Pau Gasol Will Join Bucks Following Buyout by Spurs

NBA sources have said that the San Antonio Spurs bought out the contract of veteran Pau Gasol which will allow the center to sign with the Milwaukee Bucks.

Players must be waived by Friday at 11:59 PM ET in order to remain available to play in the playoffs. The buyout was announced late Friday night by the Spurs.

Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich called Gasol an exceptional person and an ultimate professional and said the team is very grateful for the contributions he made on the court, inside the locker room and in the community.

The move will mean the Gasol brothers Pau and Marc will compete for the Eastern Conference title as Pau will be with the Bucks currently the leaders in the East while Marc joined the Toronto Raptors in February in a deal before the trade deadline with Memphis.

Pau will bring talent and experience to a Bucks team that acquired Nikola Mirotic before the trade deadline. The expectation is Gasol will play behind center Brook Lopez who averages 28 minutes per game.

Gasol brings something to the Bucks the team does not possess: championship experience. No one on the roster has won an NBA title but Gasol won titles in 2009 and 2010 with the Lakers.

Gasol, who is 38, has had a reduced role with San Antonio this season in part because of missing time with a stress fracture of the foot. He was averaging career lows in points, rebounds and minutes played.

Gasol tweeted farewell to San Antonio and called it a dream playing for one of the NBA’s most storied franchises and thanked his teammates, the coaches, RC, Pop, the staff and mostly the fans.

Since the start of his NBA career in 2002 when he was name Rookie of the Year, Gasol has career averages of 17.1 points and 9.2 rebounds per game over 18 seasons.