Should the Toronto Raptors re-sign Serge Ibaka, Marc Gasol, or Both?

Option B: Toronto Raptors Re-sign Marc Gasol

After this seasons playoffs, it is understandable that this option may not be the most popular right now and Marc is not everyone’s favourite player on this team. This is mainly due to how poorly he performed during the regular season and especially in the playoffs against Boston.

Ever since arriving in Toronto during the 2019 trade deadline, Raptor fans rejoiced at the idea of having a centre who can play make, play exceptional defence and can score from the low post or stretch the floor. To his credit, Marc was very good for the Raptors last season as a playmaker and defender and was pivotal in the championship run.

However, the main concern with Marc has been his drastic decline offensively over the last two seasons. During his days in Memphis Marc was able to consistently put up fifteen points per game as a number one or number two option.

In a Toronto Raptors uniform, scoring has been somewhat of a rarity for Marc. Only averaging nine points per game last season and eight points per game this season. Marc’s lack of scoring ability was very clear in the playoffs against the Celtics, where even against average defenders like Daniel Theis Marc was not able to score and became a liability on offence.

A lot of Marc’s struggles this season can be attributed to a rough season where Marc really didn’t have an off-season last year to recover and suffered through multiple injuries during the year.

However the COVID-19 pandemic allowed Marc to have four months to rest and recover his body before playing in the Orlando bubble, so it is a little concerning that he looked worse even after an extended rest.

Despite Marc’s poor season, he is a still a very intelligent and savvy veteran who is a great defender and is also a great playmaker on offence. His ability to be in the right situations defensively and his passing make him a solid player on a contending team.

Which leads to the question I am sure you all are wondering, why should the Raptors re-sign Marc Gasol over Serge Ibaka? First of all as mentioned earlier Marc is very intelligent and has great basketball IQ on defence which means he knows when to help and where to be in the right situations.

Secondly, Marc is the better playmaker on offence which means he is able to create opportunities for his teammates which is something Serge struggles with from time to time. This allows other players like Norman Powell and Pascal Siakam to benefit off of Marc’s ability to pass which makes the offence better as a collective.

Finally, the best reason to sign Marc is that he would be more inclined to take a discount because he will not have a big market of suitors. As mentioned earlier the Raptors do not have a lot of money to work with which means if they pay Fred VanVleet it makes sense for them to save money with Marc and still have a starting calibre centre for next season. Rather than signing Serge and Fred to massive contracts and limiting their abilities to have max cap space for the 2021 free agency.

Overall re-signing Marc is definitely a gamble for the Raptors especially after his recent playoff struggles, however, if the Raptors can re-sign him for an affordable price and if he can bounce back then re-signing him will benefit that Raptors in the short and long term.