ESP - Lucrative four-year deal for Marc Gasol

MEMPHIS (NBA) - A day rarely goes by when the name Gasol doesn’t come up in a big story.

Pau Gasol, the MVP of the 2006 FIBA World Championship and EuroBasket 2009, has been in the headlines the past couple of weeks because the Los Angeles Lakers agreed to trade their superstar to Houston in a three-team deal that also included New Orleans, only to have it nixed by league commissioner David Stern.

Now Pau's brother, Marc, is in the headlines after he reached agreement on a contract extension with the Memphis Grizzlies that will pay him $57.7million over the next four seasons.

He averaged 15 points and 11.2 rebounds in the NBA playoffs last season as Memphis reached the Western Conference Semi-Finals with an upset of top seeds San Antonio.

Gasol, 26, accepted the maximum amount of money the Grizzlies could offer and then went on Twitter to express his joy.

He has missed the first four days of training camp but is expected to be in practice on Wednesday.

“I’m proud to say that we have reached a tentative agreement with my team @memgrizz,” Gasol tweeted.

“Can’t wait to get on the court with all my teammates!”

The Grizzlies got the rights to Gasol by trading Pau to the Los Angeles Lakers.

Memphis owner Michael Heisley offered Marc Gasol a five-year deal but said: "We’re happy with four years.

“He got a better deal than he could anywhere else. I was never worried. It was just negotiations.

"It was an amicable discussion. We never battled.”

Gasol averaged 13.3 points and 7.3 rebounds in 27.6 minutes per game at the EuroBasket in Lithuania as Spain won gold and earned a trip to the London Games.

He has enjoyed a meteoric rise the past several years.

His career was stalled until he joined Spain's national team in 2006 for the World Championship as a late replacement for Fran Vazquez.

After helping the Spaniards win the gold medal, he went on to capture the MVP award in the ACB with Akasvayu Girona before leaving for the NBA.

FIBA