Marc Gasol was one of the most disappointing players on the Los Angeles Lakers this season. Gasol was brought in on a two-year deal with the team trading away JaVale McGee for essentially nothing to free up the cap space to sign Gasol.
Gasol was not who the Lakers envisioned. While on paper the move made sense, Gasol gave the team a center that could stretch the floor, defend, and not clog the lane for LeBron James, that theory remained a theory.
It got to the point where the Lakers were desperate for center help and seemingly hit a home run with Andre Drummond on the buyout market. Drummond wound up not being a great fit as he never fully fit into the offensive game plan and before you know it, fans were calling for Gasol again in the playoffs.
We now enter the offseason where several things are up in the air with many Laker fans expecting the team to move on from Marc Gasol, but they shouldn’t. Unless Gasol retires, he should and will be a Laker next season.
Why it makes no sense for the Los Angeles Lakers to move on from Marc Gasol:
We have to look at several factors, first looking at the other centers on the roster from last season. As far as we are concerned, both Andre Drummond and Montrezl Harrell are as good as gone.
Drummond is going to get a deal that is similar to Tristan Thompson’s deal last offseason (two years, $19 million) and that is simply too much for the Lakers. The Lakers are already struggling with how much they can do financially and without Bird Rights, it is nearly impossible to re-sign Drummond unless he takes a minimum deal.
That or use the mid-level exception on him, which simply would not be worth it.
Last year’s MLE signing is likely gone as well. Harrell has a player option this offseason and after falling out of the playoff rotation I think it is safe to say that he is going to look for a new home in 2021. He will ink a new multi-year deal with a team, likely a team that is not in a place to contend where he can go and increase his value by playing well.
That leaves Gasol and Gasol only at the position. Obviously, the Lakers are going to add to the position but it helps to have Gasol as depth. There is nothing wrong with having a different outlook at the position with the guy that you bring off the bench.
The next thing to consider is how they would get rid of Gasol. They are not going to release him as his contract is fully guaranteed and they would just be throwing away salary-cap space in a time when they need it. That is not going to happen.
What is the alternative? Trade him to another team? The Los Angeles Lakers are not going to improve by trading Gasol. The only route would be to trade him for non-guaranteed contracts as they did with McGee and then waive those non-guaranteed contracts.
If they did that they would simply be opening another roster spot that needs to be filled. The Lakers would then have to sign two cheap centers to a minimum deal instead of just one. What exactly is that accomplishing?
Nothing. When you are a team that does not have a lot of salary-cap space and you need to fill out a roster you don’t get rid of a player who is already on the books on a cheap deal, especially when there are no clear-cut upgrades.
And as far as Gasol is concerned, he was not as bad as people like to think. His offense was really inefficient and he did look slow out there at times but he played solid defense and did allow the Lakers to run a different look with a center that does not need to sit near the rim and demand post-ups.
There is a reason why Frank Vogel eventually benched Andre Drummond and played Gasol in the playoffs. It was not an accident.
Sorry to all the fans that want to see Marc Gasol off the Los Angeles Lakers next season. It simply is not going to happen.