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Ricky Rubio, traded to the Cavaliers; and Usman Garuba, chosen by the Rockets in 23rd place in the draft

2021-07-30T20:28:07.560Z


The team leader undergoes another change of destiny in the middle of the Games and the Madrid youth squad will become the 18th Spaniard to play in the NBA. Santi Aldama, to the Grizzlies also in the first round


In the run-up to the

draft

ceremony

in Brooklyn, news broke that the Minnesota Timberwolves traded Ricky Rubio to the Cleveland Cavaliers.

According to Adrian Wojnarowski, the 30-year-old Spanish guard, leader of the team at the Tokyo Games, will head to the Cavaliers in exchange for a second round of the

draft.

2022 and Taurean Prince. Another move in Ricky's hectic resume in recent seasons, after the previous year, after the Orlando bubble, he left the Phoenix Suns to return to Minnesota (where he was between 2011 and 2017). On that occasion, Ricky was traded from the Suns to the Oklahoma City Thunder, but changed his destination in just a few hours to finish in what was his first home in the NBA. "What a deal," Ricky tweeted when he learned the Suns had traded him for Chris Paul. It remains to be seen if this move is again a bridge transfer, although the specialized media in Ohio say that the Cavs, the fourth worst team in the league (22 wins and 50 losses), were looking for an expert point guard in their roster configuration. This season, Ricky has signed 8.6 points, 3.3 rebounds and 6,4 assists on average in the 68 games he has played.

If he settles permanently in Cleveland, Ricky could reissue the connection he forged with Kevin Love (with an uncertain future) in his first three years with the Timberwolves and will coincide with the third choice of the

draft

, Evan Mobley.

At the same time, his departure from Minnesota opens a gap in the franchise for Barça's Argentine base, Leandro Bolmaro (first round of 2020).

MORE INFORMATION

  • Usman Garuba: "I have grown fast because of the cane they have given me"

  • Santi Aldama, the strange wonder

And at 10:32 p.m. local time in Brooklyn, 11:32 a.m. in Tokyo, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver pronounced Usman Garuba's name in the 23rd position in the

draft

. The 19-year-old Real Madrid youth squad was chosen by the Houston Rockets. The experts' forecasts placed Garuba's choice between 15th and 25th. A situation that guarantees the player a sufficient salary range in his destination franchise to pay Real Madrid the three million exit clause agreed in his contract. and face the American adventure. Laso's team has already planned the season and the signings without him. The last Spaniard to make the jump to the NBA was Juancho Hernangómez in 2016, chosen in 15th place in the

draft

of that summer by the Denver Nuggets, the fourth best position in history in the ranking of national players, only behind Pau Gasol, third in 2001; Ricky Rubio, fifth in 2009; and Fran Vázquez, eleventh in 2005 (who never played in the US). In the same season that Juancho was launched to

make the Americas

his brother Willy,

drafted

a year earlier in the second round for the Philadelphia 76ers. Now Garuba will reopen the path. And he also obtained a passport to follow Santi Aldama - chosen by the Memphis Grizzlies at number 30, after receiving that round from the Utah Jazz - who has before him the milestone of being the first Spaniard to reach the NBA since college. The election in the first round, well ahead of expectations, is a solid endorsement for his definitive leap to professionalism. "I am clear that the NBA is my dream and my number one goal," Aldama told

Gigantes

magazine

two months ago.

The Hernangómez brothers were, to date, the last of a famous list that Fernando Martín inaugurated in 1986 with the first trip to the basket's moon and in which a total of 17 Spanish internationals appear: the pioneer Fernando Martín (1986) , Pau Gasol (2001), Raúl López (2003), José Manuel Calderón (2005), Jorge Garbajosa (2006), Sergio Rodríguez (2006), Juan Carlos Navarro (2007), Rudy Fernández (2008), Marc Gasol (2008) , Ricky Rubio (2011), Víctor Claver (2012), Álex Abrines (2016), Juancho and Willy Hernangómez (2016) and the nationalized Johnny Rogers (2000), Serge Ibaka (2009) and Nikola Mirotic (2014). Garuba will be the 18th Spaniard to complete the journey. On October 28, 2018, at 16 years, 7 months and 19 days old, Garuba was the third youngest debutant in the history of Real Madrid basketball,only behind Roberto Núñez (16 years and 7 months, in 1994) and Luka Doncic (16 years, 2 months and 2 days, in 2015). July 30, 2021 is already marked in his fast-paced curriculum. "The NBA? Whatever you do, you have to be convinced. And if you have decided to take the step, you don't have to think twice. You do it and that's it ”, he confessed a few days ago in an interview in EL PAÍS. Garuba and Aldama already have the passport to the best league in the world.Garuba and Aldama already have the passport to the best league in the world.Garuba and Aldama already have the passport to the best league in the world.

Garuba and Aldama, in 2019, after proclaiming themselves U18 European champions.

fiba

They arrive by very different paths but with a common past.

In August 2019, the Spain of Aldama and Garuba was proclaimed the European Under-18 basketball champion after defeating Turkey in a harrowing final in which they came back 13 points behind in the second half (57-53).

Fifteen days after the fifth of Carlos Alocén, Sergi Martínez, Joel Parra and Josep Puerto reached the silver sub-20 in Israel, the prolific Spanish quarry returned to the top of the podium with two clear references: the

mvp

Aldama and the rocky Garuba.

Two physical marvels.

One, a 2.11m off-road forward, trained at the Canterbury Academy in Gran Canaria, who that same season went to the American University League to study Business Studies at Loyola Maryland and mature his game there.

The other, an inexhaustible motor pivot of 2.03m, who already then interacted with Real Madrid de Laso under the tutelage of Felipe Reyes and, with just a season and a half in the elite, has reached the Tokyo Games.

That 2019 was the

trailer

for a promising movie of a future, which now acquires the American blockbuster label.

Cade Cunningham, number one, and Westbrook to the Lakers

The 2021 draft is already in Spain the draft of Garuba and Aldama. But the night left many names, the first of which was Cade Cunningham. Detroit Pistons, Houston Rockets, Cleveland Cavaliers and Toronto Raptors shared the choice of the most coveted rising stars in an edition that illuminates a special generation of talent and history. For the first time since 1970, the third in their history, the Pistons had the first card and used it to stay, as announced, with Cade Cunningham, the 2.03m Oklahoma State guard-guard, called to lead the rebuilding. of the Detroit franchise. Behind him, Jalen Green, Evan Mobley and Scottie Barnes, guard, center and power forward respectively, shared the positions from 2 to 4 on the night of Brooklyn,in a ceremony again in person after the videoconference format last year.



Point guard Jalen Suggs was relegated to fifth place and was chosen by the Orlando Magic; 18-year-old Australian Josh Giddey climbed to sixth on the Oklahoma City Thunder; Congolese Jonathan Kuminga came out seventh and donned the Golden State Warriors cap; and German Franz Wagner was number 8 and will play alongside his brother Moritz in Orlando. And, in the middle of the up-and-coming pick, the biggest impact move was the multifaceted deal between the Washington Wizards and Lakers to trade Russell Westbrook, a 2024 second-round pick, and a 2028 pick for Kyle Kuzma, Kentavious Caldwell. -Pope, Montrezl Harrell and number 22 of the current draft. Westbrook will share a team with LeBron James and Anthony Davis, a shortlist as brand new as it is explosive.

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Source: elparis

All sports articles on 2021-07-30

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