Spurs Sign Mason Plumlee For Rest Of Season

12:51 pm: The Spurs are re-signing veteran center Mason Plumlee for the rest of the season, agent Mark Bartelstein tells Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter link).

Plumlee’s initial 10-day contract with San Antonio expired on Thursday night, but it always seemed likely that his stay with the team would extend beyond those 10 days. He wasn’t ready to play when he signed, having been in the final stages of his recovery from December groin surgery, so the fact that the Spurs still brought him in – as he spoke about how he might help the team going forward – suggested the two sides had a longer-term plan.

A 13th-year veteran who will turn 36 next Thursday, Plumlee opened the season in Charlotte, where he looked like he’d have an opportunity to play rotation minutes in a thin frontcourt. However, young players Moussa Diabate and Ryan Kalkbrenner both stepped up for the Hornets, taking the top two spots on the center depth chart and relegating Plumlee to a third-string role.

Plumlee appeared in just 14 games during his time in Charlotte, averaging 1.9 points, 2.9 rebounds, and 1.1 assists in 8.9 minutes per night. He was traded to Oklahoma City in a deadline deal that sent Ousmane Dieng to the Hornets and was subsequently waived by the Thunder.

Plumlee seems unlikely to play a bigger role in a crowded Spurs frontcourt, where fellow veterans Kelly Olynyk and Bismack Biyombo have seen limited minutes this season. But he’ll give the young team another respected locker room presence as it prepares to make its first playoff appearance since 2019.

For what it’s worth, though he didn’t play during his first 10 days with San Antonio, Plumlee’s designation on Thursday’s injury report was “return to competition reconditioning,” which suggests he has recovered from the procedure on his groin and is just working on getting back into game shape before he’s activated.

Assuming Plumlee and the Spurs finalize his new contract on Friday, he’ll receive a rest-of-season minimum salary of $939,867, while the team carries a cap hit of $593,864.