The Gasol saga continues in Los Angeles. Ten years after Pau donned his second championship ring with the Lakers, his brother Marc will also wear purple and gold to try to reach basketball heaven again with one of the two most successful franchises in NBA history. The middle of the fruitful litter of Sant Boi will land in the city of stars after sign as a free agent with the team that chose him in 2007 with number 48 in the draftAlthough he transferred his rights to the Memphis Grizzlies, where, as now, he followed in the wake of his bloodline and shone in his own right.
At 35, Marc Gasol was one of the most coveted pieces on the market and the Lakers ended up claiming it, far from being satisfied with the title achieved just a month and a half ago, they keep their ambition intact and have launched to build a new winning project. Rob Pelinka, his general manager, is moving deftly and, after recruiting the German base Dennis Schröder, listening Wesley Matthews and the power forward Montrezl Harrell, has tied the former Toronto Raptors in search of a tall man who provides defensive work and outside shooting, something that the Angelenos lacked with their centers last season.
They were not those two facets in which they stood out precisely or Dwight Howard, signed by the Philadelphia 76ers shortly after signing for the Lakers, nor JaVale McGee, transferred to the Cleveland Cavaliers along with the rights to a future second round of the draft to release salary mass in the face of the signing of Marc Gasol. In both sections, however, the Spanish international stands out, who despite reducing his numbers last season with the Raptors to 7.5 points, 6.3 rebounds and 3.3 assists per game, is still appreciated as one of the smartest centers in the NBA. Best Defender of the Year in 2013, averaging a 35.4% accuracy from the perimeter in the twelve seasons he has been in the best league on the planet, a percentage that increased to 40% in the two seasons he spent with the Raptors.
Another milestone
It is these qualities, in addition to their experience, that have convinced the Lakers of the suitability of taking over their services to reinforce a squad led by LeBron James and that is presented as the great favorite to the ring, despite having lost outstanding pieces such as the escorts Danny Green and Avery Bradley, the guard Rajon Rondo or the mentioned McGee.
And his brother Pau forged a stellar partnership with Kobe Bryant In the six and a half seasons he spent with the Lakers, settled with two rings, Marc will now have to adapt to the ecosystem woven around the ‘King’. He is called to be the starting center of Frank Vogel and share space in the painting with Anthony Davis, although his vision of the game will also make him another creative option for Los Angeles, who have also ensured the continuity of guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope for the next three seasons.
Never in the history of the Lakers have there been two brothers who wore his jersey, which represents a new milestone in the Gasol career, which in 2019, with the title that Marc amassed with the Raptors, also became the first brothers who could boast of being NBA champions.
Marc, that sign for two seasons, in each of which he will receive 2.7 million dollars, the minimum for veterans, he will face in Los Angeles a new challenge in his outstanding career, which has led him to be three-time NBA all-star and be proclaimed champion with the Raptors, to which must be added his brilliant record with the Spanish team, with which he has won two Olympic silver medals (Beijing 2008 and London 2012), two World Cups (Japan 2006 and China 2019) and others five metals in the Europeans (gold in Poland 2009 and Lithuania 2011, silver in Spain 2007 and bronze in Slovenia 2013 and Turkey 2017).
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