The lynchpin of the Grizzlies team-building over the coming weeks will be a new contract for restricted free agent center Marc Gasol. With matching rights in hand, no-one believes the Grizzlies are willing to lose Gasol, but how much it takes to keep him will be determinative: With the team likely to be roughly $17 million under the luxury tax line — factoring in nine players on guaranteed contracts and rookie Josh Selby — before re-signing Gasol, the starting salary on his new contract will likely govern whether the Grizzlies have enough space left to pursue a (semi-) significant free agent (or, less likely, retain their own in Shane Battier) or whether the remainder of the roster will have to be filled out via minimum-range contracts.
What will a Gasol contract look like? Here are five possibilities:
The Max
A maximum contract for Gasol under the new collective bargaining agreement with start at 25% of the salary cap (expected to be around $58 million) and could extend for five years with 7.5% annual raises. The Grizzlies certainly hope this isn’t necessary, but this is the ceiling on what Gasol’s deal could be.
Contract: $14.5, $15.6, $16.8, $18, $19.4 = five years, $84 million
