NBA Rumors: Spurs Could Acquire Marc Gasol For Package Including Pau Gasol, Per ‘Bleacher Report’
As they continue to struggle in the 2018-19 NBA season, rumors and speculations continue to swirl that the Memphis Grizzlies are planning to move All-Star center Marc Gasol before the February NBA trade deadline. On Twitter, Marc Stein of the New York Times revealed that there’s a growing belief around the league that Gasol will exercise his player option to become an unrestricted free agent next summer. Stein believes that the Grizzlies “could be moved” to explore trading Gasol now than losing him in the 2019 NBA free agency without getting anything in return.
According to Dan Favale of Bleacher Report, one of the NBA teams who could express interest in trading for Marc Gasol is the San Antonio Spurs. Most NBA fans will surely love to see the Gasol brothers play together in San Antonio.
Unfortunately, in the proposed trade deal by Bleacher Report, the Spurs will be sending Pau Gasol, Dante Cunningham, Bryn Forbes, and a 2019 second-round pick to the Grizzlies for Marc Gasol. The deal works on ESPN‘s NBA Trade Machine.
“Marc Gasol and Pau Gasol were traded for each other once before, in 2008. It might as well happen again. Putting them on the same team would be cooler, but whatever. This deal comes with all sorts of conditions. The Grizzlies have to create a roster spot to complete the three-for-one. The Spurs, meanwhile, crawl into the luxury tax by acquiring Gasol. They’d need to broker a Quincy Pondexter-and-cash dump before the end of the year—or another salary-shedding transaction—to duck back beneath it. Neither stipulation should kill talks.”
Marc Stein says "one whisper making the rounds" is that the Memphis Grizzlies may explore trading Marc Gasol before he can opt to bolt in free agency this July. @FrankUrbina_ looks at four teams that could make sense as a potential landing spot for Gasol: https://t.co/U2cnAVVmxd
— Alex Kennedy (@AlexKennedyNBA) January 19, 2019
The deal is quite complicated for the Spurs and the Grizzlies. To fit in all those three players on their team, the Grizzlies will be needing to create a roster spot. Meanwhile, trading for Marc Gasol will put the Spurs in the luxury tax hell. However, there’s no doubt that both teams will benefit from the potential trade.
Instead of losing Marc Gasol for nothing, the Grizzlies will be acquiring a young and talented player, Bryn Forbes, who could be part of the rebuilding process. Pau Gasol may already be on the near end of his NBA career, but he could still a provide a veteran presence to the Grizzlies’ locker room until the end of the 2018-19 NBA season.
The acquisition of Marc Gasol will help the Spurs become a more competitive team in the deep Western Conference. Despite his age, Gasol remains a reliable contributor on both ends of the floor. This season, the 33-year-old center is averaging 15.2 points, 8.5 rebounds, 4.7 assists, 1.3 blocks, and 1.2 steals on 43.3 percent shooting from the field and 35.5 percent shooting from beyond the arc.
