NBA teams are now finalizing their roster as training camps are set to begin in a couple of weeks. The offseason has featured some changes with top tier NBA stars like Kyrie Irving, Isaiah Thomas, Gordon Hayward, Paul Geroge, Chris Paul, Paul Milsap, Jeff Teague, Derrick Rose, Rajon Rondo, and Danilo Gallinari now under a new team. Next season will also feature new in-game rules to improve game flow and a new and improved player friendly schedule to avoid resting players. Here a couple more updates on the NBA free agency:
Marc Gasol will not be traded
The Memphis Grizzlies have always been a middle tier team (making the playoffs in the past seven seasons) but when they acquired Marc Gasol fans had hopes for them to now compete for the NBA championship, but sadly injuries limited how good the Grizzlies could be.
Gasol just signed a max contract in 2015 and will become a free agent in 2019, and the Memphis is likely not to let go of Gasol this offseason as reported by Matt Moore of CBS Sports.
Marc Gasol entered the NBA in 2007 when the Los Angeles Lakers drafted him with the 48th overall pick, but the Lakers directly traded him to the Memphis Grizzlies as part of the Pau Gasol package in 2007. This trade was the only trade in NBA history where it featured two brothers. Marc Gasol directly made an impact in the NBA and showed that he is not only good in EuroLeague, but he can compete with the best players in the NBA. He was selected as an NBA all-star three times in 2012, 2015, and 2017, NBA Defensive player of the Year in 2013, and all NBA first team in 2015.
He has career averages of 14.9 points, 1.5 blocks, 0.9 steals, 3.2 assists, and 7.6 rebounds while shooting 49.6 percent from the field, 34.7 percent from beyond the arc, and 77.2 percent from the charity stripe. Gasol, if healthy, can be someone who can help carry the Memphis to the finals. That is the main reason why they will not listen to any trade talks that include him this offseason.
What can Chandler Parsons offer?
The Memphis Grizzlies acquired Chandler Parsons in the offseason of 2016 with a max contract of four years for $94.8 million. He was coming off amazing outings with the Dallas Mavericks and Houston Rockets, and the Grizzlies hoped that Parsons could make them better. But Parsons disappointed big time, only averaging 6.2 points per game, 0.1 blocks, 0.6 steals, 1.6 assists, and 2.5 rebounds while shooting 33.8 percent from the field and 26.9 percent from beyond the arc.
Those numbers are all career lows for Parsons not to mention that he only played 34 games last season. What can Chandler Parsons offer? We can only find out if he becomes healthy and once the NBA season begins.
