Tag Archives: Russell Westbrook

Marc Gasol Traded to the Toronto Raptors

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Marc Gasolis headed to the Great White North.

The Memphis Grizzlies have traded the 24-year-old Spanish professional basketball player to the Toronto Raptors in exchange for Jonas Valanciunas, Delon Wright, CJ Miles and a 2024 second-round draft pick.

Marc Gasol

“Marc brings significant playoff experience to our team, which along with his savviness and leadership skills really helps position us for our ultimate postseason goal,” Raptors president Masai Ujirisaid Thursday night. “We look forward to welcoming Marc to our city and team.”

Head coach Nick Nursesaid he believes Gasol’s experience will give the Raptors “a settling force” come playoff time.

“I think that there’s a lot of positives with a guy like Gasol, and I think most of them come with being battle-tested,” Nurse said. “I think we all know that those playoffs can get wild and woolly, and he’s a guy that’s been through them many times.”

Gasol is averaging 15.7 points, 8.6 rebounds and a career-high 4.7 assists (which ranks second among NBAcenters, trailing only Nikola Jokic‘s 7.7). He is the Grizzlies’ franchise leader in points, rebounds, blocks and field goals made.

Gasol has been with the Grizzlies for 11 seasons, which was tied with Russell Westbrook for the fourth-longest tenure with one franchise among active players. 

A three-time All-Starand the 2013 Defensive Player of the Year, Gasol has a 15 percent trade bonus that is valued at $1.28 million. The amount of his bonus (if not waived) will be applied to his $24.1 million salary.

Gasol also has a $25.6 million player option for next season.

New York Knicks Agree to Trade Carmelo Anthony to the Oklahoma City Thunder

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Carmelo Anthony is ready to take Oklahoma by (thunder)storm…

The New York Knicks have agreed to trade the 33-year-old half-Puerto Rican NBA star, a 10-time All-Star forward, to the Oklahoma City Thunder, according to ESPN.

Carmelo Anthony

The Thunder will send center Enes Kanter, forward Doug McDermott and a 2018 second-round pick (via the Chicago Bulls) to New York, league sources said.

Anthony, 33, will waive his no-trade clause and his $8.1 million trade kicker to accommodate the deal, league sources told ESPN.

A trade call is scheduled for Monday to finalize the deal with the league office, sources said. Anthony is planning to arrive on Monday afternoon in Oklahoma City to take a physical and be available to practice Tuesday at the opening of the Thunder’s training camp, according to league sources.

Anthony would only waive his no-trade clause for the Thunder, Houston Rockets and Cleveland Cavaliers, league sources said. His no-trade clause will go with him to Oklahoma City.

Anthony joins the league’s reigning MVP, Russell Westbrook, and All-Star forward Paul George on a reshaped and formidable Western Conference contender. Westbrook and George — who could become free agents in the summer of 2018 — played a significant role in recruiting Anthony to waive his no-trade clause for Oklahoma City, league sources said.

The Thunder made a huge commitment with the Anthony deal, incurring $27.8 million in luxury tax for the 2017-18 season. The Thunder payroll will rise to $134 million this season. Anthony has two years, $54 million left on his contract, including a player option for $27.9 million in 2018-19.

Gasol Reportedly Inching Closer to Deal with the Chicago Bulls

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Pau Gasol may be dealing with plenty of bull in the near future…

The 34-year-old Spanish professional basketball player is reportedly thisclose to joining the Chicago Bulls, according to the Spanish newspaper Marca and other media reports.

Pau Gasol

The paper first reported late Friday that the Bulls are closing in on a deal with Gasol despite the absence of a sign-and-trade agreement with his most recent team, the Los Angeles Lakers.

Sources close to the situation told ESPN.com late Friday that a sign-and-trade arrangement had not been struck, with the Lakers still looking for draft compensation — as they received in Friday’s earlier trade with the Houston Rockets to take back the contract of Jeremy Lin — as the primary return for Gasol.

ESPN.com reported earlier Friday that the Bulls and San Antonio Spurs had emerged as the two leading candidates to land Gasol, with San Antonio poised to land the Spaniard if the Bulls and Lakers could not finalize a sign-and-trade deal.

Sources told ESPN.com late Friday that the Bulls were prioritizing their pursuit of Gasol even ahead of their long-running efforts to sign Carmelo Anthony, fearing that Anthony remains likely to stay with the New York Knicks.

The Lakers appear resigned to seeing Gasol exit after a successful six seasons together. Prior to Friday, the Lakers offered Gasol two deals: two years worth $23 million, and three years worth $29 million, a National Basketball League source told ESPNLosAngeles.com. Gasol turned down both offers, according to the source.

The Oklahoma City Thunder have been pursuing Gasol as hard as anyone, but sources indicated Friday that the Spurs have joined the Bulls ahead of the Thunder in Gasol’s pecking order.

The Thunder had a $6.5 million trade exception that expired Friday night at 11:59 p.m. ET that they had hoped to use in their own sign-and-trade with L.A.

Making hard runs at free agents is not something seen often from the Thunder, but Gasol had been lobbied face to face by OKC stars Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook as well as coach Scott Brooks and general manager Sam Presti since free agency began.

The Knicks, meanwhile, had been trying to trade Amar’e Stoudemire or Andrea Bargnani in hopes of clearing sufficient salary-cap space to convince Gasol to come to New York to play alongside a re-signed Anthony. But sources said Friday night that the Knicks, like the Lakers and Thunder, appeared to be out of contention.

Anthony to Appear in NBA-Themed Special on Disney XD

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It’s game on for Carmelo Anthony and his upcoming Disney project…

The 28-year-old half-Puerto Rican professional basketball player who currently plays for the New York Knicks will be appearing in a Disney XD special entitled My Life as an NBA Rookie.

Carmelo Anthony

The special, created in partnership with the NBA, will give viewers an inside look at some of the biggest basketball stars in their first year in the league.

Hosted by Billy Unger of Disney XD’s Lab Rats, the special will feature exclusive footage of New Orleans Hornets power forward and No. 1 draft pick Anthony Davis practicing for the 2012 Summer Olympics with the USA Basketball Men’s National Team.

It also will take fans behind the scenes at the NBA Draft Combine and NBA Draft, show how players mentally and physically prepare for training camp and opening night, reveal entertaining rookie duties and show how they sometimes get pranked by returning players — like having their entire car filled with popcorn or being forced to carry around a pink girly knapsack.

Along with Anthony and Davis, Kobe Bryant and Dwight Howard of the Los Angeles Lakers, LeBron James of the Miami Heat, Blake Griffin and Chris Paul of the Los Angeles Clippers, Kyrie Irving of the Cleveland Cavaliers, Kevin Love of the Minnesota Timberwolves, Tyson Chandler of the New York Knicks, Deron Williams of the Brooklyn Nets, Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook of the Oklahoma City Thunder will appear in the special.

The program will premiere at on October 29 at 7:00 pm as part of Disney XD’s sports-themed Nothing But Net Marathon, which also will include episodes of Kickin’ It, Lab Rats and Crash & Bernstein starting at 5:00 p.m.

Sanchez Performs National Anthem at Game One of the NBA Finals

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She may not have taken home the American Idol crown… But Jessica Sanchez is still singing to the rafters and impressing audiences with her dynamic voice.

Less than three weeks after delivering two memorable Memorial Day performances on national television, the 16-year-old half-Mexican singer wowed the crowd before game one of the NBA Finals.

Jessica Sanchez at the NBA Finals

Before the start of the game between the Miami Heat and Oklahoma City Thunder on Tuesday night, Sanchez performed an inspired rendition of the National Anthem that results in massive cheers from the crowd.

Before singing “The Star-Spangled Banner,” the pint-sized singer from San Diego was asked by one of her followers on Twitter who she was cheering for. Her response? “im all about thunder tonight! ;)”

And the Thunder rolled in Game One… Teaming up with Russell Westbrook, Oklahoma City’s Kevin Durant took over the game and outscored LeBron James‘ team in the second half to beat the Heat 105-94.

The crowd even chanted “MVP” as Durant sealed the victory with two foul shots in the final 12 seconds of the game.