Memphis Grizzlies: 5 goals for Marc Gasol in 2017-18

1. Play nice

This is by far the most ethereal of our goals, and I feel a little bit bad even bringing it up. By all accounts, Gasol has been a model citizen and an A+ teammate for the entirety of his career. He’s getting older though, and wants to compete in the present day — a truth that recently led him to publicly question whether or not he might need to “revisit” the idea of playing in Memphis.

His comments were relatively innocuous. They certainly weren’t as damning for the Grizzlies as something like a trade request, and mostly just seem like Gasol is signaling to the organization that he wants it to do more to put the team in a position to win.

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That’s somewhat reasonable. The Grizzlies have two stars that aren’t getting any younger. Now is the time to push their chips into the middle of the table. They’ve got limited options though, particularly given the financial realities they’re facing, and in that sense Gasol isn’t likely to see any real roster upgrades, with the probable exception of re-signing JaMychal Green.

That’s meaningful, but it’s certainly not enough to make Memphis a contender for anything other than one of the final playoff spots in the West. In that sense, Gasol’s desire to win now may never be satiated, and his question about whether or not the Grizzlies are the right fit for him may forever remain unanswered.

If that translates to a sour mood, things in the locker room could take a turn for the worse. Gasol is most definitely a leader on the team. Memphis needs him to remain locked in. There isn’t really anything in Gasol’s past to suggest he won’t be the same positive force for the Grizzlies he’s always been, but for the first time in a long time we’ve seen something of a crack in the armor.

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To be clear, I expect Gasol to be just as great a teammate as he’s always been, and that’s what our final goal will be: continue to be a great person and a net positive in contributing to team chemistry.