2. Marc Gasol, Toronto Raptors
After being traded from the Memphis Grizzlies in February this year during the 2018-19 season, Gasol went on to play a big part in the Raptors championship run.
The big Spaniard started in all of the Raptors 24 playoff games, adding an average of 9.4 points, 6.4 rebounds and three assists per game over this span. An impressive feature of Gasol’s playoff performance was his 38 percent conversion rate from 3-point range, reliable for a center in a high-pressure situation.
Despite the loss of Kawhi Leonard, the Raptors are off to another hot start to the 2019-20 NBA season. With a 10-4 record, the Raptors currently sit 4th in the Eastern Conference on the back of the hugely improved Pascal Siakam and ever-reliable Fred VanVleet.
However, Gasol has suffered a sluggish start to the season despite the great start by his team.
In his change from Memphis to Toronto last season, Gasol’s numbers and statistical output dropped instantly. He went from averaging 33 minutes on court per game at Memphis to just 24.9 minutes each game over 26 games in Toronto.
During his 53 games at Memphis in 2018-19, Gasol averaged 15.7 points along with 8.6 rebounds and 4.7 assists per game. With his move to Toronto, Gasol’s averages dropped to 9.1 points, 6.6 rebounds and 3.9 assists per game across his 26 starts with the Raptors in the 2018-19 season. This proved to be quite a dramatic decrease in his output, but ultimately it didn’t matter as Gasol picked up a championship ring.
But to start this season, Gasol’s output has dropped even further.
Through his first 14 starts of the season, Gasol is averaging by far a career-low of just 6.4 points per game. The most remarkable stat of Gasol’s poor shooting form is his 2-point conversion rate, hitting on an unbelievably low 28 percent of all shots inside the 3-point line. This is a major decrease even from last season where Gasol hit 47.4 percent of his 2-point attempts. Gasol had never averaged less than 11 points per game in all 11 seasons he spent with the Grizzlies.
This poor shooting form has led to decreases in his overall field goal percentage also. Gasol hit on 46.5 percent of all shots he took last season, compared to just 34 percent to start this season. Gasol’s previous lowest conversion rate was 42 percent on all field goal attempts across a season, proving just how awful his shooting has been to start the 2019-20 campaign.
The Spaniard’s assist averages have also taken a tumble this season. After averaging 3.9 assists per game with the Raptors last season, Gasol is only contributing 3.1 assists each game to begin the 2019-20 season. A 3.1 assist average is the lowest Gasol has distributed since his 2011-12 season in Memphis where he averaged the same number.
Gasol is experiencing the worst field goal percentage out of all Raptor players on the roster to begin the season. His Player Efficiency Rating (PER) of 6.49 ranks 3rd lowest of any Toronto player so far.
Despite Gasol’s woeful start to the year, the Raptors have still managed to string together some good wins and find themselves well truly in the race for the Eastern Conference again. But if they want to get serious about defending their NBA title in the 2019-20 season, they are going to need to see improvements in Marc Gasol’s game.