marc gasol, 48th pic in the 2007 draft.

[arctic 3.0]

just pondering how this guy slipped to #48. guy's 7 feet tall. his brother was a lotto pick. no one was willing to take a chance on this guy?

[Eja117]

just pondering how this guy slipped to #48. guy's 7 feet tall. his brother was a lotto pick. no one was willing to take a chance on this guy?

I have no idea. This is why i don't take nba scouts or "experts" too seriously

other than Ainge

[Who]

Marc Gasol was a late bloomer.

[Chris]

I actually think being Pau's brother hurt him.  I think in a lot of ways he was being compared to him, and this led to some false reports about his skills.  Before the draft he was being billed as an unskilled offensive player, who was known for his defense and rebounding.  And I think it was more along the lines of "he is not skilled like Pau", but it is pretty obvious that he did have some decent skills, and was still developing.  

Combine that with the fact that he has a similar build to Brian Scalabrine, which can lead people who have not seen him a lot to think he is not very athletic, and he was destined to slide.  Being in Europe made it a little tougher for scouts and GMs to judge his athleticism, because he was playing with and against other guys who were not NBA level athletes.  

So he ends up being branded as a raw offensive player whose strength is defense and on the boards, however, he does not seem like a great athlete, which may prevent him from being a good NBA defender.

Clearly, a lot of guys missed the boat on him.

[arctic 3.0]

Marc Gasol was a late bloomer.

think about all the first rounders taken purely on potential. teams routinely wager high pics on kids that hopefully "bloom" to fill their potential.

i cannot figure out how this guy slips, unless its a some deep Laker conspiracy.

[Eja117]

timing can be everything

If he had waited till after the Olympics he's a first rounder not far after Lopez

[Celtic]

Wonder how long it will take the Lakers and their fans to regret that trade.

[j_fran]

I actually think being Pau's brother hurt him.  I think in a lot of ways he was being compared to him, and this led to some false reports about his skills.  Before the draft he was being billed as an unskilled offensive player, who was known for his defense and rebounding.  And I think it was more along the lines of "he is not skilled like Pau", but it is pretty obvious that he did have some decent skills, and was still developing.  

The above and also that I think he was spending another year in Europe before coming over to the NBA.  And I also think he entered the draft at a time when there was a slight backlash against European and other foreign players in general.  After some of the early success stories, there was a large contingent of foreign players being taken too high and becoming thought of as busts.  Plus as we have seen with Brandon Jennings, many NBA scouts and management significantly overrate the quality of the college game in comparison to the European leagues.

[Who]

Marc Gasol was a late bloomer.

think about all the first rounders taken purely on potential. teams routinely wager high pics on kids that hopefully "bloom" to fill their potential.

i cannot figure out how this guy slips, unless its a some deep Laker conspiracy.

Potential is largely predicated on age + athleticism (plus to a lesser extent mentality). Marc Gasol was already 22 years old before he got any substantial playing time in Europe and he wasn't a good athlete.

Gasol has worked on his body very hard over the last 3-4 years. He looks completely different from where he was back then ... and, still, he's a below average athlete today.

[slamtheking]

Wonder how long it will take the Lakers and their fans to regret that trade.

Never.  They've been to the Finals twice with Pau and won once.  They'll most likely get there again making it 3 straight times since that deal. 

Can't see why they'd ever regret it.  That's without even considering they've got a decent young player that plays the same position (Bynum).

[Roy Hobbs]

Wonder how long it will take the Lakers and their fans to regret that trade.

Never.  They've been to the Finals twice with Pau and won once.  They'll most likely get there again making it 3 straight times since that deal. 

Can't see why they'd ever regret it.  That's without even considering they've got a decent young player that plays the same position (Bynum).

I agree.  No matter how good Marc becomes, I think it was a steal of a trade for the Lakers.  They got a championship out of it, which in my mind makes it a successful deal.  It's sort of the same concept as the Red Sox trading Hanley Ramirez for Beckett and Lowell.  Even though Ramirez has turned into an MVP candidate, the trade paid off, and I have no regrets about it.

[Who]

timing can be everything

If he had waited till after the Olympics he's a first rounder not far after Lopez

Yes, definitely, Marc Gasol would have been a late lottery pick if was drafted a year later. He showed tremendous improvement throughout those 12 months.

------------------------------------------------

The problem was his age -- Gasol turned 22 in the previous calender year which automatically made him eligible for the 2007 draft. At this stage he'd only been a part time rotation player for Barcelona and had only finished his first real season where he had gotten an opportunity to play. At 22 years of age.

It's rare for a player to show so little prior to that age + then show incredible development over the next few years. It's why Marc Gasol didn't get the benefit of perceived potential. If he had of been 19/20 he definitely would have been a first round pick. But at 22? With a lack of athleticism? He wasn't going to get the benefit of the doubt and neither do other players in similar circumstances.

Most figured he was close to his ceiling as a player. It wasn't until early in the following season when Gasol became one of the best big men in Spain that people started to believe he could be more than a backup center in the NBA. And since then Gasol has continued to improve at a tremendous rate.

It's unusual to see such a late bloomer. First year of productive play at 22, perceived lack of potential, then vast improvement each season for 2-3 years in a row. Gasol's late development was the reason for him falling in the draft.

[Chris]

Wonder how long it will take the Lakers and their fans to regret that trade.

Never.  They've been to the Finals twice with Pau and won once.  They'll most likely get there again making it 3 straight times since that deal. 

Can't see why they'd ever regret it.  That's without even considering they've got a decent young player that plays the same position (Bynum).

I agree.  No matter how good Marc becomes, I think it was a steal of a trade for the Lakers.  They got a championship out of it, which in my mind makes it a successful deal.  It's sort of the same concept as the Red Sox trading Hanley Ramirez for Beckett and Lowell.  Even though Ramirez has turned into an MVP candidate, the trade paid off, and I have no regrets about it.

Yup.  But it should make people start to back off a bit on Chris Wallace.  Perhaps he actually did know what he was doing when he made that trade.  While it was clearly motivated by money (and he is a master of saving his owner cash), he did get some decent value.  When you look at how good Gasol is looking, and that they also got 3 first rounders out of it (including the one they got from Washington), you might even be able to argue that the value they got is ultimately comparable to what the Wolves got for Garnett...especially since it is starting to look like Jefferson just may never be able to stay healthy.

Its scary to think, but if Thabeet pans out, and he makes another couple good decisions, Wallace could looking very good in a couple of years.

[ssspence]

Wonder how long it will take the Lakers and their fans to regret that trade.

Never.  They've been to the Finals twice with Pau and won once.  They'll most likely get there again making it 3 straight times since that deal. 

Can't see why they'd ever regret it.  That's without even considering they've got a decent young player that plays the same position (Bynum).

I agree.  No matter how good Marc becomes, I think it was a steal of a trade for the Lakers.  They got a championship out of it, which in my mind makes it a successful deal.  It's sort of the same concept as the Red Sox trading Hanley Ramirez for Beckett and Lowell.  Even though Ramirez has turned into an MVP candidate, the trade paid off, and I have no regrets about it.

Yup.  But it should make people start to back off a bit on Chris Wallace.  Perhaps he actually did know what he was doing when he made that trade.  While it was clearly motivated by money (and he is a master of saving his owner cash), he did get some decent value.  When you look at how good Gasol is looking, and that they also got 3 first rounders out of it (including the one they got from Washington), you might even be able to argue that the value they got is ultimately comparable to what the Wolves got for Garnett...especially since it is starting to look like Jefferson just may never be able to stay healthy.

Its scary to think, but if Thabeet pans out, and he makes another couple good decisions, Wallace could looking very good in a couple of years.

taking thabeet was a far bigger error than the gasol trade. you don't draft players on positional need when you're one of the worst teams in the league, you take the best player availible. everyone knew they should have taken evans but memphis. can you imagine ainge's reaction?

[scoop]

Marc Gasol was a late bloomer.

think about all the first rounders taken purely on potential. teams routinely wager high pics on kids that hopefully "bloom" to fill their potential.

i cannot figure out how this guy slips, unless its a some deep Laker conspiracy.

Marc Gasol had no discernible potential. He was buried at the end of the bench in Barcelona when he was drafted. He was a bum, pure and simple and I know nobody who had a different opinion at that time. There are worse cases, some guys weren't even drafted.