The Los Angeles Lakers are showing determination to defend the championship next season. This team has a lot of activity in the transfer market recently. The Los Angeles Lakers continued to have a good addition in their squad after Marc Gasol joined the Yellow-Purple army.

In 2003, the Los Angeles Lakers picked Marc Gasol in the 48th round of the NBA Draft event. However, the Spaniard was swapped to the Memphis Grizzlies shortly after. When the duo Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol were still raging in the Lakers, this team tried to bring Marc Gasol back to the Staples Center but failed. Until now, after 17 years, Marc Gasol is finally able to play for the Los Angeles Lakers.

Marc Gasol was chosen by the Lakers in the 2007 Draft but then traded to the Memphis Grizzlies. In the first 10 years of his career, he got into the All-Star squad several times.

In 2019, Gasol was successful with the NBA Championship when the Toronto Raptors defeated the Golden State Warriors 4-2 in the Finals series. This result surprised players at many betting sites like 188bet since not many thought that the Toronto Raptors would become the NBA champion.

According to The Athletic newspaper, the 35-year-old striker will join the Los Angeles Lakers with a two-season contract. He has just spent a season and a half playing for the Toronto Raptors, winning the 2019 Championship with the Canadian team.

Last season, Gasol can be said to have experienced the worst season of his career from a statistical perspective. He only scored 7.5 points, 6.3 rebounds, and 3.3 assists in the main season, with only 42.7% throw efficiency. He had to take a month off due to a tendon injury and lost his primary hit in the Playoffs with a finishing efficiency of only 18%.

In the Lakers, Gasol will likely continue from the bench, at least in the early part of the season. Experience and smart play style will make the Spaniard a good alternative when Davis and James need to rest.

Besides Gasol, the Lakers also recruited Montrezl Harrell, the NBA’s Best Reserve Player last season. To make room for new signings, they let Dwight Howard free and pushed JaVale McGee to the Cleveland Cavaliers.

The surprising salary Marc Gasol received at Los Angeles Lakers

Los Angeles Lakers fans must be surprised with the salary the home team offers Marc Gasol. The player accepted the contract with the minimum wage for veterans with over 10 years of experience. Accordingly, LA Lakers will pay only $2.56 million a year for the 35-year-old senior. 

As can be seen, GM Rob Pelinka showed his negotiating skills when he persuaded the NBA Best Defensive Player of 2013 to receive this amount of salary.

Marc Gasol’s salary fell 10 times when he went to the Lakers

Both the Golden State Warriors and the Toronto Raptors wanted to recruit Marc Gasol with attractive salaries. They offered the salary to nearly $9 million, while the Raptors can offer higher salaries than any other club. However, these teams only wanted to sign a contract  one year. This made Marc Gasol nod at the Lakers’ two-year offer.

However, the Lakers will not be entitled to incentives from the NBA due to signing a 2-year contract with the player. Usually, 1-year contracts with the minimum wage for veterans will only be charged about $1.6 million in the salary fund, regardless of the actual amount the player received. However, this long-term contract makes the defending champion directly deducted $2.56 million per season from the salary fund.

The LA Lakers is trying to strengthen the squad

If not including Anthony Davis, whose contract has not yet been renewed, the Yellow – Purple team currently has only 10 players. To make room for Gasol, they exchanged JaVale McGee for Cleveland Cavaliers for Jordan Bell and Alfonzo McKinnie, who accept lower salaries.

Before recruiting Marc Gasol, the Los Angeles Lakers also shocked the free transfer market by bringing in Montrezl Harrell, who has just been voted the Best Reserve Player of the NBA 2019/20 season. Besides, they also re-signed defender Kentavious Caldwell-Pope with a contract worth 40 million USD for a 3-year term.