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Report: Pau Gasol suffers stress fracture in foot

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The 10-11 Spurs have won just 3 of their last 10 games, and could some good news. Unfortunately, it won’t come in the form of a Pau Gasol health report. Playing just nine games so far, Gasol won’t be returning anytime soon, according to this report from the San Antonio Express-News:

Pau Gasol did not make the Spurs’ four-game road trip that ended Wednesday in Minnesota.

It could be a while before he is back on the court at all.

Further testing has revealed a stress fracture in the troublesome left foot that has already caused Gasol to miss the past 12 games.

The 38-year-old center had recently progressed to some on-court work before getting the disappointing news.

Well past his prime, Gasol plays a supporting role on the Spurs these days, but he’s still important and does a lot in very limited playing time. This season, his minutes per game have been a career-low 17.4, yet in that time he’s still putting up an impressive 6.8 points, 6.1 rebounds and 3.3 assists on 51.2% FG. But it sounds like he won’t be back in action any time soon.

Spurs re-sign Pau Gasol

The Spurs have re-signed forward/center Pau Gasol.

According to ESPN, it’s a three-year deal worth $48 million, with a partial guarantee on the third season.

During the 2016-17 season, Gasol appeared in 64 games in his first year with the Silver and Black, averaging 12.4 points, 7.8 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.09 blocks in 25.4 minutes while shooting .502 (303-604) from the field, a career-best .538 (56-104) from beyond the arc and .707 (130-184) from the foul line. On April 12 at Utah he scored his 20,000th career point to become just the second European player to eclipse 20,000 points for their career, joining Dirk Nowitzki.

A 16-year NBA veteran, Gasol is a four-time All-NBA selection who has won two NBA Championships. The six-time All-Star was named to the All-NBA Second Team in 2010-11 and 2014-15 while earning All-NBA Third Team honors in 2008-09 and 2009-10.

In 1,119 career NBA games (1,081 starts), Gasol has averaged 17.9 points, 9.4 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 1.65 blocks while shooting .510 (7,651-15,008) from the floor and .754 (4,569-6,062) from the free throw line in 34.7 minutes. He has appeared in 131 career playoffs games, averaging 15.8 points, 9.3 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 1.77 blocks in 36.1 minutes.

The 2002 Rookie of the Year was originally drafted with the third overall pick in the 2001 NBA Draft by the Hawks before being dealt on draft night to the Grizzlies, where he spent his first six-plus seasons (2001-2008) and averaged 18.8 points, 8.6 rebounds and 3.1 assists in 476 games.

After being acquired in the middle of the 2007-08 season by the Lakers, Gasol spent the next six-plus seasons (2008-2014) with Los Angeles, where he won titles in 2009 and 2010. The NBA’s 2012 J. Walter Kennedy Citizenship Award winner averaged 17.7 points, 9.9 rebounds and 3.5 assists in 429 games with the Lakers. Gasol then signed with the Bulls in the summer of 2014 and spent the last two seasons in Chicago (2014-16), where he averaged 17.6 points, 11.4 rebounds and 3.4 assists in 150 total games.

Gasol is one of four players in NBA history to reach 20,000 points, 10,000 rebounds, 3,500 assists and 1,500 blocks in his career, along with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Kevin Garnett and Tim Duncan.

A native of Barcelona, Spain, Gasol has played for the Spanish Senior National Team since 2001, including appearances in the last four Summer Olympic Games (2004, 2008, 2012 and 2016), helping Spain capture silver medals in both the 2008 and 2012 Olympics and a bronze medal at the 2016 Olympics.

Spurs sign Pau Gasol

The Spurs have signed forward-center Pau Gasol.

With Tim Duncan having recently retired and sailed off into the moonlight, Gasol will have a big role on the team next season. Though, Spurs leaders should continue to be Kawhi Leonard and LaMarcus Aldridge. And next comes Gasol, who may be utilized as an undersized center.

Gasol’s deal is reportedly a $30 million dollar contract, over two years.

Gasol, 7-0/250, is a 15-year veteran and a four-time All-NBA selection who has won two NBA Championships. The six-time All-Star was named to the All-NBA Second Team in 2010-11 and 2014-15 while earning All-NBA Third Team honors in 2008-09 and 2009-10.

Last season, Gasol was the only player in the NBA to average at least 15.0 points, 10.0 rebounds and 4.0 assists. In 72 games with the Chicago Bulls, he averaged 16.5 points, 11.0 rebounds and 4.1 assists while shooting .469 (467-995) from the field and .792 (229-289) from the foul line in 31.8 minutes.

In 1,055 career NBA games (1,042 starts), Gasol has averaged 18.2 points, 9.5 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 1.68 blocks while shooting .510 (7,348-14,404) from the floor and .755 (4,439-5,878) from the free throw line in 35.3 minutes. He has appeared in 115 career playoffs games, averaging 16.9 points, 9.6 rebounds and 3.4 assists in 38.0 minutes. The Catalonia native has also played for the Spanish Senior National Team since 2001, including appearances in the last three Summer Olympic Games (2004, 2008, 2012), helping Spain capture silver medals in both the 2008 and 2012 Olympics.

The 2002 Rookie of the Year was originally drafted with the third overall pick in the 2001 NBA Draft by the Atlanta Hawks before being dealt on draft night to the Grizzlies, where he spent his first six-plus seasons (2001-2008) and averaged 18.8 points, 8.6 rebounds and 3.1 assists in 476 games. Gasol remains the all-time leading scorer in Grizzlies franchise history.

Gasol is one of six players in NBA history to reach 19,000 points, 10,000 rebounds, 3,000 assists and 1,500 blocks in his career, along with and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Hakeem Olajuwon, Shaquille O’Neal, Kevin Garnett and Tim Duncan.

Pau Gasol trade rumor: Suns may seek deal for Gasol from Lakers

The Phoenix Suns weren’t supposed to be good this season. Or so most people thought. But with a 29-18 record, good offense, decent defense, an excellent young coach and a fun, versatile roster, the Suns have been the surprise of the league this season. And now they can aim higher. Lakers forward Pau Gasol’s best days are behind him, but if used properly he can still make a team like phoenix better. Here’s ESPN.com reporting on a Pau Gasol trade rumor:

The Phoenix Suns have emerged as a potential trade suitor for Los Angeles Lakers center Pau Gasol, according to sources close to the process.

Sources told ESPN.com that the Suns, among the options being weighed as part of their well-chronicled desire to acquire an established player as they make an unexpected playoff push this season, have been exploring the feasibility of trading for the Lakers’ four-time All-Star.

One option for the Suns, by virtue of their $5.6 million in available salary-cap space, is swapping the expiring contract of injured big man Emeka Okafor for Gasol, even though Okafor’s $14.5 million salary this season falls well shy of Gasol’s $19.3 million.

The Lakers engaged in similar trade discussions in late December and early January with Cleveland in a proposed deal that would have sent Gasol to the Cavaliers for the partially guaranteed contract of ex-Lakers center Andrew Bynum, who then would have been waived to help L.A. save roughly $20 million in salary and luxury-tax obligations.

Pau Gasol has been playing with strained foot

The Los Angeles Lakers face a difficult season, and Pau Gasol not being fully healthy makes it even more of a challenge. Here’s ESPN Los Angeles:

Pau Gasol underwent an MRI last week that showed a muscle strain in his left foot, the Los Angeles Lakers forward revealed to reporters after his team’s 116-95 win over the New Orleans Pelicans on Tuesday.

“I had a strained muscle there,” Gasol said. “It’s feeling better now. It’s feeling a little better.”

Gasol missed 20 games last season after suffering a plantar fascia tear in his right foot, and he said the two injuries could be linked.

“Now it’s the left foot, maybe compensating,” Gasol said. “Things like that happen. … Hopefully we can keep it under control.”

Said Lakers coach Mike D’Antoni before the game Tuesday: “He’s a big guy that takes a pounding, but he knows how to deal with it.”

Pau Gasol and Chris Kaman learning to play together

Gasol and Kaman were an effective duo for spurts of the Lakers’ 104-86 exhibition loss to the Sacramento Kings at MGM Grand Garden Arena, displaying a dynamic skill set that suggested there is enough room on the court for both 7-footers.

Gasol twice fed Kaman with alley-oop passes that resulted in layups … in the game’s first seven minutes. Kaman was constantly in motion, knowing Gasol’s proclivity for finding teammates in favorable spots.

“Pau makes it easy for everybody because he’s such a good passer and playmaker for other people,” said Kaman, who finished with 12 points and six rebounds to complement Gasol’s 13 points, five rebounds and five assists.

Reported by Ben Bolch of the Los Angeles Times

Pau Gasol back in action for Lakers

With Kobe Bryant (temporarily) some 6,000 miles away in Germany and Dwight Howard (permanently) some 1,500 miles away in Houston, Pau Gasol had plenty of room to operate on the court for the Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday.

Gasol had 13 shot attempts in 23 minutes in the Lakers’ 97-88 loss to the Denver Nuggets. While he didn’t shoot the ball all that well (4-for-13 for 13 points) in his preseason debut and the first organized game he’s played in more than five months, just the sheer amount of touches was a welcome change for the 13-year veteran.

“I think that’s a good indication of how much liberty and how much my teammates also trust me to make plays and make shots and then, when the defense collapses, find them,” Gasol said after the game.

It was also a far cry from last season, when he was often positioned at the elbow to create space for Howard, while Bryant was left cajoling Gasol to buck the system for his own benefit.

Reported by Dave McMenamin of ESPN Los Angeles