From Houston to Atlanta. And from Atlanta to Oklahoma. And all in just one week. Usman Garuba has been traded to the Thunder in the middle of a trade that also includes TyTy Washington, Rudy Gay and a second-round pick for Patty Mills. This has been advanced by the ESPN journalist Adrian Wojnarowski, who has published that with this movement Atlanta Hawks save $4.5 million.
The NBA has these things. And more in the middle of a market in which the teams seek to get the pieces that best fit your projects. When the Houston Rockets put up the transferable sign for Usman Garuba on June 28, the future of the international center with Spain was up in the air. Only a few days later, on July 1, it was known that the one from Azuqueca de Henares was heading to Atlanta in the middle of an agreement that contemplated the shipment of two former first-round picks, such as Garuba -he was pick 23 in the 2021 Draft- and TyTy Washington Jr., along with compensation in the Draft.
However, Garuba’s – and TyTy Washington Jr.’s – journey was not over yet. Now, both head to the Western Conference, specifically to Oklahoma, where the reality is that both can have more options than in Atlanta. The Thunder are a project under construction that players like Garuba can use.
Now the reality is that in the nba just as this type of situation can occur -this is the market on the other side of the pond- also it is difficult to win a place. It is enough to look at the situation of the Hernangómez, who both aim to return to Spain after several years there, that not even their good deeds in the past Eurobasket, in which Willy finished as MVP and Juancho as the best player in the final, were not enough to that they ended up having their opportunity in their different franchises.
It is true that the fact that there will be a World Cup this summer changes this circumstance a bit. And that a good performance by Garuba, especially against the USA or Canada -the two teams with the most NBA players par excellence- with whom he will face off even before the championship at the FEB Centennial Tournament in Malaga, can help. But the reality is that it will be when he returns to the United States and begins the preseason, a priori, with the Thunder, if another transfer does not take place, when he has to win over Mark Daigneault, Head Coach of the franchise, in order to have his opportunity.
At the moment, the numbers of the center from Azuqueca de Henares are not bad at all. Well, with an average of 12.9 minutes per game, three points and 4.1 reboundshas signed his best season in the NBA since he arrived in 2021.
Noelia Gómez Mira is a basketball specialist for Relevo, where she reviews what happens in competitions such as the ACB and the Euroleague. She has been the second female speaker in the history of professional basketball in Spain and the only one during the six years that gave voice to Covirán Granada. In her career, she has collaborated with the ACB as a speaker at the Endesa Mini Cup and was section chief in the Granada Hoy newspaper, where she covered information of a different nature such as Operation Líbero against the former president of Granada CF Quique Pina. Born in Salobreña, she graduated in Audiovisual Communication from the University of Granada, with a Master’s in New Interactive Media and Multimedia Journalism. …
2023-07-08 19:37:06
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