Johnny Ludden of the San Antonio Express-News reports: The San Antonio Spurs made their second trade in three days Friday, sending the draft rights to Croatian guard Gordan Giricek to Memphis for a second-round pick in 2004 and cash considerations.

The Spurs had hoped to use Giricek, the 40th overall pick in 1999, to trade up in Wednesday night's draft to get 18-year-old Yugoslavian center Nenad Krstic. Phoenix (No. 22) and Detroit (No. 23) both had interest in trading their picks for Giricek and the Spurs' 26th selection, but balked at Giricek's contract demands.

Giricek averaged 22.9 points for CSKA Moscow in Euroleague play last season, but the Spurs did not have room for him because they plan on signing Argentine guard Emanuel Ginobili in the next three weeks. The Spurs opted to deal Giricek's rights before he signed a long-term contract in Europe that would have lowered his NBA trade value.

The Spurs also had trade conversations involving Antonio Daniels around the draft, but the team does not have any more impending deals after moving Giricek, one source said. Depending on what happens over the remainder of the summer, the Spurs could enter training camp with Ginobili, Daniels and Steve Smith, who also plays small forward, competing for minutes at shooting guard.

Bruce Bowen, who becomes a free agent on Monday, Charles Smith and Stephen Jackson, who is not expected to opt out of his contract, also can play both the small forward and shooting guard positions.

"There are a lot of different ways this team can go," Daniels said. "If it is log-jammed at one spot, it will just be a very competitive camp.

"This just means I'm going to have to bust my (butt) that much harder this summer to get ready. That's all. The great thing about this organization is they don't 'give' a position to anybody. You have to earn it."

"I just couldn't believe it," Claxton said. "I was like, 'What?' It took a while for it to sink in."

On Thursday, Claxton was beginning to warm to the deal that sent him to the Spurs in return for Mark Bryant and the draft rights to John Salmons and Randy Holcomb. After living in the Northeast his entire life, a move west couldn't be all bad, he said.

"I'm kind of looking forward to it now," Claxton said by phone from Philadelphia. "It gives me a new city to experience."

Claxton will meet his new team for the first time next week when the Spurs bring him in for a physical. Saying good-bye to Philadelphia won't be easy.

Johnny Ludden of the San Antonio Express News writes that the Spurs had hoped Yugoslavian center Nenad Krstic would fall to them at the 26th pick, but was taken two slots before by New Jersey.  So, they pulled the trigger on a pre-arranged trade with Philadelphia to shore up the point guard position.

The Spurs traded the John Salmons (#26), Randy Holcomb (#57), and veteran Mark Bryant to Philadelphia for point guard Speedy Claxton.  The Spurs hope Claxton can fill in the backup point guard spot for Terry Porter who may retire.

The Spurs also picked Luis Scola with the 56th pick in the draft.  He is a friend of guard Emanuel Ginobili who will sign a contract with the Spurs this offseason to come to the States.  Scola will likely remain in Europe for now.

"We want our next center," Spurs assistant general manager R.C. Buford said laughing, "to be as good as our last center."

With Robinson retiring at the end of next season, the team's search for a replacement likely will extend well beyond tonight. With only the 26th, 56th and 57th picks at their disposal, the Spurs will draft more on potential than production.

UCLA's Dan Gadzuric and 18-year-old Yugoslavian Nenad Krstic, both 6-foot-11 centers, are among the players the Spurs are considering taking in the first round.

So, who does San Antonio want to select tonight with their 26th selection?

Johnny Ludden of the San Antonio Express-News reports: "We want our next center," Spurs assistant general manager R.C. Buford said laughing, "to be as good as our last center."

Unfortunately for the Spurs, drafting a lean, athletic, muscle-bound, 7-foot-1 future Hall of Famer isn't as easy as it was 15 years ago.

Armed with the top pick in 1987, the Spurs took David Robinson, patiently waited two years for him to serve his Naval commitment, then watched him develop into the franchise's cornerstone.

With Robinson retiring at the end of next season, the team's search for a replacement likely will extend well beyond tonight. With only the 26th, 56th and 57th picks at their disposal, the Spurs will draft more on potential than production.

UCLA's Dan Gadzuric and 18-year-old Yugoslavian Nenad Krstic, both 6-foot-11 centers, are among the players the Spurs are considering taking in the first round.

The Spurs are still discussing ways to trade for a pick in the 17-24 range, dangling, among other things, the rights to Gordan Giricek, a 6-6 Croatian guard they drafted in the second round in 1999. Both Gadzuric and Krstic could be gone by No. 26.

Luis Scola, a 6-9 power forward from Argentina; Jamal Sampson, a 19-year-old 6-11 forward/center who played just one season at California; David Andersen, a 7-foot Australian forward; and Lazaros Papadopoulos, a 6-11 forward/center on the Greek national team, have also worked out for the Spurs and are expected to be available near the bottom of the first round.

The Spurs have all but finalized an agreement to sign Emanuel Ginobili, a former second-round pick now regarded as one of Europe's top players, reports Johnny Ludden of the San Antonio Express News.

Ginobili, who will turn 25 on July 28, is expected to sign a contract in the next few weeks that will pay him about $1.4 million next season.

The Spurs took Ginobili, a 6-foot-6 Argentine swingman, with the 57th overall pick of the 1999 draft. He has led Kinder Bologna to the 2001 Italian Championship and the Euroleague title. He was named to the All-Euroleague team this season and was the Euroleague Finals MVP in 2001.

By signing Ginobili to the $1 million exception, the Spurs still have the mid-level exception to re-sign Bruce Bowen and/or sign other free agents.  Malik Rose has Bird rights.

The Spurs also have talked with a handful of teams about moving up from their current No. 26 pick in Wednesday's draft, sources said. Detroit, one of the teams the Spurs have talked with, is considering unloading its 23rd pick. The Pistons have interest in obtaining multiple second-round choices, and the Spurs have two picks in the second round (Nos. 56 and 57).  The Spurs are interested in Nenad Krstic, among others.

As many as 10 non-Americans could be drafted in the NBA first round next week, including Yao Ming, the first. Five went last year in Parker's class, and they weren't all giants who couldn't have played soccer. Raul Lopez, the choice of the Jazz, is Parker's size.

The gap is closing, all right. It won't be long before the U.S. pros are upset in an Olympics. It almost happened in Sydney.

So if the gap is closing in one direction, it only makes sense that it's also closing in the other. The NBA's rookie of the year this past season came from Spain. So isn't there some symmetry when young Americans such as Landon Donovan and DaMarcus Beasley impact soccer?

Signifying the move of the San Antonio Spurs to the newly built SBC Center the team is going back in time, scrapping  the bright brushstrokes of teal, orange and fuchsia that have adorned the team's logo since 1988, ESPN is reporting.

In their place will be the team's primary colors; black, white and silver.

"With our upcoming move to the SBC Center, we thought it was the perfect time to return to our traditional primary colors,'' said Russ Bookbinder, the team's executive vice president.

ESPN reports that the Spurs' uniform lettering will also be changed slightly from a three-dimensional format to a two-dimensional block style, according to Bookbinder.

For a visual of the new logo check out the article.

The SBC Center, new home of the Spurs and the San Antonio Stock Show & Rodeo, will have a variety of suites and seat boxes offering the pleasures of home when it opens in October.

At a time when professional sports teams are turning to luxury suites to expand their fan base and tap into new revenue, the Spurs have roughly doubled their luxury offerings. San Antonio's new arena will have 60 suites, including 44 facing the court.

A shortage of suites in the Charlotte Coliseum, which has 12, was a major reason the NBA Hornets decided to move next season to a new arena in New Orleans, which has deposits paid on 55 suites. Meanwhile, community leaders in Sacramento, Calif., in an effort to hold on to the financially struggling NBA Kings, have been discussing ways to finance an arena with 57 to 67 suites to replace the 14-year-old Arco Arena, which has 30 suites.

When asked about the emphasis on luxury suites, sports psychologist Christian M. End reflects on scenes from Hollywood movies of a Roman emperor, surrounded by other royalty and servants as he watches gladiators below.

On Wednesday, Smith continued to follow in his boyhood hero's footsteps when he received the Joe Dumars Trophy for winning the NBA's Sportsmanship Award.

The award, first won by Dumars in 1996, goes to the player who best represents the ideals of sportsmanship on the court.

"For me to get a chance to follow someone who I idolized, someone who I got a chance to play against and now got a chance to be great friends with, is a great honor," Smith said. "I always tried to see how he carried himself on and off the court."

For winning the award, Smith also received $25,000, which he is donating to Reading is Fundamental Inc., the nation's largest children's and family literacy organization.