Lakers Rumors: Could Marc Gasol be headed for a buyout?
By Ronald Agers
Lakers Rumors (Facts!): Marc Gasol will have a resurrection playing with the second unit!
The biggest ingredient to the Lakers big man chemistry set last year was both big men in Dwight Howard and JaVale McGee were willing to come off of the bench. If Marc Gasol does the same, not only will it help the Lakers, but it will help himself.
It wasn’t hard to see that Gasol wasn’t in tip-top shape at the beginning of the season. Now that he has dealt with COVID-19, it will take him weeks to get back into NBA shape. Andre Drummond’s addition to the roster will take the pressure off of Frank Vogel to rush Gasol back to the rotation.
When Gasol gets back, he’s the perfect big man combination with Montrezl Harrell coming off the bench. The Lakers feasted off of the high low passing advantage over the opponents last year. Gasol can keep his spot out on the perimeter and Harrell can still eat from his left side post position and the “Dunker’s spot” on the baseline.
It will be the defensive end where Marc Gasol will have his biggest impact (Follow us folks!). Until Andre Drummond shakes off the rust from his time off, he will be vulnerable to foul trouble. Gasol will cover up Harrell’s vulnerability to deal with opposing 7′ centers shown previously.
Finally look at the players that have thrived after coming off the bench.
Kyle Kuzma:
Here’s the success story that Frank Vogel can use to sell to Marc Gasol if he has reservations on coming off of the bench. Kyle Kuzma has adjusted from being a players chasing stats on inefficient shots to being one of the steadiest players on the roster.
He used coaching from Phil Handy and Jared Dudley to read what the second unit was giving him and attack accordingly. Since then, Kuz has turned into a complete player filling the stat sheets especially with rebounding.
Montrezl Harrell:
Remember those games when Montrezl Harrell was starting? Didn’t go very well did it? It was bad enough an experiment that he asked to go back to the bench in his more comfortable role. Since then, Trezl has used the first few minutes of each game to observe and he has been dominant in the last 12 games. The Cleveland Cavaliers game shows the Lakers philosophy of being a star in a role.
This is the kind way of saying that Marc Gasol is no longer good enough to start. If his age and declining game doesn’t prove it, his stats this year will do it for him.
When the Los Angeles Clippers signed DeMarcus Cousins to a 10 day contract, the staff believes the number one question on the minds of Lakers Nation is “Why did we take Gasol over Boogie?”. Finally Lake Show Life takes a look at the books and the financial challenges the team faces next year.
Excuse the Mighty Mighty O’Jays “For The Love of Money” song reference but it’s always about…