Pau Gasol agreed a buy-out with the San Antonio Spurs, late Saturday night and was quickly snapped up by the Milwaukee Bucks, to give them a European big men tandem with Giannis Antetokounmpo.
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Milwaukee who are NBA’s top team in the standings have the playoffs in their sight and this is a move that looks to have been made for that specifically.
Gasol is averaging career lows across the board, in minutes, points, rebounds. He is very close to the end of a career that is bound to end up in the Hall of Fame.
But he brings with him playoff and championship experience that will be crucial for a relatively young team as it makes its first serious push towards the Championship.
The Bucks have found great success in their 1 in 4 out offense where they surround 4 shooters around Giannis and he finds them when he isn’t stuffing the rim.
Gasol has a good interior presence on defense and has increased his range to average 36% on 3 pointers in a Spurs offense that doesn’t naturally look for the 3 ball the way Bucks offense does.
If Gasol can continue to raise his 3 point shooting he will be a good fit for the Bucks offense, while Giannis and Gasol playing Euro ball inside the paint is also a salivating thought for the Bucks fans.
March 1 is the NBA deadline for any player to get a buy-out with their current teams and be eligible to play in the play-offs for another team.
However, players who have agreed buyouts earlier, like a certain Carmelo Anthony can still be added to other rosters for playoffs as long as they signing is done before the final regular season game for the team signing such a bought-out player.
Any player bought out after March 1st can not play in the play-offs for another team.
With this signing Bucks have completed their roster and barring any drastic changes, this will be the team that looks to conquer East and head for a possible match-up with the Warriors, with a likely home court advantage.
Pau Gasol released an emotional statement on twitter on leaving the San Antonio Spurs and joining the Bucks.
“Thank you very much Spurs. It has been a dream to play for one of the most successful franchises of the NBA and an honour to be Spurs Family. I am immensely grateful to the staff, team, coaches, RC and Pop. And the fans for making this place so special.” Gasol tweeted as soon as the news broke out.
How do you think Pau Gasol will fit into the already well-oiled Milwaukee machine. A partnership with Giannis could be one to look out for in the business end of the season, going into the playoffs.
