Everything Marc Gasol

[G__Deane]

Well, we were a 50+ win team before Marc got here. Could we sign FVV and Ibaka without going over the tax, if we let Marc walk?

You're asking Boucher to take JV's role in that scenario. Boucher can grab rebounds but JV is a physical 15-20 and 7-10 guy

[LJ2]

Hernandez has been hurt most of the season, he's only played in 9 games. He definitely is a work in progress on offence. Has been pretty good defensively when he's played though, and has shown more nose for rebounds than I expected based on his scouting report.

Boucher is definitely one of those backup Cs who would struggle to start even as an injury replacement just with his limitations and style of play. Though with a few big strong forwards they could probably survive (Rondae is a guy who might find himself taking a one year again, maybe bring him back short term), with OG and Pascal both capable of putting up enough resistance to let the help defence get to where it needs to be. I think the team is better off just testing Hernandez in that role though.

Whenever I dive deep on the C position it leads me back to the Raps needing to find a serviceable big who can eat minutes via trade. But then I start looking for candidates and it's rough out there.

Well, we were a 50+ win team before Marc got here. Could we sign FVV and Ibaka without going over the tax, if we let Marc walk?

[DanH]

Eventually is next season, so yes we absolutely need to see something get done this summer. I would trust Boucher to get some back up C minutes but the problem with signing Marc is going to be that the back up C will need to be a starter for large chunks of the season. I don't see that translating to regular season success with Boucher as the primary C and will Boucher even come back on a one year? You're probably keeping track of Hernandez' progress closer than I am, but what I'm hearing is that he's not looking good at all. Like he's showing less progress than Bruno if what I'm reading is accurate.

Hernandez has been hurt most of the season, he's only played in 9 games. He definitely is a work in progress on offence. Has been pretty good defensively when he's played though, and has shown more nose for rebounds than I expected based on his scouting report.

Boucher is definitely one of those backup Cs who would struggle to start even as an injury replacement just with his limitations and style of play. Though with a few big strong forwards they could probably survive (Rondae is a guy who might find himself taking a one year again, maybe bring him back short term), with OG and Pascal both capable of putting up enough resistance to let the help defence get to where it needs to be. I think the team is better off just testing Hernandez in that role though.

Whenever I dive deep on the C position it leads me back to the Raps needing to find a serviceable big who can eat minutes via trade. But then I start looking for candidates and it's rough out there.

[LJ2]

Well, the Raps will eventually want to free up minutes, if not steady rotation minutes then at least injury sub minutes, for Hernandez at C. If we re-sign Marc (and we absolutely should, the regular season is less a concern than the playoffs), then the question is what you do for backup C. Do you try to get Boucher back on a deal that's either cheap enough to not really affect 2021 or a one year deal as well? Do you just find a veteran plug for a year?

And all this ignores that we're going to need a solution at C in 2021. Maybe they just hand the backup minutes to Hernandez and see if he can hang, then have one less worry at C for 2021. Maybe they give Serge his desired long term deal if it comes in cheap enough, but cheap enough probably has to be MLE or lower, and I'm not sure what his market is going to be this summer, probably higher than that... Maybe they make a trade for a younger C who is locked in on a relatively cheap deal past summer 2021, where there is less risk of decline than with either of Serge or Marc, though who they give up in such a trade... The good news is centers are generally cheap in trade if their team wants to trade them, the trick is finding one who is good and young and cheap that a team is willing to trade.

Eventually is next season, so yes we absolutely need to see something get done this summer. I would trust Boucher to get some back up C minutes but the problem with signing Marc is going to be that the back up C will need to be a starter for large chunks of the season. I don't see that translating to regular season success with Boucher as the primary C and will Boucher even come back on a one year? You're probably keeping track of Hernandez' progress closer than I am, but what I'm hearing is that he's not looking good at all. Like he's showing less progress than Bruno if what I'm reading is accurate.

[G__Deane]

You can't give Gasol more than a 1 year deal and I wouldn't do more than a 2 year deal with Serge either. You can't keep trotting tham and Kyle out for more years or this team will fall off the table. Some players tend to get old really fast, Masai's gonna have to make some good and savvy moves

[DanH]

It will be interesting to see what Ujiri does with our rotation at C this summer with both Gasol and Ibaka able to walk. A one year overpay will probably keep Gasol, but not sure how many games he'll be able to play since he's wearing down and seemingly needing a load management plan.

Ibaka's situation is the more interesting one to me because he's still young enough and able bodied enough to play a full season as long as he's healthy. He's versatile enough to be your starting C or come off the bench to play at both C and PF. He's going to want a multi year contract.

But really without both Gasol and Ibaka, we don't really get what we are accustomed to from the C position. One guy can't play the full season and the other doesn't provide the same impact or match-up as well against key playoff rivals.

Well, the Raps will eventually want to free up minutes, if not steady rotation minutes then at least injury sub minutes, for Hernandez at C. If we re-sign Marc (and we absolutely should, the regular season is less a concern than the playoffs), then the question is what you do for backup C. Do you try to get Boucher back on a deal that's either cheap enough to not really affect 2021 or a one year deal as well? Do you just find a veteran plug for a year?

And all this ignores that we're going to need a solution at C in 2021. Maybe they just hand the backup minutes to Hernandez and see if he can hang, then have one less worry at C for 2021. Maybe they give Serge his desired long term deal if it comes in cheap enough, but cheap enough probably has to be MLE or lower, and I'm not sure what his market is going to be this summer, probably higher than that... Maybe they make a trade for a younger C who is locked in on a relatively cheap deal past summer 2021, where there is less risk of decline than with either of Serge or Marc, though who they give up in such a trade... The good news is centers are generally cheap in trade if their team wants to trade them, the trick is finding one who is good and young and cheap that a team is willing to trade.

[LJ2]

It will be interesting to see what Ujiri does with our rotation at C this summer with both Gasol and Ibaka able to walk. A one year overpay will probably keep Gasol, but not sure how many games he'll be able to play since he's wearing down and seemingly needing a load management plan.

Ibaka's situation is the more interesting one to me because he's still young enough and able bodied enough to play a full season as long as he's healthy. He's versatile enough to be your starting C or come off the bench to play at both C and PF. He's going to want a multi year contract.

But really without both Gasol and Ibaka, we don't really get what we are accustomed to from the C position. One guy can't play the full season and the other doesn't provide the same impact or match-up as well against key playoff rivals.

[DanH]

The trick this summer is if FVV gets paid (he will, though hopefully nowhere near as much as he could), and we want to keep Gasol and maybe even Serge on short term (1 year) big salary deals, we actually end up in danger of going pretty significantly into the tax, which the team will obviously not want to do. Need two non-tax years in a row to reset the repeater tax clock, and if all goes well they will want to dive deep into the tax after the 2021-22 season.

[G__Deane]

It's Marc, Serge and FVV that have to be dealt with, not Kyle

[GOLDBLUM]

Yeah, same with kyle. Give them close to what they're getting now for another year, keeping the 2021 books clean. Then you could get one or both at a discount if you go over market value next year

We already got Kyle for one more year after this at $30,500,000 😎

(unless I’m crizazy)

[KeonClark]

Most ideal scenario (imo) is things go really well in the postseason, he proves he’s still got value and we bring him back on a lucrative one year deal, and then go from there.

Yeah, same with kyle. Give them close to what they're getting now for another year, keeping the 2021 books clean. Then you could get one or both at a discount if you go over market value next year

[GOLDBLUM]

Most ideal scenario (imo) is things go really well in the postseason, he proves he’s still got value and we bring him back on a lucrative one year deal, and then go from there.

[G__Deane]

I wouldn't do a three year deal under any circumstances.....unless you're totally prepared to cut him and eat the 3rd year if necessary

[JawsGT]

If you can get marc at 65% of his current contract, even with a term of say 3 years, you do it. He'll have value at that rate regardless, even if he barely plays.

[planetmars]

I wonder where Marc's head is at in terms of his NBA career. How long does he want to play? Where does he want to finish his career? Is money still a motivator?

His brother Pau played in 77 games for the Spurs at the age of 37. But he started his journey man career at 34 when he went to the Bulls. At the age of 38 he played for both the Spurs and Bucks, but for only like 30 games. And then sort of retired, but didn't officially as he signed with the Blazers but has yet to play a game. When he joined the Bulls his contract went from around $20M a year in LA to $7M a year in Chicago. Basically a 65% drop in salary. He got rewarded though when he went to San Antonio as his contract doubled. From $7M to about $15M and he was 36 at the time. That was during the cap boom though.

Marc is 35.. so he's hitting that journeyman era like his brother. Assume he takes a 65% drop in salary to stay in Toronto as a starter.. that's about $8.75M a year. A little bump up to $9-10M and I could see Masai matching. The only issue is for how long? Is a 2 year deal sufficient, or is he looking for a longer term? If term is important I don't know how Masai agrees to that considering his age. Pau became a shell of who he was when he ended up in San Antonio.

If Marc plays about 65-70 games a year and playoffs yet continues to play like he has this year, then I would say keep him. He's an important cog to our machine and I don't think Masai will want to stop winning. He likes it too much.

A lot of teams will want Marc on their roster though. He's a good vet / team player. And now has a ring. I mean Iggy just got a $15M extension after sitting out for half the year. And I'd rather have Marc on my roster over Iggy any day of the week.