The San Antonio Spurs knew since they lost in the 2011 NBA playoffs that veteran forward Antonio McDyess was going to retire, but they had to wait until now to make a final decision on what to do with him. On Monday, the Spurs were able to remove $2.6 million non-guaranteed money owed to McDyess off their salary cap, according to Mike Monroe of the Express-News.
McDyess was the No. 2 overall pick in the 1995 NBA Draft by the Los Angeles Clippers, but he was traded on draft night to the Denver Nuggets for Brent Barry and Rodney Rogers.
He then spent six of the next seven seasons with the Nuggets (there was a one-year stint with the Phoenix Suns in the middle of it). He then had a couple of seasons where he averaged over 20 points per game for the Nuggets. However, injury caused him to miss the majority of the 2001-02 season.
The Nuggets, though, were still able to send him to the New York Knicks as part of the deal that brought back Nene in on NBA Draft Night 2002. McDyess missed that following season and was shipped to the Phoenix Suns, once again. However, he found stability the year after when he joined up with the Detroit Pistons for five years. He played the last two with the Spurs.