Gasol staying in Memphis serves as a reminder to Spurs

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After an exciting and uplifting finish to their season last year, it looks like the Memphis Grizzlies want to keep building on the blocks they already have. They beat the top-seeded San Antonio Spurs and took the Oklahoma City Thunder to seven games. A big part of that team was Marc Gasol. Reuters is reporting that the Grizzlies have re-signed the Spanish center.

“Gasol, who had used his Twitter page to say a tentative agreement had been reached Monday, agreed to a four-year contract for $57.7 million, according to local media reports.”

When Marc came into the league, all that people were saying was that he’s overweight and not anywhere near as talented as his brother, Pau. Since then, he’s slimmed down and used last year’s playoffs as a springboard into the spotlight. He’s now a solid NBA big man and this was a great sign for Memphis.

However, this should serve as a friendly reminder to the Spurs that it’s time to get a big man. It’s hard to land a decent one these days, but at this point the Spurs really need someone who can take some low-post pressure off of Tim Duncan. They’ve skirted by these last couple of years with a veteran big man who can fill the space, but obviously they need a little more. And re-signing Steve Novak will not help in this department nor will seeing Matt Bonner attempt to guard Gasol or Zach Randolph should these two teams meet in the playoffs again.

Gasol caused a lot of problems for the Spurs in the playoffs last year, and Memphis is a team that San Antonio could see again this year. One can point to injuries to Duncan and Manu Ginobili late last season but this team is going to need that big body if they don’t want a repeat of how their season came crashing down.