Same old Spurs

For all my Spurs-fans friends, a quick summary of this article in the San Antonio paper, which lays out the team's roster for next year, but takes many paragraphs to get there.

— Going into the free agent season, the Spurs expect to retain 14 of the 15 players who took that championship spin down the Riverwalk.

— Melvin Ely is the only player peacin' out. After coming over in a mid-season trade, he hardly played and looks to be moving on. Enjoy that ring, Melvin. I look forward to seeing on it on eBay soon.

— Robert Horry is not retiring.

— James White and Jackie Butler will both get a chance to strut their stuff in Summer League. I'll be rooting for White, who might be the best dunker I've ever seen and could be the dose of young athleticism this team needs. He sounds like a good kid (from Cincinnati's program, no less?!) who has already adopted that Spurs attitude: "For me to [get playing time], they've gotta be able to trust me on the defensive end. That's probably the biggest thing. Being able to go out there and being in the right spots at the right times and do the right things so they can trust me."

— Players the Spurs hope to resign: Fabricio Oberto, Jacque Vaughn, and The Red Rocket, Matt Bonner. All have indicated they would like to stay in S.A.

— The final roster spot will probably go to second-round pick Marcus Williams, who, according to at least one article, is not the head-case waiting to sabotage team chemistry that people make him out to be. Welcome to Austin (Toros), Marcus.

— The Spurs could open another roster spot by trading Beno Udrih, a move they've been pursuing for some time.

— The only free agent we're rumored to be after is Grant Hill, but it looks like we're about his third or fourth choice. Fine, we didn't want his toothpick ankles, anyway.