NBA: 6 Reasons Why Memphis Grizzlies Need to Retain Marc Gasol at All Costs

Marc Gasol is a hot name on the free agent market. At least a few teams may be looking to wrest him from the Memphis Grizzlies. Hoopsworld noted that the Houston Rockets place Gasol as their primary free agent target. According to Newsday, the New York Knicks are interested in signing Gasol.

Nevertheless, staying in Memphis is a strong possibility for Gasol. The Grizzlies are interested in keeping him; and Gasol has returned the affection. Gasol told The Commercial Appeal, "I grew up in Memphis. I feel like it's my home."

The Grizzlies have made their offer to Gasol. In June, general manager Chris Wallace extended him a $4.5 million qualifying offer. 

That was shortly before the lockout began. Gasol has had plenty of time to contemplate his NBA future—although not as much time to field offers from other teams.

He seems committed to staying in Memphis. Still, the Grizzlies must ensure that he does.

Following are several reasons why the Grizzlies need to keep Gasol.

Gasol Is Team's Best Shooter

The biggest reason the Grizzlies must keep Gasol is that he is their best shooter. Last season, Gasol led the team with a 52.7 percent field goal percentage. Also, he had a 58 percent true shooting percentage.

Moreover, Gasol is the greatest Grizzlies shooter ever. His 58.1 percent mark from the field in 2009-10 was the best-ever single-season mark. Also, he holds the career field goal percentage record (.545) for the Grizzlies, ahead of his brother, Pau, by 3.9 percent. Further, Marc Gasol has the career true shooting percentage record (.596), edging Mike Miller by 0.2 percent.

The Grizzlies don’t want to lose their best shooter. He pulled the team to their sixth-ranked field goal percentage (.471). Their mark would suffer without him.

Clutch Play

The Grizzlies need to acknowledge how valuable Gasol was last season. Gasol stepped up when Rudy Gay suffered a season-ending elbow injury. He shot 57.3 percent from the field in March and 54.5 percent in April. In the playoffs, Gasol averaged 15 points and 11.2 rebounds per game.

Gasol helped the Grizzlies rally despite the absence of a key scorer. He helped the Grizzlies rally to a 15-10 finish to the regular season and then push to the Western Conference semifinals. Memphis doesn't want to lose such a vital cog to their success.

Signing Another Center Probably Wouldn’t Happen

If another team signs Gasol, the Grizzlies might have to search for an alternative on the free agent market. In the situation where he does leave, the Grizzlies would be have thin odds to catch a good center.

The Dallas Mavericks seem likely to re-sign Tyson Chandler. According to the Dallas Morning News, re-signing Chandler is their No. 1 priority. Also, ESPN noted that Mark Cuban is willing to spend big money for him.

Jeff Foster and Joel Przybilla might be good signings. However, Foster and Przybilla earned $6.7 million and $7.4 million, respectively, last season. Both will likely demand more, possibly putting them out of the Grizzlies' price range.

Anyway, if the Grizzlies don’t re-sign Gasol, Michael Heisley might not give Wallace money to chase another quality center. Memphis has already committed a great deal of money to re-signing players. In April, the Grizzlies gave Zach Randolph a four-year, $80 million contract. Rudy Gay received a new contract in June.

Gasol might be the only starting center the Grizzlies can afford to sign.

Darrell Arthur Can’t Fill Gasol’s Shoes

If the Grizzlies lose Gasol to free agency and don’t sign another center, then Darrell Arthur would take the starting role. Arthur wouldn’t be a complete replacement for Gasol. First, Arthur doesn’t shoot as well as Gasol. Arthur shot 49.7 percent from the field, three percent lower than Gasol.

Second, his advanced metrics suggest that he wouldn’t be up to the task. Arthur had a 15.7 player efficiency rating, 1.1 lower than that of Gasol. Arthur had a 53.4 true shooting percentage, 4.6 percent lower than Gasol.

Some might say that Arthur played great off the bench, reasoning that it would lead to great numbers as a starter. Indeed, Arthur averaged 9.1 points and 4.3 rebounds in 20.1 points per game. Projected to 36 minutes per game, Arthur would have averaged 16.3 points and 7.7 rebounds per game. Nevertheless, relying on projections to cast Arthur as a starter means resting on pure speculation.

Besides, Gasol is better built for the rigors of the starting center role. At 6'9" and 235 pounds, Arthur is long and lean. He’s liable to be knocked around by stronger centers like Dwight Howard. Standing 7'1" and weighing 265 pounds, Gasol is thick and rugged.

The Grizzlies don’t want to leave the center role to Arthur.

Chemistry with Zach Randolph

The Grizzlies don't want to give up Gasol because it would end a strong playing relationship between him and Zach Randolph. Gasol and Randolph combined for a 45.4 rebounding percentage and 18.4 win shares.

Randolph has broadened his game playing alongside Gasol. In the last two seasons, Randolph gained his highest rebounding averages and field goal percentages. Randolph had far more win shares in the last two seasons (9.7 in 2009-10 and 10.5 in 2010-11) than in prior seasons. In his first eight seasons, Randolph's highest was 7.1.

Their bond showed during the lockout. Randolph told The Commercial Appeal in September that he would play with Gasol in Europe if the NBA cancelled games due to the lockout. Randolph said, "I'd like to go where Marc goes. I'd like to stick with my big guy."

Losing Gasol would not only end that nice relationship, but it also might hurt Randolph's production.

Establish History at Center

Memphis would do well to build history at the center position. In only three years, Gasol has become the greatest Grizzlies center ever. As mentioned before, Gasol holds the career franchise records in field goal percentage and true shooting percentage, as well as the season record for field goal percentage. Also, Gasol has the best offensive rating of any player in Grizzlies history (114.3).

Granted, Memphis can’t say much about the centers in their 16-year history. Lorenzen Wright and Bryant Reeves are the only other centers to have started for three seasons for the Grizzlies. Reeves averaged 16 points per game twice, but struggled to keep up his offensive ability and keep his weight down. Wright never shot 46 percent from the field for the Grizzlies.

To establish a decent history at center, Memphis needs to re-sign Gasol. Three years of solid play for the Grizzlies isn’t much of a history. If Gasol can play at least a few more good years for the Grizzlies, the team can point to him as the cornerstone of a proud history at center.