Joel Parra puts on the Barcelona shirt

Exceptional in defensive exercise and decisive in attack, as well as in hot moments, Joel Parra (Barcelona; 23 years old) had outgrown Joventut, the club of his loves, where he was forged from a very young age. His season, to frame -9.6 points, 5.5 rebounds, 1.1 assists and a PIR of 12.2 per game that earned him his place in the second best five in the Endesa League- has now served the forward to sign for the uncomfortable neighbor, for Barcelona. The Verdiblanco club did not want to let him go, knowing that Parra was the entity’s philosopher’s stone, but Barcelona, ​​which has already lost the opportunity to hire Kevin Punter -he renewed with Partizan even though his offer was less-, deposited a million euros to cover the termination clause and sign him until 2027.

Handcuffed by economic straits and by the demand to comply with the fair play financial that LaLiga imposes, which leads it to reduce the wage bill by 20%, basketball Barcelona accumulated bad news in recent days. The sports area unable to maintain Cory Higgins, Sanli and Nikola Mirotic due to their high salaries -in this course it would go up to almost 12 million euros and the liquidation is being negotiated-, they observed how the coach Saras Jasikevicius left the forum ignoring a Low renewal offer, the Lithuanian detached from the entity because he was not convinced by the new sports project -where there will not be so many names or millions- and because he was willing to reduce his salary between 10 and 15%, but not more than half as Barcelona intended. “It was a priority, but it couldn’t be”, they pointed out from the club, while adding: “You have to have a survival economy but you have to try to maintain the competitive tone”.

Juan Carlos Navarro, general director of the section, together with Mario Bruno Fernandez, sports director, have gotten to work, able to replace the coach with former player Roger Grimau, who led the subsidiary in the last two years -will have as assistant to Victor Sada, also a former player-, and above all, to incorporate a player of the stature of Joel Parra into the squad. It is not the only move, as it has submitted an offer to the ACB to hire Willy Hernangomez. Real Madrid, which has the rights of first refusal over the pivot for Spain, has until next Wednesday, July 12 at 11:59 p.m. to match that proposal.

Hardened since he was five years old in Badalona, ​​where he soon became fascinated with players like Ricky Rubio, Rudy Fernandez and Pau Ribas -although his predilection, due to similarities, was former player Pete Mickeal, who played for Breogan, Baskonia and Barca-, Parra reached Joventut’s first team at the age of 17. Until then, his physical might was enough to impose his law. Not so in the elite, for which he has followed a physical plan of the coach Dani Moreno, also determined to improve in defense – “that gives you minutes on the court”, he resolves -, and in shots from standing feet. His work led him to the Spanish team – he has even been the captain because he has plenty of charisma – and, under the baton of Scariolo, he won the gold medal in the European past. “I have three years left on my contract with Joventut and I’m very happy, but we’ll see what happens in the future. Now I want to play and the NBA is not the best place at the moment ”, he resolved a few months ago, when the siren songs explained to him that there were many Euroleague teams that wanted him. But, still fighting to get his driver’s license and without becoming completely independent because his parents’ house is very comfortable, Parra already knows that he is going to Barcelona.

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