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BOSTON — The Toronto Raptors have reached an agreement to buy out the contract of Jorge Garbajosa, concluding lengthy and often contentious negotiations among the NBA team, the Spanish basketball federation, their insurance company and the Spanish forward.
“All the talks have been concluded,” Raptors president Bryan Colangelo said from Madrid last night.
Because the deal was finalized after the close of business in North America the paperwork won't be submitted to the NBA until today. Once it has been submitted, Garbajosa will have 48 hours to clear waivers, during which time any other NBA team can claim him. However, it is expected he will become a free agent and return to play professionally in Spain.
The deal will provide “a little” financial relief to the Raptors, who owed Garbajosa $4.25-million during the final year of a three-year, $12.75-million contract, Colangelo said.
And while he was relieved to have the issue concluded he wished the day had never arrived, too.
“It's bittersweet,” Colangelo said. “Because no matter what the financial benefits of the deal we don't have the player. We missed him last season and now we won't get him back and have to find what he brought to our lineup and that's not easy.”
Garbajosa joined the Raptors for the 2006-07 season as a 29-year-old rookie fresh off winning the world-championship gold medal for Spain. The 6-foot-9 forward distinguished himself with his defensive versatility, toughness and ability to shoot from the perimeter, earning himself recognition on the NBA's all-rookie team.
His rookie season came to an early end when he suffered a broken left fibula and displaced ankle in a collision with then-Celtic Al Jefferson in Boston on March 26, 2007. He missed the rest of the season and playoffs.
Last summer the Raptors were reluctant to grant permission to Garbajosa to play for Spain at the European championships as Raptor doctors wanted Garbajosa to have further surgery after examinations last summer showed his leg was still broken.
But Garbajosa was determined to play and the Spanish federation took out an insurance policy with a roughly $1-million premium to cover Garbajosa for 90 days, causing the Raptors to relent.
By late November and playing a diminished role Garbajosa finally agreed to have a second operation ending his season. The Raptors, convinced he'd been set back by playing for Spain in the off-season, made a claim against the insurance and the long negotiations began, ending yesterday but not before the Raptors had to file a lawsuit that was subsequently suspended.
Presuming Garbajosa is healthy enough to play for Spain in the Olympics, it's expected a prominent Spanish league club would be willing to bring one of the country's most popular players back from the NBA.
The attraction for the Raptors is easing their front-court logjam and gaining a little financial flexibility. If, for example, Garbajosa settled for half of the $4.25-million owed him, Toronto's salary obligation would decrease by more than $2-million – money the club could apply to other contracts.
