"As he has for 14 years running, Spurs coach Gregg Popovich expects to be able to chisel Tim Duncan's name into his starting lineup for the 2011-12 campaign, whenever it begins.

Though Duncan has passed his 35th birthday, he remains under contract for next season, and Popovich sees no reason to doubt the two-time MVP will return for another go-round.

"Timmy's given me no indication he's considering retiring, or anything like that," Popovich said.

In what has seemed to be an annual offseason ritual ever since David Robinson hung up his Nikes, the search is on for someone to be Duncan's frontcourt running mate.

With the playoff wounds inflicted by Zach Randolph and Memphis' bruising frontcourt still fresh, and with Antonio McDyess all but officially retired, Popovich said this week that finding a partner for Duncan will be the team's top offseason personnel priority.

The Spurs have not ruled out exploring the trade or free-agent markets to accomplish that goal, once they open for business, but are more likely to look in-house to fill the void.

One returning candidate is 22-year-old DeJuan Blair, an undersized forward at 6-foot-7 who started 65 games, but battled weight issues and fell out of favor in the postseason. Another is 25-year-old Tiago Splitter, a 6-foot-11 former first-round draft pick who arrived last summer amid a frenzy of fanfare only to have his rookie season undermined by alternating spates of injury and inactivity.

Two weeks removed from a playoff ouster, and with plenty of offseason in front of him, Popovich hasn't committed to anyone just yet. At times, however, he appears willing to talk himself into the dawning of the Splitter era.

"I think Tiago has to be a linchpin for our future here, because he has the size, the length, the toughness, the grit, the consistency," Popovich said. "He's going to be a stalwart of this team going forward.""