Patty Mills will be available to play in the San Antonio Spurs' game on Sunday night against Houston. 

Mills has missed the first 31 games of the season after having right shoulder surgery on July 2.

Marc Gasol admitted he is not particularly looking forward to free agency where he will likely be courted by the San Antonio Spurs, New York Knicks, Los Angeles Lakers and others.

"I've been already through one," he says of the summer of 2011, when as a restricted free agent he re-signed with the Grizzlies for $58 million over four years, "and I did not especially enjoy it. I don't know how I'm going to feel in July. I really don't. This is the next five years of my life and I'm going to go all in. Whatever team you play for, you've always got to feel like you represent that team, that you've got to play for it. Because that's the way we grew up in Spain. You play for the city. You play for a way of doing things. It's not about you. I do this for them. I play for the city, for the franchise or whatever. You've got to have that pride that comes with it."

The Memphis Grizzlies badly want to keep Gasol and Gasol has stated he wants to remain with the franchise.

"I'm pretty thankful for everything that happened," Gasol said.

Gregg Popovich described Kawhi Leonard's torn hand ligament as "very problematic” and disputed Leonard's notion that he will return to the San Antonio Spurs' lineup soon.

“I don’t think that’s accurate,” Popovich said.

Popovich said Leonard could need offseason surgery to facilitate a full recover. The team is unclear on his return timetable.

“I don’t know,” Popovich said. “He got another injection (on Sunday). One of the docs said he’s been doing hands for 40 years and this is the first time he’s ever seen this injury. So it’s a little bit unique.”

Kawhi Leonard has suffered a tear in his hand and Gregg Popovich is unsure when he'll return.

The San Antonio Spurs, however, are not overly concerned with the severity of the injury.

Tiago Splitter could return to the San Antonio Spurs' lineup as soon as Tuesday.

Splitter has missed 17 consecutive games due to a calf injury and has played 10 minutes on the season.

Gregg Popovich termed Splitter's potential playing time at Utah on Tuesday as “quite short minutes.”

“He’s a big part of us and what we did last year,” Kawhi Leonard said. “He plays good defense, rebounds the ball and he can score well.”

The San Antonio Spurs' run with Gregg Popovich and Tim Duncan at its core has been ongoing for more than 15 years.

The Spurs have been able to keep Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili while building a high quality supporting cast around them due to their willingness to take less money.

“All these guys, the core guys, they’ve made less money in San Antonio than counterparts all across the league — people who will say they gave up that, they gave up this,” Popovich said. “But these guys have given up real money with every new contract to stay together. These guys care about quality of life, and it falls into the way they play.”

Kawhi Leonard said that part of his homework in the offseason was studying tape of Michael Jordan's post-up game.

"I've been just really waiting for the opportunity to get a couple calls and take some game shots in game rhythm," said Leonard of his post-game.

Leonard tied a career-high with 26 points on Monday.

"Going forward, he's going to be a major scorer for us," said Gregg Popovich. "We're trying to loosen him up a bit, give him a bit of a green light."