With the San Antonio Spurs seemingly maxing out their roster, especially with guards, there’s a very good chance they don’t match any offer restricted free agent Gary Neal gets this offseason, with the Milwaukee Bucks one of the teams lining up to try and sign him.
The Spurs re-signed Manu Ginobili, and have added Marco Belinelli to the team, which means they currently have 7 guards on the payroll going into next season, which makes Gary Neal expendable all of a sudden, especially with Belinelli joining the team.
The Milwaukee Bucks need scoring, from anywhere. After losing J.J. Redick to free agency, they’re on the verge of losing both Monta Ellis (Sacramento, Dallas and Atlanta all interested) and Brandon Jennings, who is a restricted free agent and doesn’t want to come back.
Gary Neal has produced pretty much the same numbers throughout his NBA career, playing for the Spurs since finally making it into the league in 2010. Last season there was a slight dip in his shooting, dropping to 35.5% from beyond the arc compared to over 40% for most of his career, but as he showed in the playoffs and NBA finals, he’s not a player you should leave open.
Neal is a slightly small shooting guard, but he can put the ball on the floor and be effective in the open court game. He’s not starting-guard material, even for the shorthanded Bucks at this moment, but coming off his rookie contract, Neal can provide a lot of quick scoring from the outside, without posing too much of a burden on the salary cap.
The Spurs can still keep Neal, but only if we start seeing them making moves with some of their point guards, who frankly they have a bit too many of: Patty Mills, Nando de Colo and Cory Joseph. If they find a trading partner for one of them, maybe Neal eventually stays with the Spurs.