Lakers News: Marc Gasol Reportedly Drawing Interest From Division Rival
After Marc Gasol was traded and bought out by the Lakers and Memphis Grizzles respectively, there was strong indication that he would sign soon with Girona, the team he owned in Spain. This past week, there has not been any reports on what Marc Gasol plans to do.
Brother Pau Gasol recently spoke with Spanish newspaper Marca, and the topic of Marc’s future came up.
“Marc has earned the freedom and flexibility to make his own decision and he will do so when he decides. I know he has a lot of enthusiasm for Basquet Girona, a club in which I am also involved as vice president. He is in a different situation, because he is five years younger than me. We will see what he decides to do this season and later, I am also waiting.“
Anthony Slater of the Athletic mentioned that Marc was being closely monitored by the Golden State Warriors.
Marc Gasol is a name to watch. He just wiggled his way away from the Lakers and, according to an ESPN report, plans to remain in Spain while sorting out the next (and perhaps last) phase of his playing career.
Gasol nearly signed with the Warriors last summer — and might have done so had Thompson not ruptured his Achilles before free agency. It may never materialize, but he has the exact passing acumen and center skill set that has traditionally fit Kerr’s offense best, similar to David West and Andrew Bogut.
Gasol left the Lakers on bad terms after the Lakers aggressively pursued Andre Drummond during the season, and left Gasol’s role with the team limited and unpredictable. He bought a different dynamic to the Lakers offense, providing more spacing and gave the team an adequate option as a passing big man. Golden State's free flowing offense does work best when their center is a pass first big man, allowing ample opportunities for the Splash Brothers to rain threes.
Over the past few weeks, there have been a lot of conflicting reports coming out about Gasol’s future, so it is best to take this with a grain of salt. Slater pointing out that there was a chance Gasol would have signed with the Warriors last season means that there has been mutual interest so it's hard to rule this possibility out. There have been many instances where the unexpected has happened, so nothing can be ruled out at this point.
