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Which is all a long way of saying that suggestions that the Raptors are getting Gasol past his prime may not be so on the mark.

Gasol himself sounds like a man who has been given a new lease on his professional basketball career.

“It gives you a chance to compete at the highest level,” Gasol said of leaving Memphis, where he played for 10 years, for the greener pastures of Toronto. “Once Masai (Ujiri) called and I talked to some of the guys in there and everyone said the same, about making a run to the title. That gets your juices going and gets you excited.”

Gasol was in Toronto on Thursday night taking care of the laundry list of things a player must do when he joins a new team, such as signing off on a place to live, passing a physical and simply getting his bearings.

On Friday, it was on to New York, where he joined the Raptors for last night’s game at Madison Square Garden.

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There was a conversation with head coach Nick Nurse as the two got acquainted. Most importantly, Gasol got a look at the style of play he is going to have to acclimate to.

“We just had a good chat, really,” Nurse said prior to the game as Gasol got up some shots with his new team directly behind the coach at the NBA Players Association gym, the choice for the morning shootaround.

“I’m pretty familiar with him and what he can do. Just cover some things and talk some terminology. Most of the stuff, he’s been around enough, that he’s seen. There’s some things he hasn’t that we do and some of the terminology we use is probably unique, so we just go over that, mostly. Good, comfortable conversation. He’s excited to be here. See where we go from there.”