The Los Angeles Lakers signed center Marc Gasol to a two-year contract worth $5.4 million on Tuesday according to Rogers Sportsnet. The native of Barcelona, Spain will be joining his third National Basketball Association team after 11 seasons with the Memphis Grizzlies and two seasons with the Toronto Raptors.
Last season in Toronto, Gasol averaged 7.5 points per game, 6.3 rebounds per game, and 3.3 assists per game. One could argue it was the worst season of Gasol’s career as he really struggled in scoring points, and was clearly outplayed in the paint by his teammate, Serge Ibaka. Like Gasol, Ibaka is leaving the Raptors for Los Angeles, as he is joining the Clippers.
Gasol was also battling health issues this past season. A nagging hamstring ailment forced him to miss 12 games around the Christmas season and into the near year of 2020.
In his 11 seasons with Memphis, Gasol averaged 15.2 points per game. That was 7.1 more points per game than in his 70 games with the Raptors. Now in fairness to Gasol, he was not expected to be an offensive force with the Raptors as much as he was with the Grizzlies. That is because Toronto already had Kawhi Leonard (for one year), Kyle Lowry, Fred VanVleet, Pascal Siakam, OG Anunoby, and Norman Powell to carry the offensive load. In 2019, Gasol successfully helped the Raptors win their first NBA Finals in franchise history.
However, it is safe to say the Raptors would have liked Gasol to have been a little more accurate in his shooting attempts this past season. He only had a field goal percentage of .427, and a free-throw percentage of .735, which were below his career averages of .481, and .777 respectively.
While with the Grizzlies, Gasol was a three-time All-Star in 2011-12, 2014-15, and 2016-17. He had a career-high 19.5 points per game with Memphis three years ago.
Now with the Lakers, Gasol at age 35, will expect to have a similar role in southern California as he did with the Raptors. The Lakers are still expected to sign Anthony Davis for another year, and Gasol is expected to share the center position with Markieff Morris.
To make room for Gasol, the Lakers traded center JaVale McGee to the Cleveland Cavaliers with a second-round pick. The Lakers also lost eight-time all-star Dwight Howard, who signed as a free agent with the Philadelphia 76ers.
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