Tim Duncan cut his paycheck in half, so that his San Antonio Spurs could remain whole

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There are unfortunate realities that capped-out NBA teams have to suffer through as they head from one capped-out season to the next. Changing the face of a franchise is no easy task, when attempting to switch personnel while over the salary cap, so you're more or less left with what you left last season with. Luckily for the San Antonio Spurs, they left last season with Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili, and Tony Parker. And, luckily for Spurs fans, Duncan's insistence on playing for half of what he earned in 2011-12 during 2012-13 will allow the team to keep all three while retaining the help this aging team needs.

Duncan's massive pay cut, as he signed what is likely to be the last contract of his NBA career, meant the Spurs had the full go-ahead to re-sign the sorts of parts and helpers that could push San Antonio to the last title of Duncan's career in 2013 or beyond. It's a significant move that helps the Spurs attempt to stay at championship level in his waning years nearly as much as Duncan's play helped San Antonio win titles during the peak of his career. And his move didn't go unnoticed by the great Mike Monroe, of the San Antonio Express-News:

After being the third-highest paid player in the league last season, behind only Lakers star Kobe Bryant ($25.24 million) and Boston's Kevin Garnett ($21.25 million), Duncan next season will be the fourth-highest paid Spur.



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A two-time NBA Most Valuable Player, the 36-year-old Duncan will see his salary rise to $10.36 million for the 2013-14 season. The team captain is guaranteed $10 million for the 2014-15 season, but he has an opt-out clause.

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Duncan's pay cut had been expected for some time, but few thought he would agree to a drop as significant as this.

The dip was more or less signed off on when San Antonio made a surprising trade deadline deal last March to acquire former Spur (and, it should be noted, formerly disgruntled) Stephen Jackson, and the $10.6 salary he's slated to earn in 2012-13. Retaining Duncan with a double-figure salary would place four different Spurs (alongside Ginobili and Parker) in that realm, and that's just not good business sense for a team playing out of any market.

Because a cap is a cap. And even if the Spurs wanted to go all out and dive into luxury tax territory, being over the real cap and then taxed-out cap limits your flexibility in acquiring players even if money is no object.

Money is an object to the Spurs, though, who rarely pay the tax. Because Duncan cut his salary in more than half, the team was able to re-sign guard Danny Green, keep Boris Diaw in the fold, take advantage of the last year of Jackson's time with the Spurs, re-sign Patty Mills, and finally add 2009 draftee Nando De Colo, who you can trust is a real person because Mike Monroe wouldn't lead us astray.

The decreased payments for Duncan also means the team will be in a good spot next summer, when it's time to extend Manu Ginobili's contract, and possibly match offers for center Tiago Splitter in 2013, who will become a restricted free agent during that offseason.

None of this cinches a return to even the Western conference finals, much less the NBA Finals and the fifth ring of Duncan's illustrious career. No trade or transaction would ever cinch that, though. All the Spurs can do, in Duncan's final years and with his properly-compensated teammates in Ginobili and Parker still playing well, is give themselves a chance with sound spending and a deep squad. And because Duncan wasn't offended that the Spurs asked that he not approximate his last contract, he'll have a happy and deep team to work with as a result.

Seems a fair tradeoff, for all involved.