Spurs sign 2005 pick Ian Mahinmi from France and release Spanoulis

SAN ANTONIO (AP) -- The San Antonio Spurs signed French power forward Ian Mahinmi, who they drafted in 2005, on Thursday.

The defending NBA champion Spurs picked Mahinmi, a 6-foot-11 power forward, with the 28th selection in the first round of the NBA draft in 2005. Mahinmi, 20, has been kept by the Spurs in France, where he played in the 2006 French League All-Star game. During the 200-07 season, he averaged 4.3 points and 3.2 rebounds in 12.7 minutes in 33 French League games. He averaged 3.7 points and 2.8 rebounds in 12.7 minutes in 18 Euroleague games.

Also Thursday, the Spurs announced they released guard Vassilis Spanoulis from his contract. The Spurs got Spanoulis and a 2009 second-round pick in July from the Houston Rockets in exchange for center Jackie Butler and the rights to Luis Scola. Spanoulis, 25, said in July that he wanted to play next season in his native Greece. Spanoulis averaged 2.7 points and 0.9 assists in 31 games last season as a rookie.

I'm glad we released Spanoulis, which we were obviously going to do after he came out and said he wanted to go home and not cry himself to sleep every night. Cool, the Spurs get another Frenchman. Also, with that Spanoulis trade, it sucks that we lost Jackie Butler and especially the giant prospect Luis Scola. I think Scola will do great in the NBA and for the Houston Rockets.