76ers, who league sources told me offered a guaranteed deal over two years that would have guaranteed Ginobili in the first year between $16 to $17 million," Wojnarowski said. "The Spurs' initial offer for Ginobili was around $3 million.
"It forced San Antonio to have to raise their offer, and it ultimately helped cost San Antonio Boban Marjanovic, their 7-foot-3 restricted free-agent center who signed an offer sheet in Detroit."
ESPN's Marc Stein later tweeted that the Sixers' offer to Ginobili was for two years and roughly $30 million, with the second year being partially guaranteed.
One would think that a Ginobili, a four-time NBA champion, two-time All-Star, former Sixth Man of the Year and decorated international star, wouldn't even consider joining a rebuilding franchise like the Sixers.
However, a familiarity with head coach Brett Brown and, of course, a potential $13 to $14 million difference in salary was more than enough reason for Ginobili to seriously think about making the move to Philly.
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"Philadelphia's coach, Brett Brown, has a long history with Ginobili," Wojnarowski said. "He coached him in San Antonio under Gregg Popovich for over a decade, and the 76ers really had Ginobili's attention because of the wide financial gulf between the two offers. But San Antonio was not going to let Ginobili end his career anywhere else."
