The Los Angeles Lakers have been on an absolute roll this offseason after winning a title.
They stole the sixth man of the year away from the Clippers in Montrezl Harrell and traded for the runner up in Dennis Schroëder. They also managed to pick up Marc Gasol in free agency to bolster that center spot up.
They could put a nice little cherry on top of things before the season starts. How? By signing Pau Gasol.
Yes, you read that right. PAU. GASOL. The former Laker sat down with ESPN’s Zach Lowe. He revealed that he is plotting not only a return to Spain’s national team for the Olympics but also an NBA comeback with hopes of returning to LA to finish his career with the Lakers.
“There is meaning and history there,” said Gasol, who won titles with the Lakers alongside Kobe Bryant in 2009 and 2010. “I’m not going to lie. It would be very special, and now that my brother [Marc] is there, even more special. But I’m not in a position now to be very demanding. I don’t have 10 offers on the table.”
The circumstances of Gasol coming back to the team that he won two titles with at 40 years old would be amazing on its own.
But the most incredible layer to that would be the fact that he’d be coming back to play with his brother who he was traded away from Memphis for when he first started his Lakers career. Talk about bringing things full circle. This would be epic.
The fans certainly seem to want it.
🙏🏻 @paugasol should retire as a #Laker @Lakers https://t.co/sN643foDtq
— Robbie Lee Hardy (@RobbieHardy97) December 9, 2020
— Thorn (@Thorn0824) December 9, 2020
WE WANT TO SEE YOU COME BACK PAU. pic.twitter.com/00ZAghGVyP
— Ryan💫 (@homiesloveryan) December 9, 2020
But as sentimental as this would be, it might simply be wishful thinking. There’s a lot in the way of this.
The last time we saw Gasol play an actual basketball game was in March of 2019, which feels like a century ago after this year. Plus, he’s undergone two surgeries since then, according to Lowe. So he may not be the healthiest and it’s not like he was at his peak when he left.
On top of that, there’s the roster issues that come with it. The Lakers signed Quinn Cook with their final roster spot a few days ago, so picking up Gasol would require them to drop someone else from the roster.
And each roster spot this season is more important than ever with teams playing outside of the NBA’s bubble with the pandemic still raging. The 15th man on the roster might actually end up playing.
Still, seeing Gasol in a Laker uniform for one last season would be incredible. And after the year we’ve had? It’d be amazing to see.