NOVEMBER 24: Gasol has signed his contract, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic, who reports (via Twitter) that it’s a straight two-year, minimum-salary deal, with no player or team option on year two.
Gasol will earn about $2.56MM in 2020/21 and $2.69MM in ’21/22.
NOVEMBER 22: The Lakers have reached an agreement to sign free agent center Marc Gasol, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link). Adrian Wojnarowski and Zach Lowe of ESPN, who first reported that the two sides were finalizing a deal, say it’ll be a two-year pact (Twitter links).
A former Defensive Player of the Year and three-time All-Star, Gasol has seen his numbers fall off significantly during the last year-and-a-half in Toronto. He averaged just 7.5 PPG and 6.3 RPG in 44 games (26.4 MPG) in 2019/20.
However, while he’s no longer as prolific a scorer as he was during his days with the Grizzlies, Gasol can still knock down three-pointers (38.5% in ’19/20) and facilitate an offense from the top of the key. He also remains a very effective defender, which will be important in Los Angeles. Montrezl Harrell, the Lakers’ other big frontcourt free agent addition, is far more effective on offense than on defense.
It appears likely that Gasol will get a minimum-salary deal from the Lakers, who are up against a hard cap. The team agreed to trade JaVale McGee to the Cavaliers, but will have to take back some salary in that deal. Plus, giving Gasol more than the minimum would require the Raptors to accommodate a sign-and-trade agreement.
Because the Lakers are offering a two-year contract, the first-year cap hit will be about $2.56MM instead of $1.62MM. The NBA partially reimburses teams for one-year minimum-salary veteran contracts, but not for two-year deals.
After completing this series of roster moves and filling out their roster with minimum-salary signings, the Lakers project to be about $1.3MM below the hard cap, tweets Bobby Marks of ESPN.
Gasol was drafted by L.A. way back in 2007 but was traded to Memphis in a package for his brother Pau Gasol and never appeared in a game for the Lakers. Thirteen years later, he’ll finally suit up for the franchise.
Meanwhile, the Raptors – having lost both Gasol and Serge Ibaka in free agency – have pivoted by securing a commitment from free agent center Aron Baynes. The team is also re-signing RFA big man Chris Boucher.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Guess raptors will have to settle with McGhee & baynes.
I’d rather Whiteside than McGee!
Oooo Raptors turning into Rockets north…
Don’t understand why so many helped the Lakers improve for next season after winning a championship. OKC practically gifted them Schröder. Harrell joined the rival. And now Cleveland did the favor allowing for Marc Gasol to join. Shouldn’t these teams not be helping LA out?
You must not see the writing on the wall okc has clippers picks for next 5 years if they are bad picks are better not hard to see. Lakers win this year george and kawhi are gone
I just don’t understand helping the rich get richer, even if those are rebuilding teams with no dog in the fight. It does nothing besides keep LA attractive to any and every free agent.
Not hard to see for okc they want clippers to lose. Teams like cavs know they have no chance of competing so don’t think they care what lakers do, they are getting mcgee who can be flipped at deadline and get more picks and a 2026 2nd rounder which might be high depending on if lakers core leaves. As soon as lebron and ad arrived it’s been an attractive destination not much you can do but stand by and watch at this point.
What’s not to see? It’s the Lakers. The most popular franchise in the sport. Free agents will always want to go there, regardless of the situation. LeBron showed up when they weren’t even a playoff team. Whether they’re winning or not players will sign up to be a Laker long after LeBron is gone.
lmao lebum only showed up cause he knew lakers had trade assets he could make them trade for his 3rd superteam..you people like to twist history like he went there on free will
Not his free will?
Didn’t realize he was blackmailed, right?
Ya’ll act like lebum went there and made everyone better..he traded everyone for more all stars..always takes the shortcuts cause he doesnt make anyone better
Bron really ows your head man…
Honestly would rather have Dwight or McGee than Gasol.
I think this ends up being a dumb move
Or perhaps Gasol wants to go back to the team the drafted him and play there like his brother did. Oh, and get another ring.
Ding! Ding! Ding!
Ok Gregg Popovich. That mentality is how you end up with DeRozen instead of Brandon Ingram for Kawhi. You do what you have to for your team. No one topped their offer for Schroder, so he is a Laker.
San Antonio did not want to send Leonard to Los Angeles. What the Lakers offered was triple what San Antonio eventually got from Toronto it was merely do not want to trade our star to our competitor.
They weren’t even a competitive team after they lost Lenord. It was Pop being salty and now his sitting in it.
Dan Gilbert is still paying his debt for crying about the CP3 trade to the Lakers years ago.
Trez didn’t like Kawai. That teams window in this year, after that it’s back to, ah just pick any old slogan they used
Trez didn’t want to play with Clips not more (probably Kawhi & PG13 ain’t so good teammates + preferentail treatment played a role here), OKC wanted picks + they knew somebody would trade for D.Green sooner or later and Cavs don’t care. Also Gasol & Matthews agreed for vet. mins so unless somebody will overpaid for them at the back-end of their careers I see no reasom why they wouldn’t want to go to a contender for min.
Man the lakers have 2 starting squads, barring injuries lebron May be on the verge of a 5th ring.
You guys are the favorites on paper, but LeBron hasn’t repeated since 2013 and the West is pretty hard plus the East bears some competition. Brooklyn, Milwaukee, Miami, Clippers, Mavs look to be your stiffest competition as of now
Brooklyn is a non factor for me, same with bucks. Old injuried kd and kyrie and bucks adding only jrue? Clippers losing everyone and adding only an aging Ibaka (who still can’t guard Jokic or ad) Lol Lakers just added 2 6th man of the year, marc gasol and Mathews. Not close, coupled with ad and bron coming back.
I honestly think heat will be back, added depth and healthy. Celtics also got much better. But either of those might win 1 game maybe 2 in a seven game series with lakers.
This is arguably lebrons most talented team, much more depth than heat days and ad is supremely better than wade and bosh, it will be interesting to see for sure.
Lebron is old.
On paper, the Lakers are really, really good!!
Sports guy you must not know how sports work man. Lol what’s fair is that each team is planning for there chance in the future, even keep the vets you mentioned away from lakers, lakers will still add other pieces, might as well help your own franchise by gaining picks which can become assets when your ready to compete. Okc wants clippers to be terrible so kawhi and pg leave and all those picks turn into potential lottery tickets. It’s not hard to see why other teams with stakes in gaining premium talent in the losing in the short term. Not hard to see.
Lol just because it fell apart a bit for the Clippers doesnt mean they’re toast.
The Lakers have 2 injury prone stars.
The Clippers have 2 comparable stars.
Read that again!
@jkoms57 except pg has had multiple shoulder surgery (could be why he stinks in playoffs) and kawhi has to load manage because of bad knees…..lebron historically has never missed many games outside of 2018-2019 when he tore his groin, and ad has played over 65 games over in all but 1 season, when his team wasn’t going to make playoffs anyways. Lebron and ad both top 5 players while kawhi is top 5 george isn’t even in top 15/20 players right now. Not close
LOL. Clippers are a choking franchise. No team with Paul George is beating a LeBron led team in the playoffs. Mavs are good but not better than the Lakers. Worrying about any east team is unnecessary since it would be in the Finals.
Yes @Sportsguy the competition is tough. Bring it in. Love the journey. Love playing our best against the best
But LeBron hasn’t repeated since 2013? That’s not a very good argument boss.
Brooklyn will be better than people in this thread give them credit for. KD looks like he’s got most if not all of “it” back from the reports out there. If they stay healthy, KD is almost unguardable and so is Kyrie. It’s their defense that will make them formidable.
The rest of the east is fighting for legitimacy outside of the Nets, the only other team that would be a true threat would be Miami, next year after they get Giannis.
The word i was looking for was vulnerable, sorry, its their lack of having a shut down defense that will make them vulnerable
lol having stacked team means nothing for playoffs..we saw what happened to the lakers..they got older and signed guys who can easily get injured, lost two shot blockers
He’s regressed so he’s just gonna ride the wave to a ring at this point…
People complaining about the Lakers are ridiculous. They got stuck signing guys they really didn’t want bedside Kawhi screwed them over by leading them on while other guys signed elsewhere. Ending up not mattering anyways but they are building the team they actually want this season. Everyone presided the Clippers for adding depth to their bench but the Lakers do it and they act like they just added a team full of stars like the Warriors did which by the way Warriors fans had no problem with but had a problem with the Lakers having two stars and a deep bench. Makes no sense to me at all
Who is complaining? Lakers are doing nothing wrong by building a bench. Every team in the NBA is building a bench. There is a lot of older players on the team so lakers are going for it this year.
Arc89 there are going for it the next 3/4 years. Nothing done this year impact flexibility in salaries going forward. Every contract over 1 year is tradable, still leaving door open for another star and lebron taking a back seat role after next season, something he said he would do if kawhi came to lakers a year ago.
3/4 years is a very long time in the NBA. Nuggets and Mavs have upgraded their teams with young players. Pelicans will be a force very soon. Suns have a lot of youth. Warriors have some young players. Look how fast the rockets have fallen. I don’t see much youth on the Lakers its win now push.
Arc89 using the rockets as a starting point but not using warriors aswell is fun it shows the bias. Warriors window came in an era when there was no competition and they lost to cavs and raptors in that time frame. Now with klays injuries there window has closed as well, average age on roster is 32 you want to talk about old look at steph klay and draymond all over 30, wiggins stinks as does wiseman. Could be a playoff team with klay but that’s about it. Lakers will be the class for at least next 2 years. Don’t expect rob to stop after this season acquiring better players next season too
Just see so many people on social media talking about his the Lakers are getting everyone, it’s not fair, LeBron needs a super team to win it all again lol. It’s ridiculous. This isn’t a super team at all, just a really good assembled team with a deep bench. Basically what the Clippers were hoping they’d have last year and for the most part did until it mattered most. Those people saying it’s not fair and complaining just don’t know Basketball I guess. I feel like this will be the most competitive the league has been in a long time, or as long as I’ve been watching. To see so many teams improve is awesome. Lakers definitely got better but aren’t the only ones. Portland for a lot better, Suns, GS even without Klay. It’s gonna be a fun season. Just weird to see so many people on social media acting like the Lakers are building a super team and it’s not fair lol
Lakers are just doing what any championship team does not stand on last year and try to improve to repeat. I am more surprised on how a couple teams in the west have not done anything to improve.
It has come full-circle ……… Marc Gasol goes back home to the LAKERS.
Boogie and markieff need to be signed.. go 12 deep.. lebron has 4 rings.. might get 5 and 6 next 2 years..
Zero percent chance Boogie is back
Also not sure why you would want him
Where will whiteside sign? Looks like he will have to take huge cut. Maybe go back to heat on vet min? If they meet lakers in finals they are gonna need some size inside.
Was thinking the same on Hassan. Byombo got signed before him. The leading blocks guy a couple years back may have to really settle for a paycut, and with a suck team at that..
I think he will sign for clippers
Even though I am a fan of Marc Gasol he is not the player he used to be . He is lost two steps in defense and will be a liability in defending the pick and roll or pop. Also unfortunately he is very injury prone. He will help the Lakers in spreading the floor and facilitate in the offense. Ibaka Is way better player at this stage than Marc. Also you Laker fan forget how much you wanted to sign Ibaka And now you say he is trash typical Lakers fan. In addition don’t forget how great defense he played against AD on the two meetings last season . Laker again are worser in defense but better in offense. Defense wins championships. Lakers are not the ultimate favorites but are a top three western team.
Two reasons for Raps losing to Celtics: (1) Siakam was exposed as a not ready for prime time player; and (2) Gasol met Father Time who has that perfect record. Gasol was also telegraphing his departure from Raps during the bubble. So its only fitting that Laker fans get to witness Gasol pass up open 3’s again and again. Real loss is Ibaka. Really curious that Masai only offered $12MM to Serge. Its like he wanted him to leave ??!!
Maybe, that’s a match-up concern, not Gasol’s fault? Although i never saw that series, im just basing this in theory, just like when the lakers benched mcgee & howard in favor of small/quicker players, in the houston series?
If you watched the series, Gasol was wide open so many times that his own teammates were constantly yelling at the top of their voice. What do you think theIdiot King is going to do when this happens in the playoffs?
Gasol won’t need to play big minutes and will have a far better cast then he did in Toronto. Health is the biggest issue
Who is saying Ibaka is a shi**y player? I would have taken him but I’m happy with Trez. Gasol was just gravy. It never was Gasol or Ibaka. It was Ibaka or Trez. Biggest losers are the Clips, a role they have played since the day they slithered into LA
Even though I am a fan of Marc Gasol he is not the player he used to be . He is lost two steps in defense and will be a liability in defending the pick and roll or pop. Also unfortunately he is very injury prone. He will help the Lakers in spreading the floor and facilitate in the offense. Ibaka Is way better player at this stage than Marc. Also you Laker fan forget how much you wanted to sign Ibaka And now you say he is trash typical Lakers fan. In addition don’t forget how great defense he played against AD on the two meetings last season . Laker again are worser in defense but better in offense. Defense wins championships. Lakers are not the ultimate favorites but are a top three western team.
he may be old but gasol’s basketball IQ, especially his passing skills is what separates him from Ibaka, imo!
I disagree Ibaka has good basketball IQ just like Gasol. He knows how to position him self in defense and offense . And positions himself smartly to rebound. Ibaka is better offensively and defensively than Gasol ( at this stage of their career). I agree with you Gasol is a better passer than Ibaka.
Again your lack of basketball iq is showing, but much like everyone last year was wrong lebron will expose this by winning back to back rings with hugely improved roster.
Rondo< schroder both in defensive and offensive win shares
Howard < gasol according to win shares gasol was better defender
Green = Mathews both had net ratings of 1.5 so even
Then brought in harrell for next to nothing to run bench with dennis. Harrell was worth 9 wins last season. Also brought kcp and Kief this team on paper is far superior than the kenard and Ibaka signings, the numbers don’t support your “opinions”
Everyone who knows basketball knows regular season stats and analytics are a false indicator of a player individual capability. Analytics shows how a group of players do . The playoffs are were the true talent shows especially defense.
So that is why Rondo defense > schroder .
What did Schroder achieve in the the playoffs? Nothing ! Rondo plenty. Without Rondo play in playoffs last year Lakers would not have won .
Gasol at this age as shown last year unfortunately is a stiff at defense . McGee And Howard are not and are better rim protectors .
So you can’t rely on analytics to see who is better. Their is a lot of factors to take into consideration. Again we will see who is right soon.
Gasol is a good pickup. With Harrell It’s a good combo. Still I don’t see enough shooting. Basically same as last yr. Chemistry should be better. Clippers owned the Lakers last yr. Cause they can matchup and tire Bron. It’s still a two nan team. Take one out is easier said than done. I see same team basically, a yr better. Bucks will be there so will Heat.
knickerbockerAl, what do you mean owned? they were 2-2 in the regular season. And if not for the clippers blunder, losing to the denver nuggets, I think it will be a lot easier beating them in the playoffs than the denver nuggets! and im not even a fan of this lakers team!
I agree it was a big blunder. They were built to beat Lakers. Players added at deadline were only for that. And got exposed by another good team. So never got a chance to prove it. Lakers are champs. I respect that. I’m only giving facts here. Clippers IMO knew how to beat them. And did not fear them. I guess own is a bit much. I believe they would of beat them. Yes they 2-2 in season. But for most part (3 gms) they controlled Bron. Nobody can or did that. So in a 7 gm series. You get me. If you look at stats and getting Morris, Jackson at deadline. It was to matchup with Lakers. And they showed they could affect them defensively. And made a difference to Bron. We all know if Bron doesn’t have big gms. Lakers most likely lose. Only Clippers could do that to them. That’s my point.
Clippers didn’t own lakers.. first 2 games clippers won.. both games tied in 4th.. last 2 games lakers beat clippers including a game in the bubble.. if you think clippers are better than lakers you are smoking.. clippers have only picked up ibaka.. they lost shamet, green, Reggie jackson and Harrell.. lakers added schroeder, Mathews, gasol and Harrell.. lakers also got younger with Harrell and schroeder.. you forget lakers coach is defensive minded coach
Lakers still might pickup cousins and markieff Morris.. that would make them 11 deep.. more depth means rested lebron and Ad.. if they resign markieff and cousins, they have a 2nd u it that could compete in the East for a playoff.. lakers going all in to get next 2 rings.
He might be a defensive minded coach but the players they got are not defensive minded ( Harrell and Schneider ), or are two step slower in defense than they used to be ( Gasol and Mathews). Also I believe the clippers are better this year due to: 1. The experience they went trough last year will motivate. 2. Got a big who can guard AD and the Joker good in Ibaka. 3. Subtraction is sometimes better than addition ( especially in th cases of Harrel since he was complaining about the treatment Kwai and PG got). 4. Chemistry will be better with this team since their is more defined roles.
Only thing missing fo clippers is another pg. might have to trade Lou to get one.
Gotta disagree. Dennis Schroeder is an excellent on-ball defender who makes the opposing PG work on both ends.
No Schroder is and average defender at best . And he is not a good catch and shooter pg which is required to play with Lebron. He also did not show up in the offseason last year or in his career. Their is a reason why Atlanta moved on from him.
But he is replacing rondo a horrid defender. So it’s an upgrade, Mathews replaces green (same wins shares defensively) gasol replaces Howard (gasol has better net rating although not as athletic) also added harrell who can come off bench running second line when starters take a rest which equates to fresher lebron and ad. It’s over bruh sorry you can’t see it.
Clippers depth is gone.. who’s the bench? Harrell and Lou Williams thrived together.. Harrell was the heartbeat of that team.. he’s gone.. shamet gone.. jymicheal green gone.. jackson gone.. marcus Morris put up shallow numbers with knicks.. didn’t do much with clippers.. ibaka is a good player.. but you’ve lost 4 bench players and replaced them
With ibaka and kennard.. guess no kawhi sitting out games this year.. Pg his teammates hate him..
you act like clippers are not still making moves..all these contenders picked up the missing pieces on the buyout market later in the season
Pg is soft.. Who can clippers get.. they don’t have much money left over.. lakers have a loaded bench now.. lakers starting 5 is better Than last season.. gasol is better than mcgee.. Mathews and green are toss ups.. mathews is paid to hit 3’s and play defense.. that’s exactly what he’ll do.. Schroeder, Harrell and kuzma will provide fire power off the bench.. caruso is legit in both sides.. lakers are by far the best team in the nba
soft? they barely had time to gel…just like when miami lost in 2011…& gee idk? a bunch of players were available in the buyout…how did lakers get Rondo,Morris? without them they prob lose…Lakers are not better..they lost shot blockers and got even older…Matthews is not a better defender than Green & Gasol is ok & Harrell is unplayable in playoffs…McGee & Howard scared me more…Theres only one ball in the game…look at how stacked Clippers were and still lost…Ibaka>Harrell & Zubac played AD well in their matchups…Lebron is also another year older…By late season Clippers will get more pieces..Lakers never beat Clippers and had an easy ass playoffs
And yet Clipps were 3-1 & lost it while Lakers won championship by beating 3 more teams (one of them being Clippers-slayer)…
Easy playoff? The reason why the Lakers “never beat the Clippers” was because the Clippers couldn’t get ONE more measly win against Denver, they couldn’t close out against a supposedly inferior team, in short, the Clippers looked ahead and CHOKED, 3 straight games. The Lakers didn’t have to beat the Clippers because the Clippers beat themselves and Denver took it to them.
As far as “gelling”, they had the same number of games to play, practices, and time together as any team. If they didn’t gel, that’s on the players, especially “leaders” if they had some,, the coaches, and staying healthy. Despite being younger, injuries and bad decisions hurt the Clippers more than the Lakers throughout the season and playoffs.
Can the Clippers be better? Maybe. But now they have to adapt to new coaching, systems, still need a better point guard and bench depth. And they’re still likely to load manage so how does the team gel again?
They are not done yet. They are rumored to sign Morris because he wants to play with his brother . Their team chemistry will be better thank last year. Also Harrel was causing problems in the Locker room last year. In my opinion he’s is overrated and a defensive liability.
MH is a defensive liability. The clippers were exposed in the Denver series. Ibaka is an excellent pickup. He can stretch the floor and great defender.
Imagine think 31 year old Ibaka could stop ad, couldnt last year and he defense has slipped since his peak in 2015-2016…defensive win shares depicts a good defender when matched up against centers ad is not a center. Ibaka will get cooked by Ad. Signed morris who was horrible in playoffs to that deal is also laughable. It’s okay man this post won’t age well.
George can’t even get along with his teammates and disappears when his team needs him most. Give me a break. Rivers bolted for a reason.
2-2 is owning? Clippers lost to the team that lost to the Lakers in 5. Get off the “Clippers are better” narrative man lol its weak. Paul George is a known choke artist. Their depth players, the ones you swore was the reason the Clips were better all disappeared too in the big moment.
To be honest they pretty much owned us for a number of years but it really didn’t matter because we sucked and us Laker fans didn’t see the Clips as a rival. Once both teams got good it was important that we beat them at least once. The biggest game of our season was our win against them in March
Lakers matched up better against Denver…if Clippers had Ibaka they beat Denver…just how Clippers match up to beat Lakers
Adding MH,& MG may look good on paper, but lets not give LA the chip just yet.
LA is losing length and athleticism moving Howard & Mcgee. Although in some series they didn’t play a pivotal role, most notably the Houston series they still were major components to their championship run. The length of LA gave fits to opposing big men like Nuric & Jokic. LA is built different to the modern NBA team.
MH is a solid player and 6th man of the year, but a liability on the defensive end. Just look at the Denver series.
Let’s not under estimate the clippers. The Ibaka signing solves any defensive flaws they had on the interior. He can defend and shoot at 7 feet. Huge win for the clippers. Ibaka should have been the lakers main target in FA.
I mean, the Lakers are obviously the favorites, but the Clippers, Bucks, Heat, and maybe the Celtics have a punchers shot. Gasol is a good pickup for the second unit, but he has slowed quite a bit.
Love seeing all this hate. Where was all this when the Warriors were doing this year in and year out? Believe it or not there are some players out there that value winning a championship over a massive contract. Yes losing McGee and Howard hurt but as a Lakers fan I think they upgraded by getting Harrell,Gasol and shredder. The clippers are just falling apart from within so they are not a concern and the Warriors losing Thompson for a 2nd Street year hurts them greatly. The roster of the Lakers have assembled in my opinion makes them clearly the odds on favorite and only debilitating injuries could derail them.
I predict he’ll retire after the season. This is, in effect then, a 1 yr/$5m deal. He’ll take the second year’s salary home with him to Spain.
How is the Clippers falling apart. Harrel is not a good fit as he is undersized and does not play defense. Sure he will help in season which but he will not be found in playoffs. Ibaka is what the clippers needed and also 1 year under their belt to gel better next year. Shamet struggled a lot last year. I would say lakers got better in season but not for playoffs while clippers got better for the playoffs.
It’s amusing how players are old when on other teams. But Bron is somehow not aging. Clippers are the team that will give Lakers most trouble. Cause they got three players who can guard Bron. Don’t they can stop him. It means he ain’t dogging them. And they are coming back at him on offense. Not many teams can do that to Bron. So getting Ibaka was huge after losing Harrell. He’s much better for Clippers than Harrell is to Lakers. Lakers are better with Harrell better chemistry. It was a great move. Getting Gasol is a solid move. But now they have no rim protector. Their team will hurt a bit. Gasol is not giving 30 mins. He may not play 20 mins some gms. Cause you can run him and go small. Where he will help is in playoffs. To me Lakers have upgraded. But for playoffs not for the season. They may not be #1 seed. But still a solid playoff team. Denver had a great draft. I expect Blazers to contend, much deeper team. I expect Clippers to contend. Lakers have to be favorite in west. Cause they did make good moves. And they are defending champs. But I don’t see them as big favorite.
AD is the best rim protector of the last decade, maybe only Whiteside can be as good as him, so LAL doesn’t depend on JaVale or DH12 for that when you have AD!