Lakers Trade Gasol to Grizzlies: What's Next?

Marc Gasol's stint with the Los Angeles Lakers was a forgettable one. After the veteran big man had a solid two seasons in Toronto with the Raptors, where he won an NBA title and was known as one of the very few bigs in the game who could play well against Sixers center Joel Embiid, Gasol looked to take his talents out west.

He landed himself a two-year deal with the Lakers. Gasol appeared in 54 games last season, and he started in 42 of them. Averaging just under 20 minutes on the floor, he put up five points per game and collected 4.1 rebounds per game.

Although he appeared in a majority of the Lakers' games during the 2020-2021 NBA season and touched the court for five playoff games, the Lakers' offseason moves this year made it clear that Gasol fell out of favor in Los Angeles during his lone year donning the purple and gold threads.

As the Lakers signed former Sixers center Dwight Howard once again and inked former Brooklyn Nets big man DeAndre Jordan after he was traded to the Detroit Pistons and quickly waived, it became clear Gasol was no longer in favor out West.

Therefore, the Lakers struck a trade to send Gasol packing to a familiar setting. In a trade with the Memphis Grizzlies, the Lakers dished out Gasol. As he was towards the end of his playing career at age 36, it seemed ironic that Gasol was getting an opportunity to play out the final season of his contract in Memphis, where he got his NBA start and played nearly 11 seasons.

However, the Grizzlies have become a landing spot for aging veterans to get traded to and waived by. And Gasol is no exception. According to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski, the Grizzlies intend to waive Gasol after the trade, making the veteran center a free agent for the second offseason in a row.

Typically, when veterans get waived after getting traded, they have their next destination already lined up. That doesn't seem to be the case with Gasol. As he's coming off of a forgettable year with the Lakers, the demand for Gasol's services isn't all that high at the moment.

Will Gasol play at all in the NBA at all next season? It's unclear. According to Yahoo Sports' Chris Cwik, Gasol intends to stay in Spain with his family. There have been rumors he'll finish out his basketball career outside of the US for quite some time now. All signs are beginning to point towards that truly being the case.

Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for Sports Illustrated. You can follow him for live updates on Twitter: @JGrasso_.