Power of Caring
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Spurs sign veteran guard Porter

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Posted: Thursday August 05, 1999 03:19 PM

SAN ANTONIO (AP) -- The NBA champion San Antonio Spurs bolstered their backcourt with the signing of free agent Terry Porter, a guard with 14 years of experience in the league.

The two-time All-Star agreed to a three-year, $6.6 million contract that will cost the Spurs their $2 million salary-cap exception, according to published reports. The deal frees up the $2.7 million medical exception the team received for forward Sean Elliott, who needs a kidney transplant.

The Spurs announced Porter's signing Thursday.

"When the defending champions ask you to help them repeat, that's something you cannot pass up," Porter told the San Antonio Express-News.

Porter, 36, spent last season with the Heat and decided to leave them after at least two discussions with coach Pat Riley.

"The finances really didn't play a part. The numbers were going to work out the same," Porter told the Sun-Sentinel of Fort Lauderdale. "I just did not know who the players would be in Miami. I didn't know how the scenario would play out."

Porter averaged 10.5 points, 2.9 assists and 2.8 rebounds for the Heat, who were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs. His .411 mark from three-point land ranked 12th in the NBA.

The 6-foot-3, 195-pound Porter can play either guard position. The Spurs could use him as a backup for point guard Avery Johnson, but also is considered a strong-enough defender to play behind guard Mario Elie.

The Spurs was one of several teams to court Porter since the free-agency period began in July.

Porter has seen postseason action in 13 of his 14 NBA seasons. He advanced to the finals in both 1990 and 1992 while with the Portland Trail Blazers, who selected Porter in the first round of the 1985 NBA draft with the 24th overall pick.

He spent 10 seasons with the Trail Blazers before signing with the Minnesota Timberwolves in 1995. After three seasons there, he signed with the Heat.

Porter ranks fourth among active NBA players in career assists with 6,483. In addition, he has appeared in 331 consecutive games, which is the third longest active streak in the league behind A.C. Green and Hersey Hawkins.

 

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