[Hitman]

Nesterovic Spurs' replacement for Robinson

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By Marc Stein
ESPN.com


The San Antonio Spurs have found their replacement for retired center David Robinson.

Free-agent center Rasho Nesterovic will sign a six-year contract estimated at $45 million with the Spurs, agent Bill Duffy told ESPN.com's Marc Stein on Tuesday.


Nesterovic


Rasho Nesterovic narrowed his wish list down to two teams (Minnesota and San Antonio) and one long shot (New York). The defending champion Spurs, with two-time MVP Tim Duncan, won out.

"Rasho has a great fondess for Gregg Popovich," Duffy told ESPN.com. "This is a great opportunity to join a championship-caliber organization."

The Spurs, struggling to make use of their $15 million-plus in salary-cap space despite winning their second NBA title in franchise history last month, had been pursuing Nesterovic aggressively since missing out on Jason Kidd, Alonzo Mourning and P.J. Brown. The Spurs were also in talks with Indiana's Brad Miller.

Nesterovic already has a seven-year offer on the table worth more than $50 million from the Wolves, who desperately wanted to keep Nesterovic alongside Kevin Garnett on their front line. Minnesota was also hoping to add power forward Juwan Howard, but the Orlando Sentinel reported in Monday's editions that Howard has picked the Magic over the Wolves.