Spurs’ Gasol given buyout agreement
The San Antonio Spurs announced a buyout agreement with Pau Gasol Friday, allowing the veteran center to become playoff-eligible with another team.
Gasol has been used sparingly by the Spurs of late, appearing in only two of their past seven games and his playing time has dropped this season to just over 12 minutes per game.
“Pau Gasol is an exceptional individual and the ultimate professional,” coach Gregg Popovich said. “We are grateful for his contributions on the court, in the locker room and in our community.”
The Spaniard signed with the Spurs in July 2016 and appeared in a total of 168 games with San Antonio, averaging 10.0 points, 7.4 rebounds and 2.6 assists in 22.4 minutes.
The 18-year NBA veteran and two-time champion is a six-time All-Star. In 1,223 career games, he has averaged 17.1 points, 9.2 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 1.59 blocks in 33.5 minutes.
Gasol is one of four players with over 20,000 points, 11,000 rebounds, 3,500 assists and 1,500 blocks in his career, along with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Tim Duncan and Kevin Garnett.
Elsewhere
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said he would consider shortening the regular season, but only if the league could develop something meaningful to do to replace the games — and revenue — it would be giving up.
Speaking at the MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference, Silver raised the idea of replacing the All-Star Game with a midseason or preseason tournament in which teams would compete for a separate championship, like they do in European soccer.
“The All-Star Game didn’t work,” he said, calling it “an afterthought” of the weekend despite changes like tinkering with the rosters through a player draft that was made public for the first time. “I get it. We put an earring on a pig.”
The league is unlikely to go to a 70game schedule like the one Silver discussed that would require each team to give up six home games. Although players and coaches would love to see a shorter season, none is excited about taking a 20 percent pay cut.