Tiago Splitter to Ink $36 Million Deal With the San Antonio Spurs

28-year old free agent center Tiago Splitter has reached a four-year, $36 million deal to stay with the San Antonio Spurs (making him the squad’s third highest-paid player.) The Spurs are doing all they can to retain the core of their team, which pushed the champion Miami Heat to seven games in the NBA Finals. Per the Express-News: “Splitter, who made $3.945 million last season, became a free agent on Monday. The Spurs made a qualifying offer of $4.93 million before he hit the free agent market, giving them the right to match any offer he received from other teams. According to a league source familiar with Splitter’s negotiations with the Spurs, the contract the Spurs were still structuring on Tuesday is expected to total slightly more than $36 million over four seasons. […] A 6-foot-11, 240-pound veteran of three seasons with the Spurs, Splitter last season was the team’s No. 2 rebounder, at 6.4 per game. He averaged 10.3 points, sixth on the team, and played in all but one regular season game. His production dropped during the playoffs, his scoring average dipping to 6.1 points per game and his rebounding average falling to 3.1 per game. He suffered a sprained left ankle in Game 3 of the team’s first-round sweep of the Lakers and missed the final game of that series and the first game of the team’s second-round series with Golden State.”