The Spurs are working on trading forward Boris Diaw to make room on the roster for Gasol. He also shot 52.7 percent from the field and 36.2 percent from three-point range. Even knowing the almost impossible odds involved, the Spurs took the process seriously because they viewed it as a rare opportunity for a face-to-face meeting with one of the best players of this generation.
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One of the consequences of bringing him aboard is releasing Boris Diaw, and not getting anything in return. Diaw was an integral part to the Spurs’ title run in 2014.
After joining the Spurs, though, Diaw was rejuvenated. Wade is looking for an offer of $50 million over the course of the next two years, and as it stands, Miami is a bit too cash-strapped to offer such a lucrative deal, even to someone as valuable to the franchise as Wade has been.
A versatile player that can play multiple positions, Diaw has career averages of 8.9 points, 4.5 rebounds and 3.5 assists. “His versatility’s real important to us”. He didn’t play a minute of the Spurs’ Game 6 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder in the second round of the playoffs.
For the San Antonio Express-News’ Buck Harvey, that was the beginning of the end: “But what happened last week suggests this relationship is closer to the end than it has ever been. As it has been before, Popovich sees something in Diaw that he doesn’t get”. On other nights, he’ll go anonymous.
It really pains me to know that I will disappoint so many people with this choice, but I believe I am doing what I feel is the right thing at this point in my life and my playing career.
Utah can now add variety to a pick-and-roll game that was sometimes one-dimensional with traditional bigs like Rudy Gobert and Derrick Favors.
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Sure they may be able to knock out lower tier teams, and even Vegas gives the Spurs high odds at contending for a ring, but when they face a power house like the Golden State Warriors, or any team with both youth and athleticism, there will be more issues than not.
