Marc Gasol Finalizing Deal With Lakers

[RealGM Wiretap]

Marc Gasol is finalizing a deal with the Los Angeles Lakers, sources told Adrian Wojnarowski and Zach Lowe of ESPN.

The Lakers traded JaVale McGee to the Cavs to make room for Gasol. 

Via Adrian Wojnarowski/ESPN

[Scalabrine]

Rich get richer. Lakers looking even better than their team that just won it all.

Gasol/Harrell
Davis/Kuzma
James/Matthews
KCP/Tucker
Shroeder/Caruso

Great 9 man rotation and im sure they arent done.

[circa70]

W

[RapsFan2000]

Rich get richer. Lakers looking even better than their team that just won it all.

Gasol/Harrell
Davis/Kuzma
James/Matthews
KCP/Tucker
Shroeder/Caruso

Great 9 man rotation and im sure they arent done.

Haha, Gasol was great during our championship run but was almost not playable during these last playoffs. Enjoy him. He can barely produce any points and is a foot slower. Cheers.

[Rek]

Rich get richer. Lakers looking even better than their team that just won it all.

Gasol/Harrell
Davis/Kuzma
James/Matthews
KCP/Tucker
Shroeder/Caruso

Great 9 man rotation and im sure they arent done.

Haha, Gasol was great during our championship run but was almost not playable during these last playoffs. Enjoy him. He can barely produce any points and is a foot slower. Cheers.

Yep. I'm not at all excited. Like Marc a lot. But, this isn't 3 or 5 years ago.

Not sure if LAL had a shot at Ibaka. But, would have MUCH preferred they signed him instead of Trezz and then kept Dwight. We'll see...

[haste10176]

Rich get richer. Lakers looking even better than their team that just won it all.

Gasol/Harrell
Davis/Kuzma
James/Matthews
KCP/Tucker
Shroeder/Caruso

Great 9 man rotation and im sure they arent done.

Haha, Gasol was great during our championship run but was almost not playable during these last playoffs. Enjoy him. He can barely produce any points and is a foot slower. Cheers.

Yep. I'm not at all excited. Like Marc a lot. But, this isn't 3 or 5 years ago.

Not sure if LAL had a shot at Ibaka. But, would have MUCH preferred they signed him instead of Trezz and then kept Dwight. We'll see...

I agree with you Ibaka is better than Trez he can actually shoot.. And keeping Dwight on the vet min was a no brainer not sure what happened there.. Gasol can shoot though he did have a terrible playoffs shooting wise..

[oaktownwarriors87]

Rich get richer. Lakers looking even better than their team that just won it all.

Gasol/Harrell
Davis/Kuzma
James/Matthews
KCP/Tucker
Shroeder/Caruso

Great 9 man rotation and im sure they arent done.

I agree, and the potential defensive improvement with Gasol and Mattews is huge.

But Gasol and Matthews have huge question marks with their age and past injuries. Gasol, like LeBron and Davis, isn't an active defender. He relies more on his size and positioning than he does his athleticism. They're great defenders, but they rely on their teammates effort to do the leg work. Too many guys on the court like that could be a bad thing.

They're going to need Davis to do more if the dirty work on defense. Hopefully that goes over well with his already fragile body.

[RapsFan2000]

Rich get richer. Lakers looking even better than their team that just won it all.

Gasol/Harrell
Davis/Kuzma
James/Matthews
KCP/Tucker
Shroeder/Caruso

Great 9 man rotation and im sure they arent done.

Haha, Gasol was great during our championship run but was almost not playable during these last playoffs. Enjoy him. He can barely produce any points and is a foot slower. Cheers.

Yep. I'm not at all excited. Like Marc a lot. But, this isn't 3 or 5 years ago.

Not sure if LAL had a shot at Ibaka. But, would have MUCH preferred they signed him instead of Trezz and then kept Dwight. We'll see...

Yeah, I'm hurt over Ibaka than Gasol. I was expecting Gasol to go overseas anyways as rumors speculated... Surprised he signed with Lakers but maybe due to his brother Pau's influence? But yeah, Marc will provide great leadership for sure, but you guys have that already in Lebron and AD and other vets. Marc was great for us during that championship run so all the best to him.

[tigerae]

Haha, Gasol was great during our championship run but was almost not playable during these last playoffs. Enjoy him. He can barely produce any points and is a foot slower. Cheers.

Yep. I'm not at all excited. Like Marc a lot. But, this isn't 3 or 5 years ago.

Not sure if LAL had a shot at Ibaka. But, would have MUCH preferred they signed him instead of Trezz and then kept Dwight. We'll see...

I agree with you Ibaka is better than Trez he can actually shoot.. And keeping Dwight on the vet min was a no brainer not sure what happened there.. Gasol can shoot though he did have a terrible playoffs shooting wise..

Yeah, really not sure what the Lakers were thinking here. The Lakers go from being one of the best defensive teams with the inside presence to one of the weaker ones. Gasol is no Defensive Player of the Year Gasol and even then I didn't think he deserved to win it. Zubac/Harrell was abused by Jokic and one of the bigger reasons the Clippers lost to the Nuggets. I see the same for Gasol/Harrell if they take on them again. Howard was a monster in the Nuggets series and threw Jokic off his game.

Harrell needs to be in pick and rolls to be a good and the Lakers really didn't run too much pick and rolls with McGee and Howard who I thought would have been great. Easy lobs all day to both McGee and Howard or easy lanes to the basket for LBJ and Rondo if they tried to stop the roll.

Gasol isn't a bad pickup, but not if it meant also losing McGee in the process. Especially after botching the Dwight Howard thing by not calling the guy back. Gasol being one of your 2 main Centers would have been really nice with Howard/McGee and then Harrell backup 4 and Kuzma backup 3 but this looks like we became the Clippers of last year. Undersized at the 4 and the 5. AD can't guard Jokic/Embiid/etc. all game and then also score 30 points a game on the other end during a playoff series.

[tsirigoj]

Yep. I'm not at all excited. Like Marc a lot. But, this isn't 3 or 5 years ago.

Not sure if LAL had a shot at Ibaka. But, would have MUCH preferred they signed him instead of Trezz and then kept Dwight. We'll see...

I agree with you Ibaka is better than Trez he can actually shoot.. And keeping Dwight on the vet min was a no brainer not sure what happened there.. Gasol can shoot though he did have a terrible playoffs shooting wise..

Yeah, really not sure what the Lakers were thinking here. The Lakers go from being one of the best defensive teams with the inside presence to one of the weaker ones. Gasol is no Defensive Player of the Year Gasol and even then I didn't think he deserved to win it. Zubac/Harrell was abused by Jokic and one of the bigger reasons the Clippers lost to the Nuggets. I see the same for Gasol/Harrell if they take on them again. Howard was a monster in the Nuggets series and threw Jokic off his game.

Harrell needs to be in pick and rolls to be a good and the Lakers really didn't run too much pick and rolls with McGee and Howard who I thought would have been great. Easy lobs all day to both McGee and Howard or easy lanes to the basket for LBJ and Rondo if they tried to stop the roll.

Gasol isn't a bad pickup, but not if it meant also losing McGee in the process. Especially after botching the Dwight Howard thing by not calling the guy back. Gasol being one of your 2 main Centers would have been really nice with Howard/McGee and then Harrell backup 4 and Kuzma backup 3 but this looks like we became the Clippers of last year. Undersized at the 4 and the 5. AD can't guard Jokic/Embiid/etc. all game and then also score 30 points a game on the other end during a playoff series.

Between Davis and Harrell, they are plenty good on interior defense. Howard and Javale were kind of redundant. It would have been nice to keep Howard, but we already have a lot of tough guys that will crash the boards and clog the middle.

Lakers get better and are clearly early favorites to win it all again.

[tigerae]

I agree with you Ibaka is better than Trez he can actually shoot.. And keeping Dwight on the vet min was a no brainer not sure what happened there.. Gasol can shoot though he did have a terrible playoffs shooting wise..

Yeah, really not sure what the Lakers were thinking here. The Lakers go from being one of the best defensive teams with the inside presence to one of the weaker ones. Gasol is no Defensive Player of the Year Gasol and even then I didn't think he deserved to win it. Zubac/Harrell was abused by Jokic and one of the bigger reasons the Clippers lost to the Nuggets. I see the same for Gasol/Harrell if they take on them again. Howard was a monster in the Nuggets series and threw Jokic off his game.

Harrell needs to be in pick and rolls to be a good and the Lakers really didn't run too much pick and rolls with McGee and Howard who I thought would have been great. Easy lobs all day to both McGee and Howard or easy lanes to the basket for LBJ and Rondo if they tried to stop the roll.

Gasol isn't a bad pickup, but not if it meant also losing McGee in the process. Especially after botching the Dwight Howard thing by not calling the guy back. Gasol being one of your 2 main Centers would have been really nice with Howard/McGee and then Harrell backup 4 and Kuzma backup 3 but this looks like we became the Clippers of last year. Undersized at the 4 and the 5. AD can't guard Jokic/Embiid/etc. all game and then also score 30 points a game on the other end during a playoff series.

Between Davis and Harrell, they are plenty good on interior defense. Howard and Javale were kind of redundant. It would have been nice to keep Howard, but we already have a lot of tough guys that will crash the boards and clog the middle.

Lakers get better and are clearly early favorites to win it all again.

Obviously you didn't see the Nuggets series against the Clippers. Harrell wasn't able to hang with Jokic one bit. He has energy and heart, but that isn't enough to make up for the lack of size. He's only 6'7. Harrell would be a really good backup 4 at best or maybe starting 4 if you start AD at the 5 but AD truly plays his best basketball when he's at the 4 alongside a true center. I would have went after Ibaka first, especially since he ended up costing the same as Harrell. Much better defensively. If the Lakers sign Cousins or another center then maybe this makes a little more sense, but without Howard or McGee and without their 2nd on-floor coach in Rondo, I see the Lakers struggling in quite a few playoff series. Nuggets, Jazz, Sixers to list a few.

[kbitboc]

Yep. I'm not at all excited. Like Marc a lot. But, this isn't 3 or 5 years ago.

Not sure if LAL had a shot at Ibaka. But, would have MUCH preferred they signed him instead of Trezz and then kept Dwight. We'll see...

I agree with you Ibaka is better than Trez he can actually shoot.. And keeping Dwight on the vet min was a no brainer not sure what happened there.. Gasol can shoot though he did have a terrible playoffs shooting wise..

Yeah, really not sure what the Lakers were thinking here. The Lakers go from being one of the best defensive teams with the inside presence to one of the weaker ones. Gasol is no Defensive Player of the Year Gasol and even then I didn't think he deserved to win it. Zubac/Harrell was abused by Jokic and one of the bigger reasons the Clippers lost to the Nuggets. I see the same for Gasol/Harrell if they take on them again. Howard was a monster in the Nuggets series and threw Jokic off his game.

Harrell needs to be in pick and rolls to be a good and the Lakers really didn't run too much pick and rolls with McGee and Howard who I thought would have been great. Easy lobs all day to both McGee and Howard or easy lanes to the basket for LBJ and Rondo if they tried to stop the roll.

Gasol isn't a bad pickup, but not if it meant also losing McGee in the process. Especially after botching the Dwight Howard thing by not calling the guy back. Gasol being one of your 2 main Centers would have been really nice with Howard/McGee and then Harrell backup 4 and Kuzma backup 3 but this looks like we became the Clippers of last year. Undersized at the 4 and the 5. AD can't guard Jokic/Embiid/etc. all game and then also score 30 points a game on the other end during a playoff series.

You do realize Gasol is one of the best post defender?
He'll do a much better job on Embiid and Jokic defending the post than Dwight will. Embiid was held to 0 points last year in one of the game against Gasol. All advance stats show he is still a great defender. However, his offense other than 3 pt shooting is bad.
Also, Lakers play much better with AD at the 5. It's just that they will want to conserve his body during the regular season and thus play him more at the 4. They usually close the game with AD at the 5. Comes playoff time, AD will also play more at the 5.
Clippers have no bigs that can defend the inside and switch to the perimeter. Lakers do. Their D will always be better.

[tigerae]

I agree with you Ibaka is better than Trez he can actually shoot.. And keeping Dwight on the vet min was a no brainer not sure what happened there.. Gasol can shoot though he did have a terrible playoffs shooting wise..

Yeah, really not sure what the Lakers were thinking here. The Lakers go from being one of the best defensive teams with the inside presence to one of the weaker ones. Gasol is no Defensive Player of the Year Gasol and even then I didn't think he deserved to win it. Zubac/Harrell was abused by Jokic and one of the bigger reasons the Clippers lost to the Nuggets. I see the same for Gasol/Harrell if they take on them again. Howard was a monster in the Nuggets series and threw Jokic off his game.

Harrell needs to be in pick and rolls to be a good and the Lakers really didn't run too much pick and rolls with McGee and Howard who I thought would have been great. Easy lobs all day to both McGee and Howard or easy lanes to the basket for LBJ and Rondo if they tried to stop the roll.

Gasol isn't a bad pickup, but not if it meant also losing McGee in the process. Especially after botching the Dwight Howard thing by not calling the guy back. Gasol being one of your 2 main Centers would have been really nice with Howard/McGee and then Harrell backup 4 and Kuzma backup 3 but this looks like we became the Clippers of last year. Undersized at the 4 and the 5. AD can't guard Jokic/Embiid/etc. all game and then also score 30 points a game on the other end during a playoff series.

You do realize Gasol is one of the best post defender?
He'll do a much better job on Embiid and Jokic defending the post than Dwight will. Embiid was held to 0 points last year in one of the game against Gasol. All advance stats show he is still a great defender. However, his offense other than 3 pt shooting is bad.
Also, Lakers play much better with AD at the 5. It's just that they will want to conserve his body during the regular season and thus play him more at the 4. They usually close the game with AD at the 5. Comes playoff time, AD will also play more at the 5.
Clippers have no bigs that can defend the inside and switch to the perimeter. Lakers do. Their D will always be better.

Gasol had one of the worse years last year, during the regular season and playoffs. Howard and McGee are both super athletic, even at their ages and were not only able to block more shots in less minutes, but also caused issues for opponents because of their presence.

Now don't get me wrong, I do like the Gasol signing as he is probably a better fit than McGee. However, that would have only been the case had they kept Howard or McGee. I would take Howard and McGee over Gasol and Harrell at the 5 any day defensively. My main issue here is Harrell playing the 5, especially when taking on bigger players. He's great energy at the 4 and great in the pick and roll.

Kuzma was horrible at the 4 in the playoffs and Harrell was horrible at the 5 in the playoffs. If the Lakers don't end up taking on teams with great bigs like the Jazz, Sixers or Jazz then that won't be a problem. If they do, they will have issues.

As for the Clippers, they got Ibaka who is a great upgrade from an undersized 6'7 Harrell, both on the offensive and defensive end.

[kbitboc]

Yeah, really not sure what the Lakers were thinking here. The Lakers go from being one of the best defensive teams with the inside presence to one of the weaker ones. Gasol is no Defensive Player of the Year Gasol and even then I didn't think he deserved to win it. Zubac/Harrell was abused by Jokic and one of the bigger reasons the Clippers lost to the Nuggets. I see the same for Gasol/Harrell if they take on them again. Howard was a monster in the Nuggets series and threw Jokic off his game.

Harrell needs to be in pick and rolls to be a good and the Lakers really didn't run too much pick and rolls with McGee and Howard who I thought would have been great. Easy lobs all day to both McGee and Howard or easy lanes to the basket for LBJ and Rondo if they tried to stop the roll.

Gasol isn't a bad pickup, but not if it meant also losing McGee in the process. Especially after botching the Dwight Howard thing by not calling the guy back. Gasol being one of your 2 main Centers would have been really nice with Howard/McGee and then Harrell backup 4 and Kuzma backup 3 but this looks like we became the Clippers of last year. Undersized at the 4 and the 5. AD can't guard Jokic/Embiid/etc. all game and then also score 30 points a game on the other end during a playoff series.

You do realize Gasol is one of the best post defender?
He'll do a much better job on Embiid and Jokic defending the post than Dwight will. Embiid was held to 0 points last year in one of the game against Gasol. All advance stats show he is still a great defender. However, his offense other than 3 pt shooting is bad.
Also, Lakers play much better with AD at the 5. It's just that they will want to conserve his body during the regular season and thus play him more at the 4. They usually close the game with AD at the 5. Comes playoff time, AD will also play more at the 5.
Clippers have no bigs that can defend the inside and switch to the perimeter. Lakers do. Their D will always be better.

Gasol had one of the worse years last year, during the regular season and playoffs. Howard and McGee are both super athletic, even at their ages and were not only able to block more shots in less minutes, but also caused issues for opponents because of their presence.

Now don't get me wrong, I do like the Gasol signing as he is probably a better fit than McGee. However, that would have only been the case had they kept Howard or McGee. I would take Howard and McGee over Gasol and Harrell at the 5 any day defensively. My main issue here is Harrell playing the 5, especially when taking on bigger players. He's great energy at the 4 and great in the pick and roll.

Kuzma was horrible at the 4 in the playoffs and Harrell was horrible at the 5 in the playoffs. If the Lakers don't end up taking on teams with great bigs like the Jazz, Sixers or Jazz then that won't be a problem. If they do, they will have issues.

As for the Clippers, they got Ibaka who is a great upgrade from an undersized 6'7 Harrell, both on the offensive and defensive end.

The thing you don't get is Gasol is better at defending the great bigs like Jokic and Embiid compared to Dwight and Mcgee. Mcgee basically was unplayable in the playoff. The Lakers are actually better off this year defensively with Gasol now against Jazz, Sixers, and Denver. Embiid was held to 0 points in one of the game just last year against Gasol. Even last year, Gasol was great defensively. It was just his offense, other than the 3s, that regressed. In the playoff, they can go AD at the 5 against smaller centers and then Gasol at the 5 against the bigger centers. Baring injuries, Lakers will still be an elite defensive team. They have the players to go big or small.

[Robin Jones]

Coul someone please explain why Gasol did this? And why Toronto did this? I just don't get it.

Gasol already has a ring. He does not need to chase one by signing a bargain deal with a favorite.

Gasol will be paid 5,3 M/two years in LA.

His replacement in Toronto, Aaron Baynes, will be paid 13 M/two years.

I see Baynes as an equivalent player at most, not really much younger than Gasol either.

Why Toronto did not offer Gasol the same, or at least 10 M/two years. If they did, why Gasol accepted a contract with half (or less) the pay?

Or are the winters up in the North just too harsh for the Spaniard?

[Pennebaker]

Yep. I'm not at all excited. Like Marc a lot. But, this isn't 3 or 5 years ago.

Not sure if LAL had a shot at Ibaka. But, would have MUCH preferred they signed him instead of Trezz and then kept Dwight. We'll see...

I agree with you Ibaka is better than Trez he can actually shoot.. And keeping Dwight on the vet min was a no brainer not sure what happened there.. Gasol can shoot though he did have a terrible playoffs shooting wise..

Yeah, really not sure what the Lakers were thinking here. The Lakers go from being one of the best defensive teams with the inside presence to one of the weaker ones.

They're thinking some of the same things they thought with Dwight.

Gasol was an all-star in 2017. He's an even better candidate to have a bounce back year than Dwight was. The 2-year deal also tells us that the Lakers believe in Gasol more than they did Dwight.

He's a monolith that makes threes.

The Lakers still have great defensive players and a defensive head coach. They are still a defense-oriented team. They will always have a great defense with LeBron quarterbacking and Davis anchoring under Vogel's direction.

[Pennebaker]

Coul someone please explain why Gasol did this? And why Toronto did this? I just don't get it.

Gasol already has a ring. He does not need to chase one by signing a bargain deal with a favorite.

Gasol will be paid 5,3 M/two years in LA.

His replacement in Toronto, Aaron Baynes, will be paid 13 M/two years.

I see Baynes as an equivalent player at most, not really much younger than Gasol either.

Why Toronto did not offer Gasol the same, or at least 10 M/two years. If they did, why Gasol accepted a contract with half (or less) the pay?

Or are the winters up in the North just too harsh for the Spaniard?

Gasol said he wants to win. He obviously doesn't think he can win in Toronto.

[Guyton1]

Lakers just gave away there advantages McGee and Dwight offensive rebounds and second chances for Marc gasol who can barely touch the rim. Harrell who is a 6’8 center. Then gave away there leaders who have won in this league rondo,cook,green.

[Hans1984]

Good signing.

[Fra Diavolo]

After waiving Bell i Mckinnie Lakers will have more money for Morris or not?

5,3 mln for 2 years is vet min? So why they need to trade McGee?
At least I thought 2,6 mln/year is vet min.