NBA: Ranking all 30 starting centers for 2018-19

28. Pau Gasol, San Antonio Spurs

Pau Gasol probably shouldn’t be starting at this point in his career. The 38-year-old is an unquestioned future Hall-of-Famer, but in this small-ball era, the San Antonio Spurs would be better off starting LaMarcus Aldridge as a small-ball 5 with Rudy Gay at the 4.

However, Gregg Popovich is a more traditional guy, and after the Spurs were one of the worst 3-point shooting teams in the league last year, they might just stick with Aldridge and Gasol in the frontcourt. Maybe adding another mid-range artist like DeMar DeRozan necessitates change, but Gasol started 63 of his 77 games last year.

In 2017-18, the 17-year vet posted a career-low 10.1 points, 8.0 rebounds and 1.0 blocks per game — respectable numbers, but certainly not encouraging for a Spurs team looking to improve on its first round playoff exit now that Kawhi Leonard is gone.