No longer able to fulfill his original purpose, does Pau Gasol bring anything of value to this Portland Trail Blazers team desperate to get back on track?
When the Portland Trail Blazers first signed Pau Gasol, it was with the intention of allowing the future Hall of Famer to take a backseat and focus on helping develop the young core — and specifically, Zach Collins — instead of playing meaningful minutes.
Well, fast forward just 13 games into the season, and that no longer seems like an option. Injuries have ravaged the roster. Collins himself is expected to be out at least until the end of the regular season.
Because of all these injuries to the frontcourt, the Trail Blazers were reduced to an 11-man rotation before the Carmelo Anthony signing. Even then, players like Gary Trent Jr. and Anthony Tolliver probably shouldn’t be seeing very many minutes — if any at all. With such a reduced level of talent and general manpower available, that begs the question: what is Pau Gasol’s purpose on this team?
Still in the rehabilitation process after suffering a left foot fracture, Gasol has yet to log a single minute for the Trail Blazers. By the time he does return, there’s no guarantee he will still hold any semblance to a genuine NBA player. At 39-years-old, time certainly isn’t on his side and history shouldn’t be either, considering what we’ve seen in regards to foot injuries to big men in the past.
Last year, Gasol was only able to average 3.9 points and 4.6 rebounds per games while only seeing the court for 12 minutes a night. He was also only healthy enough to play 30 games over the course of the entire season and Milwaukee’s postseason run. In the modern NBA, availability is a real asset, and Gasol just doesn’t have it anymore. Even when he’s on the court, a plodding big man that can’t defend the rim or attack the basket doesn’t do much to tip the scales.
But he wasn’t brought in for his on-court production; he was brought on to mentor Collins. The same guy who will be rehabilitating his surgically repaired left shoulder for at least the next four months.
Gasol can no longer stay healthy, he can no longer play at a high level, and he can no longer fulfill the mentor role that he was originally brought on for. So I now ask, what value does he provide for the Portland Trail Blazers?
Neil Olshey previously expressed interest in keeping an open roster spot to provide a little more flexibility at the trade deadline, if the Blazers desired to make a big move to shake things up. After signing Melo, Portland is completely capped out with 15 players on the main roster, while Jaylen Hoard and Moses Brown occupy the pair of two-way contracts.
If the Trail Blazers need to make room to bring in some more assistance for this beaten up and underperforming roster, cutting ties with Pau Gasol unfortunately seems to be the easiest and most effective route to do so.