May 29, 2012; San Antonio, TX, USA; San Antonio Spurs guard Manu Ginobili (20) drives the lane against Oklahoma City Thunder forward Serge Ibaka (9) during the first half in game two of the Western Conference finals of the 2012 NBA playoffs at the AT

There aren’t many players that combine a deadly proficiency from the perimeter and at the rim with unparalleled creativity and a passel of basketball skills that irritates defenses consistently.

One of those players is Manu Ginobili, who will enter free agency next offseason at 36 years old. His age will hinder his market value more than anything, otherwise he would be in line for max extension type money.

Tom Ziller of SB Nation believes Ginobili is still an attractive free agent piece but not enough to vault into the top five — where Josh Smith, Andrew Bynum, James Harden, Andrew Bynum and Chris Paul are just as effective, but don’t have nearly the wear and tear of Ginobili, whose logged more than 22,000 minutes in his career. Ginobili finished sixth on Ziller’s early look at next years class.

    “Manu is this low only because of age: he’s 35, with 22,000 NBA minutes on the odometer in addition to     thousands of Euroleague and FIBA minutes, as well. He’s also had some injury issues (he played just 34     games last season) and plays a reckless style. That said, he’s still so brilliant on the court. Neither his     per-minute production nor efficiency have slipped (rare at this age), and the Spurs still depend heavily on     him. Tim Duncan is signed up for three more years, so it’s quite possible that San Antonio will extend     Manu through 2014-15 before July arrives. If not, should Manu hit free agency, the contenders will be     killing themselves to grab him.”

I don’t know what’s more remarkable: Ginobili’s increasing efficiency — in his 10th season, he posted career-highs in true shooting percentage and assist percentage while nearly eclipsing his 2007-08 season in PER — or how the media will continue to overlook Ginobili and credit James Harden for reinvigorating the shooting guard position. (An aside: Harden’s beard is roughly the equivalent of Ginobili’s bald spot but it’s also more popular and marketable. Of course.)

Both are pretty remarkable, but knowing Ginobili, the latter is probably more so. The media will continue to cultivate a dichotomy where the majority of fans abhor his “flopping” and don’t care to appreciate his brilliance. But he will still be brilliant.

Because that’s just how Ginobili operates.

May 31, 2012; Oklahoma City, OK, USA; San Antonio Spurs center Tiago Splitter (22) handles the ball while being guarded by Oklahoma City Thunder guard Derek Fisher (37) during the first half in game three of the Western Conference finals of the 2012 NBA playoffs at Chesapeake Energy Arena. Mandatory Credit: Mark D. Smith-US PRESSWIRE

Tiago Splitter didn’t turn out to be the next Tim Duncan. He vastly unperformed given that unrealistic standard.

But that doesn’t mean he’s an ineffective player; Splitter is one of the most reliable big men on the Spurs and a decent building block as long as he isn’t one of the three best players on the team.

In the right context, with the right coaching and the ability to settle into a role that doesn’t require too much from him, Splitter is an excellent big man. He’s tall and agile, underscoring his success in the pick-and-roll. Currently, he’s a below-average post threat but it isn’t because he’s inherently awful; he just needs to limit his turnovers.

Tom Ziller of SB Nation continues to tackle the 2013 Free Agency class and Splitter slotted in at 19th ahead of David West, who was fourth on Ziller’s list last offseason.

    “The Brazilian big man will wrap up his first NBA contract in 2013 and become a restricted free agent. His     arrival was not all we dreamed it could be: he’s playing less than 20 minutes per game in San Antonio, and     even less in the playoffs. But the per-minute numbers are there, and he’s going to break out soon. I can     feel it in my bones. Last season, he averaged 17.6 points and 9.8 rebounds per 36 minutes, and had a     64.9 percent True Shooting percentage — those are really legit numbers. It’s just a matter of opportunity.     Tim Duncan’s not getting any younger, and the Spurs aren’t tremendously deep up front (though they do     have DeJuan Blair and Boris Diaw).”

Splitter is already on the cusp of becoming a valuable big man despite averaging a mere 15.6 minutes per game through two seasons. That’s because any center that can convert on 71.3% of his attempts in the pick-and-roll, grab 21.4% of his teams defensive rebounds and post excellent true shooting percentage numbers every year will sustain a ton of value.

Even if that said big man struggles to hit free throws at a rate higher than 65%.

(But I digress.)