Portland Trail Blazers: Grading the Pau Gasol signing

How do you feel about the Portland Trail Blazers’ decision to sign two-time NBA champion Pau Gasol? Rip City Project weighs in on the surprise addition.

In the search for a backup center to round out the rotation, the Portland Trail Blazers opted for veteran experience and locker room stability over young and unproven talent. Pau Gasol might be a shadow of his former self, but he should be able to contribute in ways that aren’t so easily seen on the court.

Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN was the first to report the breaking news.

There’s no denying the fact Gasol is a player whose accomplishments speak for themselves. You’d be hard pressed to find many active players with a better chance at securing a spot in the Hall of Fame. Over the course of his illustrious career, Gasol has made four All-NBA teams, six All-Star games and helped Kobe Bryant win two championships with the Los Angeles Lakers.

On the court, there’s no denying that Gasol’s performance has taken a sharp decline. A stress fracture in his left foot and later a left ankle injury limited Gasol to just 30 games last year. While nursing his foot injury, it’s easy to see why he’d struggle. He averaged just 3.9 points and 4.6 rebounds in 12 minutes per game.

With how fast narratives progress in the NBA, it’s easy to forget that Gasol was an All-Star as recently as 2016. In the two years that followed, he averaged a respectable 11.1 points, 7.9 rebounds and 2.8 assists per contest. For the Blazers, Gasol won’t be asked to fill up the stat sheet but to instead do the little things to round out the team.

If he can continue to log in for a dozen or so minutes per game, maintain his red-hot 42.5 percent 3-point shooting since the 2014-15 season, and showcase his elite mid-range game in the pick-and-pop for the Blazers talented guards, this will be a steal of a deal. This is all first and foremost predicated by his ability to stay healthy.

Off the court is where his value should shine through, serving as a mentor for the Blazers young core. Gasol could help coach Zach Collins into the starting power forward role, and potentially even help Mario Hezonja discover the potential Orlando and New York were never capable of coaxing out. Having a cool-headed Gasol back up Hassan Whiteside is probably a smart decision that help preserve locker room stability.

Easy as it is to find things to like about this signing, it’s also not difficult to find things to dislike.

Portland allowed talented young centers like Christian Wood and Cheick Diallo to slip through their grasp this week. Then when the time came to make a decision, the Blazers passed on more capable veterans like Joakim Noah and Greg Monroe.

Pau Gasol is 39-years-old and certainly not getting any younger. It could be argued that gambling on the corpse of Gasol is a riskier decision than picking up a controversial but extremely talented player like Dwight Howard.

In a vacuum, this move is a nice pickup late in free agency. But when you look around and see the other cards still on the table, this pill becomes just a bit harder to swallow.

Grade: B-

You know what you’re getting when it comes to Pau Gasol. At the very least, it’s comforting to see the Portland Trail Blazers are confident in the ability of their current core and felt a little extra leadership and veteran mentoring for the young core was all they were missing.