San Antonio coach Spurs, Gregg Popovich, praised the veteran and the intelligence of the Spanish Juancho Hernangomez, whose signing for the Texas franchise It became official this Wednesday.
“He is a very experienced player. Obviously, he understands how to play. and he has a great intelligence for basketball”Popovich said at the press conference prior to the game of the Spurs against the Oklahoma City Thunder. “He’s basically a good, experienced veteran”added the legendary technician.
After passing through the Boston Celtics with little luck, Juancho Hernangómez will play for the San Antonio Spurs as part of a three-way deal teams that also involves the Denver Nuggets. The Spaniard and a second round of the 2028 Nuggets Draft go to the Spurs, Bryn Forbes trades the Spurs for the Nuggets, and Bol Bol and PJ Dozier go to the Celtics. Adrian Wojnarowski, who reported the three-way move on Tuesday and is one of the best-sourced journalists in the NBA, assured that, with the transfer of Hernangómez, the Celtics would be close to avoiding paying the luxury tax on wages. of your template.
Hernangómez, 26, has had very few opportunities this season with the Celtics since landing in Boston last summer.
In January, the Spaniard only played 2 minutes in the game last day 8 against the New York Knicks. In the historic Boston franchise, he has averaged 1.1 points, 1.4 rebounds and 0.2 assists in 5.3 minutes per game.
Chosen in 15th place in the 2016 Draft, this is the fourth team for Hernangomez after Denver Nuggets (2016-2020), Minnesota Timberwolves (2020-2021) and Boston Celtics (2021-2022) after a testimonial passed on last summer for the Memphis Grizzlies, with whom he did not make his debut.
While at Wolves, the player signed a contract in 2020 over three years for a total of $21 million.
The Spurs are now far from the exceptional level that led them to triumph in the NBA (five championships since 1999) with Tim Duncan at the helm and other players accompanying him such as David Robinson, Tony Parker or Manu Ginóbili. Before Wednesday’s game, those from San Antonio occupied the twelfth position in the Western Conference with 16 wins and 28 losses.
