RealGM

I was thinking about how amazing our defense would look with Marc Gasol anchoring it and it got me wondering which current NBA players would be comparable to his defensive IQ & passing.

Here are top centers by DRTG on statmuse

• Gobert
• Capela
• Ayton
• Jokic
• Poeltl
• Sabonis
• Vucevic

Sort that list by assists and it looks like this:

• Jokic
• Sabonis
• Vucevic
• Poeltl

Could Sabonis be our spiritual successor to Marc?

Sabonis isn't as tall/big as Marc was.

It makes/made a world of a difference when trying to handle the likes of Embiid (in particular) & creating a wall against Giannis, so no I don't think that would make him a true successor to Marc, nor can he chug a full bottle of wine like him.

Gasol was a rare breed. Tremendous interior defender and passer. He could score in the post and he also developed a 3 so teams had to guard him on the perimeter. And his basketball IQ was off the charts. Im not sure there's a modern comparable right now.

Good points. I don't know if there are a lot of youngish centers who really have the heft to battle Embiid outside of Jokic and Ayton.

Marc was a generational wine chugger.

PhilBlackson wrote:Sabonis isn't as tall/big as Marc was.

It makes/made a world of a difference when trying to handle the likes of Embiid (in particular) & creating a wall against Giannis, so no I don't think that would make him a true successor to Marc, nor can he chug a full bottle of wine like him.

I don't think we got much post scoring out of Marc once he joined the raptors. Prime Grizzlies Marc was a beast in the low block.

OakleyDokely wrote:Gasol was a rare breed. Tremendous interior defender and passer. He could score in the post and he also developed a 3 so teams had to guard him on the perimeter. And his basketball IQ was off the charts. Im not sure there's a modern comparable right now.

Poeltl and Sabonis have the best chance IMO.

Jokic I cannot see ever transitioning to an elite 3 and D center.

we got a glimpses of prime Gasol when the Raptors got him. if the Raps got him in his prime, Raptors would be serious title contenders in the East for quite some time.

Poeltl or Sabonis. but none are as good as him (right now) imho.

Jokic is like Super Gasol. Not as good a defender, but improving on that end as well.

Defensively he's nowhere near as good, although he has gotten better, but it's Jokic. He's Gasol on a lot of steroids.

I understand this line of thinking, but the chances of us landing a center as good as Gasol are pretty slim.

Poeltl would be good if he could be even average in the scoring department. You would think that he'd have figured it out by now, but I guess he is who he is at this point.

Probably Mobley

Year 6 Gasol (29 at this point) and Poeltl (he's 26 now) aren't that far off based on the stats. Marc was three years older, taking more 2pt shots, but barely any 3pt attempts. Gasol's 9th season when he turns 32 is when his numbers really really jump off the page with almost 22ppg, 3.6apg, and .38% from three.

Reeko wrote:Defensively he's nowhere near as good, although he has gotten better, but it's Jokic. He's Gasol on a lot of steroids.

I understand this line of thinking, but the chances of us landing a center as good as Gasol are pretty slim.

Poeltl would be good if he could be even average in the scoring department. You would think that he'd have figured it out by now, but I guess he is who he is at this point.

LBJKB24MJ23 wrote:we got a glimpses of prime Gasol when the Raptors got him. if the Raps got him in his prime, Raptors would be serious title contenders in the East for quite some time.

Poeltl or Sabonis. but none are as good as him (right now) imho.

That first game with Marc against the Knicks was the last hint of prime Marc we got.

It was certainly a glorious 2 seasons of Marc though.

lower usage jokic

Sabonis is a bad defender that you need to build your team around to insulate, and he doesn’t space the floor. Not comparable outside of the passing.

Gasol was a unique mix of sheer size, basketball genius and shooting that won’t be easy to find again.

Bam Adebayo and Robert Williams are kind of like him, more athletic but smaller and not 3 point shooters.



N

ka-bosh! wrote:Year 6 Gasol (29 at this point) and Poeltl (he's 26 now) aren't that far off based on the stats. Marc was three years older, taking more 2pt shots, but barely any 3pt attempts. Gasol's 9th season when he turns 32 is when his numbers really really jump off the page with almost 22ppg, 3.6apg, and .38% from three.

Reeko wrote:Defensively he's nowhere near as good, although he has gotten better, but it's Jokic. He's Gasol on a lot of steroids.

I understand this line of thinking, but the chances of us landing a center as good as Gasol are pretty slim.

Poeltl would be good if he could be even average in the scoring department. You would think that he'd have figured it out by now, but I guess he is who he is at this point.

But the shooting touch was always there for Marc, just look at his FT%, he's a career 78% FT shooter. While Poeltl is a 50% FT shooter for his career and currently shooting 35% from there this season.

DPOY caliber Center who is an elite playmaker

So I'd say Bam Adebayo

Oof, that FT % is brutal. I really thought the Spurs would have fixed that.

Reeko wrote:

ka-bosh! wrote:Year 6 Gasol (29 at this point) and Poeltl (he's 26 now) aren't that far off based on the stats. Marc was three years older, taking more 2pt shots, but barely any 3pt attempts. Gasol's 9th season when he turns 32 is when his numbers really really jump off the page with almost 22ppg, 3.6apg, and .38% from three.

Reeko wrote:Defensively he's nowhere near as good, although he has gotten better, but it's Jokic. He's Gasol on a lot of steroids.

I understand this line of thinking, but the chances of us landing a center as good as Gasol are pretty slim.

Poeltl would be good if he could be even average in the scoring department. You would think that he'd have figured it out by now, but I guess he is who he is at this point.

But the shooting touch was always there for Marc, just look at his FT%, he's a career 78% FT shooter. While Poeltl is a 50% FT shooter for his career and currently shooting 35% from there this season.

If we’re talking prime Gasol, there’s really nobody that I see comparing to him. He was elite on defensively and very well rounded offensively

I guess Jokic is the closest but Jokic is much higher usage and more offensive minded while Gasol was more defensive. Gasol wasn’t ever really a great rebounder for his size though, while Jokic is dominant on the boards

YogurtProducer wrote:Poeltl and Sabonis have the best chance IMO.

Jokic I cannot see ever transitioning to an elite 3 and D center.

Jakob doesn’t have the shooting ability and he’s a terrible Free throw shooter. Sabonis gets hunted on defense on every play. Neither are good comparisons and I don’t really see anyone close in terms of defensively ability, passing and shooting.

vulture wrote:

YogurtProducer wrote:Poeltl and Sabonis have the best chance IMO.

Jokic I cannot see ever transitioning to an elite 3 and D center.

Jakob doesn’t have the shooting ability and he’s a terrible Free throw shooter. Sabonis gets hunted on defense on every play. Neither are good comparisons and I don’t really see anyone close in terms of defensively ability, passing and shooting.

Gasol wasn’t much of a shooter either at that age.

Sabonis isn’t that bad defensively. He gets hunted more due to the fact he plays out of position to fit in Turnee