NBA rumors: the Lakers trade Marc Gasol to the Grizzlies, who will buy him back

The writing has been on the wall for a while, but the Lakers have made it official. ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reports that the team will drop Marc Gasol to the Grizzlies, ending his time with purple and gold (and, presumably, his NBA career):

This is just another example of the Grizzlies helping the Lakers, who had already signed DeAndre Jordan after weeks of leaking that they were basically interested in anyone who is seven feet tall and not Marc Gasol, so this move didn’t is not surprising. Gasol averaged 5 points, 4.1 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game in 52 appearances, while shooting 45.4% from the field and 41% from behind the arc. However, he only played 87 minutes in the playoffs and never seemed to be completely comfortable in Los Angeles.

And despite early successes as part of the team’s initial roster to open the 2020-21 season, the Lakers never felt fully committed to Gasol, or vice versa. From the squad promising Andre Drummond that he could have Gasol’s starting point to secure his mid-season signing to Gasol openly considering seeking his own buyout before re-enlisting later in the squad, there just had almost constant turmoil during her year-long stay now with the organization, a weirdness that our own Nicole Ganglani summed up nicely in the early morning. The two sides just never seemed to be on the same page or to like each other much, so it’s not much of a shock that they choose to go their separate ways after only a year together.

And while the 36-year-old wasn’t as bad last season as some box-scoring watchers would have you believe, Gasol was also not good enough to make his absence worth it. overworked one way or another. Ultimately, he and Jordan are unlikely to play much in the playoffs for this team (barring a disaster, in which case it wouldn’t really matter anyway), and so it makes sense that the team prefers insurance in the Dwight Howard vein like Jordan instead of an entirely different skill set like Gasol, doubling down on physicality and dunks rather than dedicating a spot to mostly theoretical spacing.

With Gasol no longer on the roster, the Lakers have 13 guaranteed contracts in the squad and are said to have planned to enter the season leaving their 15th place open, meaning they will likely sign at least one more player. before training camp.

For more Lakers talk, subscribe to the Silver Screen and Roll podcast feed on itunes, Spotify, Stapler Where Google Podcasts. You can follow Harrison on Twitter at @hmfaigen.