NBA Power Rankings: All 30 Starting Centers

5.  Marc Gasol — Memphis Grizzlies

Gasol may have had the single biggest impact on a playoff team last season.

When he went down with the sprained MCL, Memphis backfired into a sub .500 squad, with Phoenix and Minnesota appearing to be more worthy of final West seeds.

Things aren’t always what they seem mid-way through an NBA voyage, nonetheless.

For those that actually claim Gasol’s presence for a full  season won’t positively affect the Grizzlies’ overall record, I ponder what any other team would say if they lost their Defensive Player of the Year for 23 games.  That’s right, Gasol isn’t just underrated for what he provides as a rim-protector, but he’s probably the most overlooked Defensive Player of the Year winner of the last 10 years.

You wouldn’t associate him with outperforming Dwight, Noah, or Hibbert on that end of the court, but his 2012-13 season was something special, and it served as the framework to Lionel Hollins’ overall team defense.  Of course, the ball is in the court of head coach David Joerger now, and he’s certainly not proving the front office wrong with his impressive second half of last year.

With the ball in his hands, Gasol makes it hard to argue that he hasn’t learned directly from his older brother, Pau.

Mainly, that comes from his advanced eye for passing — off the bounce, direct entry passes from the top of the key, etc. — and how he can do it so nonchalantly.  European’s love the arts of the game, and differ from traditional American big men that would rather beat you in a battle of aggression.

This momentous beast can do both.