Tim Duncan (illness) missed practice on Monday. No word on details, and we don't expect Gregg Popovich to elaborate too much. Our guess is that Duncan will be fine, but it's out of the ordinary for The Big Fundamental to skip practice. We'll let you know if it's anything more than a minor bug.

Tim Duncan scored 21 points on 8-of-11 shooting with eight rebounds, two assists, two steals, and two blocks in the Spurs' 97-91 preseason loss to the Nuggets on Friday. We're surprised Duncan felt the need to flex his skills, but he looked like his typical self and showed a bit more range on his jumper. He's not going to be a sexy pickup, and there is risk of rest down the stretch (he did fine last season), but we're not hesitating to grab him in the later-middle rounds of a 12-team, 8-cat draft. Backup PG hopeful Gary Neal added 19 points while playing shooting guard for much of his outing, despite his position battle buddy Patty Mills (ankle) missing the game.

Tim Duncan received a full no-trade clause in his new three-year contract. Duncan will join Kevin Garnett, Kobe Bryant and Dirk Nowitzki as the only four players in the league to have such a clause. Duncan averaged 15.4 points, 9.0 rebounds and 1.5 blocks on 49.2 percent shooting last season. He's as consistent as they come despite the occasional DNP-OLD in the box score.

Tim Duncan's three-year contract with the Spurs is worth $30 million, sources tell Yahoo! Sports. That's a remarkably similar deal to the one that Kevin Garnett signed to remain with the Celtics, and in a league where players are regularly and vastly overpaid, Duncan's deal should be a good one over the next few seasons. The Big Fundamental will finish his career in San Antonio, making good on his comment that he'll be a "Spur for life."

The Spurs re-signed PF Tim Duncan. Duncan signed a three-year deal to stay with the Spurs, as they hope to be able to contend again in the Western Conference. Duncan's fantasy value is diminished this late in his career, but he's still a viable starting PF option. And it's pretty cool that he'll spend his entire career in San Antonio.

The Spurs and Tim Duncan have agreed to a three-year contract worth an undisclosed amount, according to Yahoo! Sports. The deal is "expected to be in the range" of KG's new deal with Boston -- three years and $36 million. Duncan averaged 15.4 points, 9.0 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.5 blocks last season, all setting or close to setting new career-lows. The Spurs stalwart sat out eight games last season, but has only missed an average of 4.7 games over the past seven seasons.

Tim Duncan's talks with the Spurs about a new contract are "good," as Marc Spears of Yahoo! Sports reported Sunday that it's very unlikely he considers another team. This is barely considered news, which is one of the reasons the Spurs can compete year-in and year-out. They get it done -- on the court and off of it.

Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said recently of Tim Duncan that "I don't see him not having a future with the franchise." Duncan is a free agent, but has called himself a "Spur for life," so it would be shocking if he were to finish out his career anywhere but San Antonio.

Tim Duncan is not concerned about his future with the Spurs. "I haven't even thought about it, and I really don't care," said Duncan. The Big Fundamental has previously stated that he is a "Spur for life," so although he'll be an unrestricted free agent, it shouldn't take long to get a new deal done.

The NBA Finals will officially begin Tuesday, June 12. Whoever wins the West will have homecourt advantage vs. the Heat or Celtics, and Game 7 would be played no later than June 26. The home/away format also changes in the Finals, going from 2-2-1-1-1 to 2-3-2, meaning Games 6 & 7 would be played in either San Antonio or Oklahoma City.