NBA Rumors: Lakers Center Has Important Decisions To Make; Retirement Also On The Table

Marc Gasol had hoped to make history with the Los Angeles Lakers by winning an NBA title.

All that vanished when the franchise fell to the Phoenix Suns in the first round of the Western Conference recently.

Now, the Lakers need to make critical decisions heading into the offseason. One player who may or may not return is Gasol.

At 36, he was hardly the same guy that won the 2013 NBA Defensive Player of the year award.

An option for the three-time NBA All-Star is to either honor the final year of his deal with the Lakers or head back to Europe.

According to Eurohoops, Barcelona is targeting the 6-foot-11 Spaniard. General manager Juan Carlos Navarro is bent on getting Gasol where he could team up with his brother Pau.

The move could make sense, but the efficiency of the Gasol brothers may not be like before.

Either way, Marc is just happy to have worn the purple and gold. He explained that all he wanted was to enjoy the moment and also make Pau proud.

Things could have been sweeter had he won an NBA title, registering the Gasol brothers in history books as the first siblings to win a title on the same team. Should Marc decide to return, that possibility may still happen.

But based on his performance, it appears to be a long shot. Marc averaged only five points, 4.1 rebounds, 2.1 assists, and 1.1 blocks in 52 games for the Lakers.

He was an entirely different player although his previous stint with the Toronto Raptors already showed signs of that.

"Obviously, you guys know my family history with the team and how much it meant to Pau. So for me to be here and play for this team was an honor, and it is an honor. So I didn't take it for granted for one second," Gasol stated.

Another option would be a return to the Raptors. Nav Bhatia--the club's superfan--thinks highly of the Spaniard in the years he was there, lauding him for his unselfishness on the court.

The 69-year-old believes that Marc has at least one more year in him if he is given the chance to play.

“I appreciated his presence here. He doesn’t have 'I' in him, he has 'we' in him. He is always a team guy. Maybe another year or so. He is playing very minimal minutes right now. But you know he can still shoot those three-pointers,” Bhatia stated in an interview with Brian Yalung and Vincent Juico on the Sports Bytes Philippines podcast.