Garbajosa’s Days As Raptor Numbered

Posted by Stephen Rhodes under NBA Free Agents, SDC COMMENTARY

???????????????????????????????? Toronto Raptors forward Jorge Garbajosa

It appears that Toronto Raptors forward Jorge Garbajosa will soon be amongst the NBA unemployed as according to the Toronto Globe and Mail and verified by various Spanish media reports, Garbajosa and the team are negotiating a buyout of his current contract – currently worth $4.25 million; his inevitable release will end a promising relationship which went down in flames, capped by a severe leg injury suffered in March 2006.? Team president Bryan Colangelo has confirmed the buyout negotiations, but would not go into specifics at press time.

The downward spiral between Garbajosa and the Raptors began when the organizing body of Spanish basketball took out a $1 million insurance policy to protect the Raptors if Garbajosa injured his leg further; however, the Raptors were very reluctant to let Garbajosa play, yet with Garbajosa determined to play and the insurance policy in place, permission was granted.? At that time, Raptors doctors recommended that Garbajosa have further surgery when examinations of the leg revealed that it was still broken.? Last October, Garbajosa participated in the team’s training camp but was unable to crack the team’s frontcourt rotation.

The buyout several purposes for the Raptors:

Passing an NBA physical.? In Garbajosa’s current state of health, no NBA team will want to take a chance on a player whose health is questionable – especially Garbajosa.
Spain’s stake.? The Spanish national team wants Garbajosa to play in the 2008 Olympics; the Raptors – smartly – would more than likely not grant permission for Garbajosa to go to Beijing as long as he was under contract with Toronto.
Salary cap.? The buyout, depending on what the final numbers of the negotiations are, will allow the Raptors to realize savings under their current salary cap and use the savings on other contracts.

So basically, the bottom line is this: Toronto obviously does not want to be paying a player who isn’t fit to play for an extended period of time, so the most logical and prudent thing to do is negotiate a buyout – as opposed to an outright release (the Raptors would be responsible for the balance of Garbajosa’s contract in that scenario).? It’s extra money they can use for other contracts and/or for their first-round pick in late June.? A smart move by Toronto, in the grand scheme of things.

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