Mark J. Rebilas-US PRESSWIRE
Tim Duncan will likely finish his career as one of the best power forwards in NBA history with the San Antonio Spurs.
The terms of the contract? It’s close to a three-year, $36 million deal, meaning he’ll be paid around $12 million per year for the remainder of Duncan’s storied career. To compare, Kevin Garnett, who was drafted two years prior to Tim Duncan’s arrival into the NBA, received a three-year, $34 million deal
If Duncan plays out the remainder of this contract instead of retiring, he’ll have played in the NBA for 18 years and through the age of 39.
For the past three years, Duncan has averaged career-lows in minutes played per game, with the past two years seeing Duncan play just 28 minutes a contest. As a result, Duncan has averaged career-lows in points per game and rebounds per game.
However, Duncan’s reduction in minutes were more a result of Spurs head honcho Gregg Popovich preserving Duncan’s legs for the playoffs and important games.
Despite Duncan’s reduction in minutes, he’s managed to maintain a Player Efficiency Rating (or PER, a stat meant to measure per-minute production) of 22.2 over the past two years, well above the average PER of 15.
In his time with the Spurs, Duncan has appeared in 13 NBA All-Star contests, won the regular season NBA MVP award twice, was named the NBA Finals MVP three times, and has ranked in the top ten in Player Efficiency Rating twelve times. He also made the All-NBA first team nine times and the All-Defensive first team eight times.
Ladies and gents, the Tim Duncan era of the NBA is not yet over.
For more on the San Antonio Spurs, visit FanSided’s Spurs’ blog, Air Alamo.
