Marc Gasol would kind of like to be traded for his brother Pau again
Marc Gasol knows his time with the Memphis Grizzlies — the city and team that shepherded him from 16-year-old little brother of Pau Gasol to backbone of The Grit ‘N’ Grind Era — may be coming to a close. He spoke at length about his affection for the franchise after a loss on Monday that left the Grizz tied with the Orlando Magic for the NBA’s seventh-worst record entering a three-game road trip.
That tour through Minnesota, Charlotte and New York will take the Grizzlies close to the Feb. 7 trade deadline, when the 34-year-old Gasol is expected to be among the highest-profile players available. In a heartwarming conversation with Daily Memphian columnist Geoff Calkins, Gasol doubled down on his preference to remain in Memphis. If not, though, there is one place he wouldn’t mind going:
“This whole ride there has been a Gasol at the Media Day at least. That’s pretty impressive. My son is only 2. … But maybe I’ll get traded to San Antonio and Pau comes back, who knows? That would be kind of funny. There’s a part of me that would like that. He still has a place here, the same place, my parents live in it. My parents have been here the whole ride.”
There is a part of me that would like that, too!
There is a bigger part of me that would like to see Marc get a chance to play with Pau in the NBA. At least watching him alongside his older brother would remove some of the awkwardness of seeing him in another jersey, and, man, would it be cool to see Spurs coach Gregg Popovich get his hands on the centerpieces of a Spanish National Team that was already so fun to watch. I have no idea how that would work with LaMarcus Aldridge also on the roster, but the ball movement sure would be beautiful.
But I like that Marc would rather get traded again for his brother than to play with his brother. That’s classic little brother stuff right there. And what symmetry it would be. The Grizzlies were ridiculed for trading Pau to the Lakers in 2008 for two first-round picks and a hodgepodge of players that included Marc, and little bro salvaged the deal for Memphis, transforming into a three-time All-Star. Now, if the two were traded for each other, folks would wonder what the Grizzlies see in a 38-year-old Pau.
The real solution is for the Grizzlies to sign Adria, the third Gasol brother — the Cooper Manning of Spanish hoops — to ensure Memphis always has a Gasol. At least until Marc’s son is draft eligible.
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Ben Rohrbach is a staff writer for Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at rohrbach_ben@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @brohrbach
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