It has not been a very good season so far for the Memphis Grizzlies and their fans. The Grizzlies started off the season with five wins in their first six games but after that, they've only managed to win two games in the last 13 matchups. Right now, the Grizzlies are at the bottom of the Western Conference with a 7-12 record, and their most recent loss came on Sunday to the Brooklyn Nets. It was another poor performance by Memphis, but it was something else in that game that caught the attention of the NBA world.
Gasol unhappy, Fizdale fired
Marc Gasol, arguably the Grizzlies' best player, was benched for the entire fourth quarter in Sunday's loss to the Nets.
He ended up scoring 18 points in 28 minutes of playing time and after the game, he expressed his frustration about being benched. "You take it personally," Gasol said, as per ESPN. "Obviously, you get frustrated, and I did, and mad and start wondering. I don't like it one bit."
It was a bold move by the head coach of the Grizzlies, David Fizdale, to bench his All-Star center. It also ended up being a bad one since Memphis suffered its eighth straight loss, and, on top of it all, their best player is now unhappy. To make things worse for Fizdale, he was fired earlier today (Monday) by the organization. The Grizzlies are now in a tough spot and many are wondering, is Marc Gasol also on his way out of Memphis?
The 32-year-old seven-footer is averaging 19.1 points, 9.1 rebounds, and 4.1 assists per game this season. There are a lot of teams that would welcome having Gasol on the roster as he probably has two or three more years of All-Star basketball in front of him. One of the teams that would surely benefit from having Marc Gasol is the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Is Gasol to the Cavaliers realistic?
The Cavaliers are currently third in the Eastern Conference standings and are playing solid basketball right now. But, even though they have LeBron James and Dwyane Wade on the roster, many feel that they are still one All-Star away from competing with the Golden State Warriors for the NBA title.
Could Marc Gasol be that missing piece for the Cavs? There's no doubt Gasol would fit in perfectly with LeBron James, especially considering his versatility on the offensive end of the court. Gasol is shooting 32 percent from the three-point line this season, and he could also fix some defensive issues the Cavaliers are having right now. He is a big, 7-foot-1 center with great passing skills as well.
Adding Gasol to the roster would dramatically improve Cleveland's chances of winning the championship this season, but they would also have to give up something. The Cavs have several pieces they could offer to the Grizzlies in exchange for Gasol, including Tristan Thompson, Iman Shumpert, and the 2018 first-round draft pick from Brooklyn.
With Marc Gasol clearly unhappy in Memphis, I'm just going to put this out there. Tristan + Cedi + Zizic + Nets pick for Big Spain. pic.twitter.com/YpKRYV8bNz
— nick wright (@getnickwright) 27. studenoga 2017.
It's hard to tell at this point whether or not this will happen, but at the end of the day it's the NBA and anything is possible.