According to today's local paper Manu's agent says that Denver has NOT made an offer. Manu has told his agent he prefers to stay in SA.
The Spurs made modest progress in their negotiations with Ginobili on Wednesday with plans to continue talking.
"We're not close yet," Ginobili's agent, Herb Rudoy, said late Wednesday afternoon. "But we're going to continue to slug through this."
Denver officials continued to show strong interest in Ginobili, but said they have yet to make a formal offer to him. They spoke with Rudoy on Wednesday in addition to meeting with New Jersey free-agent forward Kenyon Martin in Denver.
In addition to their interest in Martin and Kobe Bryant, the Nuggets might be hesitant to extend Ginobili an official offer sheet because of his reluctance to sign one. After visiting Denver and Utah last weekend, Ginobili told Spurs officials on Sunday he had not wavered in his desire to re-sign with the team.
For now, at least, Ginobili has had Rudoy focus on negotiations with the Spurs.
"I'm very confident I can get an offer from at least one team and maybe two, if needed," Rudoy said. "Right now it's just a matter of talking to San Antonio and seeing how things proceed there. I don't want to drag another team through the process until Manu says he wants to sign with them."
I can't see the Spurs letting Manu go without landing Kobe. While Manu's price may be high, you can blame that on Hedo's offer sheet, I can't see Pop letting him go regardless of what happened with Malik. Manu is a special player, he may not have all the talent and skills of a T-Mac or Kobe but he more than makes up for it with heart, hustle and smarts.
I don't see the Spurs getting very far in the playoffs if they lose this critical spark plug.
