Popovich says Spurs' aging core likely to return: 'Paycheck is pretty good'

The corpse of the 2014-15 San Antonio Spurs was barely cold before the avalanche of speculation about the franchise's future started to roll. 

The fates of aging, lifetime Spurs Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili has been something of an open question all season, with the contracts of both guys - 39 and 37 years old, respectively - set to expire. 

Neither guy has yet deigned to offer a definitive answer, and it stands to reason that they'll need some time to process the crushing loss that just ended their season before deciding if it was the last NBA game either will ever play. 

Though slightly less front and center, the future of head coach Gregg Popovich has also been cast into doubt at various points, and he's hinted that he and Duncan - partners in clinical basketball for 18 years running - will eventually stroll hand-in-hand towards the sunset. 

Given a penny for his thoughts after the game, Popovich provided slightly more insight, even if it was clouded some by his notoriously caustic delivery. 

"People ask me about Tim and Manu and myself for the last five years, what we're going to do," Popovich said, according to ESPN's Ramona Shelburne. "It's all psycho babble. I have no clue. We'll probably come back. Paycheck is pretty good. You think I'm lying."

The Spurs are rumored to have some high-profile free agents in their sights, and one in particular who plays Duncan's position. But if that's a harbinger for Duncan's retirement, general manager R.C. Buford isn't saying. 

"Our whole team and our organization will be completely different at a point in time when we have a different group," Buford said. "But I don't anticipate... we're not going to rush them (to decide). They'll have time to talk amongst themselves, and we'll have time to listen to what they're saying and act accordingly."

While Duncan was terse and to the point about where he currently stands - "I'm not making any statements thus far," he said - Ginobili had plenty to say on the subject. 

"I don't know," he said. "It could happen easily. I still don't know what I want to do and I don't want to make decisions right after the disappointment (of) a game like this. Some days you feel proud and you think you did great. Other games you think, 'What the hell am I doing here? I might as well stay home and enjoy my kids.' It's a tough moment. You just have to sit, wait, let it all go and make a decision."