Will Pau Gasol’s Time With the San Antonio Spurs Come to an End?
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Pau Gasol is a six-time NBA All-Star and, since 2016, has been a key component of the San Antonio Spurs’ team. In the 2017-2018 season, he reached 20,000 career points, totaling 775 points in 77 games for that year alone. He was the rookie of the year in 2002, and he won two NBA championships with the Los Angeles Lakers.
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Pau has proven himself a wonderful asset to the team, helping the Spurs finish seventh in the Western conference in the 2017-2018 season. But whether he’ll stick with the team or be traded is unsure. Here’s what we know about whether Pau Gasol will stay with the San Antonio Spurs.
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Spurs Trade Rumors for the 2018-2019 Season
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Trading Pau Gasol is one anticipated move that could take place in the offseason. The rumor is just that the team is looking at its options at this point. At 38 years old, Pau Gasol is in the latter half of his career. He plans on playing for up to four more seasons, which would put his retirement around 2022. He’s also played for and been traded to several teams in the past, including the following:
- Memphis Grizzlies (2001 to 2008)
- Los Angeles Lakers (2008 to 2014)
- Chicago Bulls (2014 to 2016)
- San Antonio Spurs (2016 to present)
The only other time Pau Gasol has been traded was to the Lakers. His contract ended with that team and the subsequent Bulls. He signed on as a free agent with Chicago and later with San Antonio.
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Other Major Offseason Trades
The Spurs have only made a few transactions in 2018 so far. Most notably, the Spurs traded Kawhi Leonard for DeMar DeRozan, C. Jakob Poeltl, and a 2019 first-round pick from the Toronto Raptors. Pau Gasol also being traded is a possibility, and he’s even been asked directly about whether he could end up with another team. He acknowledged that it’s part of the job and recognized the difficulty placed on the team with the recent trade of Kawhi Leonard.
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If Pau Gasol isn’t traded, his contract with the Spurs will run for two more seasons. He’s currently under a contract signed in summer 2015 for $48 million. He’ll then have the option of re-signing with the Spurs, looking for another team to play with, or retiring.
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What Would a Pau Gasol Trade Mean for the Spurs?
With only a few seasons left in his career, a big question for the Spurs is whether they can improve their prospects as a team by investing in younger players or someone who could help them get more out of their roster. Especially with the trade of Kawhi, who was an important player in the Spurs lineup during the last season, the team may look at a few options through such a trade.
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The Spurs currently have two other players on the roster who could fill in for the center/power forward position: Davis Bertans and Jakob Poeltl. Management could also look to unload Pau Gasol’s contract in favor of more draft picks. However, it’s been reported that the team is happy with his performance. It’s likely that Pau Gasol will stay a Spur for at least a few more years.
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Will Pau Gasol Stay With the Spurs?
A major hurdle for the Spurs, if they want to trade, will be finding a team willing to accept Pau Gasol’s contract, especially considering his age and, more specifically, the fact that he’ll be retiring within the next few seasons. If the Spurs’ can’t find a team willing to accept the contract in exchange for other good players or beneficial draft positions, they’ll have to finish out their contract with the power forward and center.
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There’s certainly a possibility that Pau Gasol will stay with the Spurs. If this happens, the team can re-sign him with a new offer in 2020 or let Pau Gasol be released as a free agent. If the former happens, it’s likely that he’ll retire in San Antonio.
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How Would a Trade Affect the Spurs’ Success in the Upcoming Season?
Pau Gasol’s trade could be good or bad news for the Spurs — it depends on what they’d get out of the deal. No matter what the outcome is, the power forward and center staying with or leaving the Spurs will have a huge effect on the odds of the team, the results for the upcoming season, and the team’s success moving forward.
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Trading Pau Gasol could open up lots of exciting opportunities for the San Antonio franchise. The acquisition of draft positions could help the team acquire young talent that could either push the team forward over the years or give them more opportunities for new trades in the future.
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Even if the Spurs stick with Pau Gasol’s contract, though, they’ll have a productive player to work with. He averaged 10.1 points per game in the past season, and in his first year with San Antonio, he scored an average of 12.1 points per game over 64 games. At his peak, he scored 1,541 points in his second year with Memphis and 1,555 points in his fourth year with the Lakers. Though his performance will likely slow as he finishes out his career, he still has the potential to be a difference maker for the franchise.
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For now, there’s no direct answer to the question of whether Pau Gasol’s time with the San Antonio Spurs will come to an end. The team has until Feb. 7, 2019, to finalize any trade deals for the 2018-2019 season.
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