By Jeff McDonald - Express-News The Spurs have landed their first big free agent of the summer. And it isn’t Rasheed Wallace.
The Spurs have agreed to contract terms with Marcus Haislip, a 6-foot-10 former lottery pick of the Milwaukee Bucks who has been playing in Europe since washing out of the NBA in 2005.
Widely regarded as one of the top free agents in Europe this offseason, the 28-year-old Haislip is expected to sign with the Spurs not long after the NBA’s moratorium on offseason business expires Wednesday.
The move does not put the Spurs out of contention for Wallace, Antonio McDyess or any of the other NBA big men they have been courting since free agency opened last week.
Still, Haislip’s addition at power forward should be an intriguing one for the Spurs, who have been stocking up on frontcourt options since including Kurt Thomas and Fabricio Oberto in the June 23 trade that brought swingman Richard Jefferson from Milwaukee.
The terms of the Spurs’ offer remain unclear, though it is likely to start at the veteran’s minimum.
For the Spurs to remain in the hunt for Wallace or another high-level NBA big man, they will need to save their full mid-level exception, slated to be worth about $5.6 million. Wallace, who is set to visit San Antonio this week, already has an offer on the table from Boston starting at that amount.
The Spurs also have at their disposal a biannual exception, projected to be worth about $1.9 million.
Haislip was the 13th pick in 2002 draft out of Tennessee, but flamed out after two seasons in Milwaukee. The Bucks declined to pick up the third-year option on his rookie contract, and Haislip wound up in Indiana for one season in 2004-05.
After that, he bounced overseas to Europe, spending the past two seasons with the Spanish team Unicaja Malaga.
A highlight-reel dunker dating to his days at Tennessee, Haislip worked in Europe to buff his offensive game to an NBA polish. He averaged 16.5 points in Spain last season.
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