The Los Angeles Lakers made a flurry of offseason moves that saw plenty of players from the squad last year out the door and plenty of new faces in the building. Their offseason was highlighted by trading for Russell Westbrook and signing Carmelo Anthony.
One of the familiar faces that was expected to be back for the Lakers was Marc Gasol. According to Marc Stein via his substack, Gasol returning to LA appears to be far from a sure thing.
One more Lakers roster note: I’m hearing that Marc Gasol is not a lock to return to the Lakers, even after Gasol said following Spain’s quarterfinal loss to the United States in the Olympics that he intends to play out the final year of the two-year deal he signed with Los Angeles. It’s not yet clear if that means Gasol is poised to be set free to play elsewhere in the NBA or if he would ultimately opt to finish his career in his home country like brother Pau.
Gasol's name has flown under the radar all offseason with all the moves the Lakers have made. He may not have had the impact that LA had hoped for last season, but Gasol still provides some valuable intangibles that could help the Lakers again next season.
As Stein notes, it's unclear if a split from the Lakers would also indicate the end of his NBA days or not. Certainly there would be some level of interest from other teams if the Spaniard opted to leave LA.