Marc Gasol Returning to Memphis: Does His Fantasy Value Remain the Same?
But his efficiency dropped off, too. His field goal percentage plummeted from an impressive 58.1% to a middling 52.7%. He also fell off badly in rebounds per-36 minutes, going from 9.3 to 7.9, so it wasnt just his shooting that suffered. Before you think I am probing the possibility of Marc Gasol falling in drafts, there are a lot of things that still need to be taken into consideration
First off, what will Gasols role be in the offense this season?
The Grizzlies did very well in the 2011 NBA Playoffs without max contract All-Star Rudy Gay. His return makes a lot of experts wonder if the Grizzlies will still be the same team that shocked the Spurs last year and hung with the Oklahoma City Thunder for 7 games before falling on the road to the more talented Thunder.
Whether or not Gay is a part of the picture going forward dramatically affects the makeup and the offensive focus of the Grizzlies team. When Gay is in, the ball will be on the perimeter more and it will leave Gasol relegated to mostly scoring garbage buckets. Since his offensive rebounds fell off from 3.0 per game to 2.1, that means roughly 2 less points than he had in 09-10, and he is going to have to find a way to get his field goal percentage back up over 55%, like a talented big mans should be.
Zach Randolph emerged as more than just a solid player last season and had a career year. Mike Conley began to become more than just a mediocre point guard, also posting a career season. Free agent signee Tony Allen worked out brilliantly, providing great defense, while sophomore Sam Young provided a spark off the bench, as well, not to mention the shot jacking scoring prowess of Darrell Arthur and the leadership skills of Grevious Vasquez. In all, Memphis had a very deep and very good team.
But all in all, Gasols role probably wont change much. His primary reason for being on the court is to provide effective defense (1.9 blocks per game, 1.0 steals per game), and his scoring is pretty decent too. Neither I nor most others ever expect Marc Gasol to reach the levels of his brother Pau, but maybe that goes without saying. I dont think well ever be looking at any kind of top 25 player in Marc, but that isnt to say he doesnt have a lot of value. Its just that all things considered, we probably cant expect much of a change one way or the other for Marc Gasol next year.
If Gay is on the team, maybe 12 points per game versus 14 if Gay departs, but that is a factor that may or may not be even as pronounced as I am making it sound here. Its just about the only consideration, other than an increase in minutes. If Gasol could go back to seeing 35 minutes a game, or even just 33, it would help his value a lot more than the mere 31 he saw last season.
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