A few San Antonio thoughts:

* Spurs coach Gregg Popovich had some interesting things to say to Peter May of the Boston Globe, discussing everything from Bruce Bowen's possible retirement to the team's offseason moves.

* Popovich on Bowen, the longtime Spurs forward traded to Milwaukee in the Richard Jefferson deal (the Bucks then waived him): "He might come back with the right team in the right situation, but it's probably not going to be San Antonio."

* That makes sense, as Bowen is 38 and while he's still a potential contributor, he wouldn't get many minutes with Jefferson, Roger Mason, Michael Finley and, of course, Manu Ginobili in front of him.

* There have been reports Boston was interested in Bowen, but he did not feel the same. Washington is said to be another possibility, as is Atlanta.

* Popovich on new addition Antonio McDyess: "He's Kurt Thomas, but a better scorer."

* Seriously, is there a more perfect veteran find for this team than McDyess? With his professionalism and team-first attitude, he makes the ultimate Spur.

* The Spurs' starting lineup will look something like this: C Tim Duncan; PF McDyess; SF Jefferson; SG Mason; PG Tony Parker.

* Off the bench will be Ginobili at shooting guard, Finley at small forward, Matt Bonner at power forward, George Hill at point guard and veteran Theo Ratliff at center.

* Popovich is also high on rookie power forward DeJuan Blair. "He's going to play right off the bat for us," Popovich told May. "He can rebound. I'm not going to teach him how to shoot threes. We know what he can do."

* Popovich also called Jefferson "a grown up" who is a great fit personality-wise. "He has a great sense of humor. You can coach him and he can respectfully talk back to you. Timmy enjoys him."

* Finally, Popovich indicated he thinks the Lakers are still the West's best team, but he likes what the Spurs have done. "If we had come to training camp with the same group we had at the end of last year, everyone would have gone into major depression," he told May. "I would have been saying, ‘follow me,' and turned around to find nobody there. It was time to change the music and I think we've done that."

* Personally, I think the Spurs and the Lakers are neck-in-neck, with neither clearly superior to the other. If I absolutely, positively had to give anyone an edge, it would be the Spurs. But I reserve the right change my mind on a daily basis.

FREE AGENCY NOTES

* Training camp is only a little more than a month away. Some unrestricted free agents who can help your team: Allen Iverson, Stephon Marbury, Flip Murray, Keith Bogans, Rob Kurz, Luther Head, Rashad McCants, Melvin Ely, Ime Udoka, Brevin Knight.

* Interestingly, both Stephen Graham (Indiana) and Joey Graham (Toronto) are unrestricted free agents. Wonder if this is the first time in history a pair of twins have been free agents during the same summer (and still unsigned)?

* Marbury is still on the Wizards' radar, but not much gets done in August, as this is the one month a lot of general managers kick back, relax and take a vacation.

* Murray is said to be another possibility with the Wizards. He could also end up in Los Angeles with the Clippers.

* Anyone know what's going on with Steve Francis these days?

* While the summer of 2010 is The Year of LeBron James (as well as Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh), there are a lot quality people who will either be or can choose to be unrestricted free agents who rarely get mentioned. Among them: Manu Ginobili, Amare Stoudemire, Dirk Nowitzki, Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Shaquille O'Neal and Paul Pierce.

* Also, Utah forward Carlos Boozer will be available and would be perfect for a team seeking a borderline All-Star who constantly has one eye on the door.

* Tracy McGrady, Jermaine O'Neal and Derek Fisher also come off the books in 2010. But it's doubtful any will be starting material by then.

Sam Amico is the editor of Pro Basketball News. Contact him at amico@probasketballnews.com or follow him on Twitter.

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