The Standard (St. Catharines)

Raptors get Grizzlies’ Gasol for Valanciuna­s, two others

Miles and Wright also going to Memphis

- LORI EWING

TORONTO — The Toronto Raptors appear to have pulled off one of the league’s biggest deals at the National Basketball Associatio­n trade deadline, acquiring Marc Gasol from the Memphis Grizzlies for Jonas Valanciuna­s.

ESPN, which first reported the deal, said C.J. Miles and Delon Wright will also be going to Memphis.

The blockblust­er deal, which still hadn’t been rubber-stamped by the league Thursday evening, brings a player long coveted by Raptors president Masai Ujiri to Toronto. It’s also a power move for a Toronto team looking to at least keep pace with Milwaukee and Philadelph­ia in the Eastern Conference.

Ujiri was scheduled to address the media in Toronto after the official trade call with the league, but Raptors guard Fred Van Vleet spoke highly of Gasol shortly before Toronto tipped off against the Hawks in Atlanta.

“(Gasol) is one of the best fives in the league for a long time now, perennial all-star, defensive player of the year,” Van Vleet said. “Just really excited to see how we can acclimate him to what we do and see how much he can give us a boost. Obviously we’re very excited about that.”

In a separate deal, the Raptors reportedly also sent veteran forward Greg Monroe and a 2021 second-round pick to the Brooklyn Nets in exchange for cash considerat­ions.

The 76ers and Bucks had made major moves ahead of

Thursday’s 3 p.m. ET deadline, the Sixers landing Tobias Harris and Milwaukee acquiring Nikola Mirotic.

As Thursday wore on, Raptors fans had taken to social media to implore Ujiri to make a major move.

And he did. It’s Ujiri’s biggest trade-deadline deal since returning to the team in 2013.

Gasol is a three-time all-star and the 2013 defensive player of the year. He’s averaging 15.7 points, 8.6 rebounds, 1.2 blocks and 1.1 steals a game, and his 4.7 assists a night is second best in the league behind Denver’s Nikola Jokic. The seven-foot-one Spaniard is a two-time Olympian, and will be reunited with Spanish coach and Raptors assistant Sergio Scariolo in Toronto.

Gasol, who played 11 seasons in Memphis, is slated to make US$24.1 million this season and has a player option for

$25.6 million next season.

Last summer, Gasol volunteere­d as part of a Spanish rescue effort in the Mediterran­ean Sea, plucking people from the water who were fleeing Africa. A photo showed Gasol helping lift a woman onto a stretcher. He voiced his “Frustratio­n, anger and helplessne­ss” on Twitter, writing

“It’s unbelievab­le how so many vulnerable people are abandoned to their deaths at sea. Deep admiration for these I call my teammates at this time. @openarms_fund”

In Valanciuna­s, the Raptors’ lose of their most popular players. The 26-year-old, who was drafted by Toronto fifth overall in 2011, was finally cleared to play Thursday after missing 25 games with a dislocated left thumb. The team posted a photo of the big Lithuanian on social media with two words: “I’m back.”

He said Thursday morning: “I am really excited. I was really looking forward to this day and there you go. If nothing crazy happens, I will be playing.”

Toronto was swept by Cleveland in the second round of the playoffs last year.

 ?? CANADIAN PRESS FILE PHOTO ?? Trading places: Marc Gasol, left, and Jonas Valanciuna­s have been big rivals for years.
CANADIAN PRESS FILE PHOTO Trading places: Marc Gasol, left, and Jonas Valanciuna­s have been big rivals for years.

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from Canada