Garba (-ge or - josa?) for LA Lakers..

[gkonstantas]

http://www.marca.com/edicion/marca/balo ... 44924.html

i dont know spanish but it´s obvious he has a contract offer from Lakers, and will be our ´Gasol-amigo´ signing in case Odom or Radman gets traded.

Thoughts?

[reycat]

I wouldn't put much faith on Marca. They know about nothing about soccer (and it's their supposed area of expertise), and less than that about basketball.

Anyway, even if it were true I'm not sure it would be a good idea. Garbajosa was a very solid role player for Toronto before his injury, and a star in Europe before that. But we don't know if he'll recover completely for his injury, and that's a big if.

I'd wait until the Olympics. If he plays there and does ok, I think the Lakers could do worse.

[tkb]

Excellent addition if he's fully recovered and healthy IMO.

[magic#32]

Well its himself who actually says that the Lakers have put an offer (i wouldnt believe marca either), i dont think he would be a great addition, hes a good deffender and a team player but he hasnt played in 2 years, too much inactivity for a guy of his age and his athletic skills.

[lakErfrOmManiLa]

hey guys.. im new here.. anyway, he's good but i don't think we need him.... we need artest or g'wall..

[supaflash]

He's not a typical Euro if he's healthy, defends and bangs and can hit the outside shot.

also Zo is down till midseason

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/sports/bask ... 8236.story

[DubaLakers]

Garbage is solid, nice. Shoot I'll take a six pack of coca-cola for Vlade, let alone Garbage.

[Italianhanger]

good solid backup f/c
thick player
excellent range and hustles
when not injured he's a def. a solid player
unfortunately, he's banged up but when healthy i would have had him over radman/luke
luke is a decent starter, he actually does better when starting then coming off the bench
vlad is a streaky shooter with no def., if you blow by him you pretty much got the easy basket

[LLcoleJ]

can someone get me up to speed on his injury and departure from Tor?

[Italianhanger]

he severely injured his leg and ankle, having had surgery immediately after suffering it, forced to sit out for 6months then the following year was forced to have more surgery
there was some controversy after getting his surgery and accepting an invitation soon after to be once again part of the Spanish National Team for the Olympics..
not too sure but speculating that he rather play for his National team instead of getting fully rested that angered Colangleo for not showing any commitment to the Raptors, in Garbajosa part...
someone correct this please if im o track, i did say the last part is all speculation on my part

[miggs]

Well its himself who actually says that the Lakers have put an offer (i wouldnt believe marca either), i dont think he would be a great addition, hes a good deffender and a team player but he hasnt played in 2 years, too much inactivity for a guy of his age and his athletic skills.

I just read the article and it never says that Garbajosa said that he had an offer from the Lakers, all it says is this, i'll translate it for the non-spanish speakers ok:


Jorge Garbajosa has the doors open to him to make a return to the NBA. Like Hollywood's own, he would walk on a red carpet but this one being the one for the greatest basketball league in the world. The team closest to the Mecca of cinema is the team that is showing the most interest in him. The newspaper Marca is reporting that his friend Pau Gasol's team, the Lakers, have put together an offer and submitted it to him, which Garbajosa values very much as it deserves to be.

Jose Luis Martinez and Nacho Duque report that Garbajosa will have to negotiate his contract as a free agent. Jorge would be the replacement to Odom or Radmanovic, both of which are involved in trade rumors. San Antonio has also shown strong interest in him.

After searching the internet for a bit, i did find other sites that reported the Lakers offering a deal to Garbajosa, however, the source for those sites was the often inaccurate Spanish newspaper, Marca. So as of right now, i'm just taking the story for what it could be, pure talk. Garbajosa would be a definite upgrade over Vlad, or as DubaLakers said:

Shoot I'll take a six pack of coca-cola for Vlade, let alone Garbage.

that's definitely gonna be my new signature quote, that's hilarious.

[daddyfivestar]

Turiaf replacement essentially - why not - particularly if he ends up costing less than the 5 mil that Turiaf would cost this year. He can put together a 6pt/3rb per game effort I'd imagine.
Maybe he and Gasol have some nice chemistry if they played together alot as they advanced through the Spanish system.

[NikeAir]

can someone get me up to speed on his injury and departure from Tor?

Hello Toronto Fan here. His injury was really bad he had a broken fiblula bone or some s*** and he didn't get surgury too repair it so he could play for spain in some tornament and that pissed off our GM making us release him because it seemed that he value them more than he valued us. For his game he's a solid defender the stats don't show his game you have to see him to be able to evaluate his play. Overall its a good pick up for you guys for his legs all good and really to go.

[milesfides]

As long as his leg is bending the right way, the veteran's minimum has his name all over it.

[Slava]

Don't trust anything that Marca writes. I used to read some utterly silly stuff from them re: soccer.

[snaquille oatmeal]

http://lakers.freedomblogging.com/2008/07/11/turiaf-replacement/

Turiaf replacement?
Who is Jorge Garbajosa and what is the Lakers’ interest in him?

According to the Spanish website Marca.com, the Lakers have made an offer to the former Toronto Raptors forward. The interest in Garbajosa, no doubt, is in response to Lakers forward Ronny Turiaf signing a four-year, $17 million offer sheet with the Golden State Warriors. The Lakers received the papers Thursday and have a week to decide whether or not to match the offer, which would allow them to retain Turiaf, since he is a restricted free agent.

But just who is Garbajosa or Garbo, as he is more widely known?

Garbajosa, 30, is a seasoned veteran of European professional basketball. After first turning professional at the age of 17, he played his first seven years in the Spanish League, before playing four seasons in the Italian League. Garbajosa only has played one season in the NBA. In 2006-2007, he appeared in 67 games with the Toronto Raptors and averaged 8.5 points and 4.9 rebounds. He was selected to play in the Rookie Challenge game during the All-Star weekend in Las Vegas.

His game differs from Turiaf’s in that the 6-9, 245-pound Garbajosa is not as strong of a physical presence inside as Turiaf but is a more refined outside shooter. Lakers center-forward Pau Gasol knows Garbo well. The two were linchpins on Spain’s national team that won the silver medal at the 2007 European championships. Garbajosa played on Spain’s Olympic basketball team in 2000 and 2004 and is expected to suit up for Spain this summer for the Olympic Games in China.

[Verbal]

It's a shame that we won't get to see him play in our Summer League this season.

But he'll be playing in the Olympics.

[islander009]

Garbo i think will be a great replacement for Turiaf. I do believe that he will be much cheaper because we can use his past injury as a reason to shorten his contract and price. If he is healthy he will be a great asset to us. He wont have the high energy as Turiaf but he will be able to hold his own against 4s and some 5's he is a rugged defender and he can shoot the 3.

cmon Pau get to talking and see if he can workout a short cheap contract. say two year lle. if thats possible. so that we can save the MLE for posey.

[islander009]

i forgot to say that he is a euro like vlad. he shoots like vlad. he is almost vlads height.....but he doesnt shy away from the physical defense he makes his opponent feel it on the opposite end. i was hoping that we could trade for him when toronto was having trouble with his severe injury. But now hes a free agent, lets go mitch pick this guy up on the cheap.

[Slava]

Well, unlike Vlad, he's pretty good at setting screens and facilitating ball movement. He's not a high assist guy but makes sure things flow on offense. Sounds more like Walton doesn't it?

He's got a good 3 shot but it does disappear at times and the good thing is that he rarely forces shots and has a mature head, being a seasoned vet in Spain and Italy.