Overlooked Gasol still key piece for Lakers

It's tough to hide a 7-footer, to make one of the best basketball players the international game has produced an afterthought. That takes some doing.

You could say the Lakers unintentionally have accomplished such a feat with Pau Gasol, which might be the best thing for them.

Gasol was supposed to be traded by Los Angeles more than once in recent times, thought by many to have outgrown his welcome in a way that he became the popular target to blame when those who size championship rings failed to visit Staples Center the past two years.

He was the one labeled soft, passive, sidetracked by girlfriend issues.

Now, he might be in position to have one of his finest NBA seasons at age 32.

The offseason noise has been about arrivals Dwight Howard and Steve Nash, about the league's best center and a future Hall of Fame point guard joining a lineup that Kobe Bryant continues to dominate, amazing when you consider walk-on Smush Parker no longer is around to pick up the slack.

But as Nash becomes comfortable running a new team and Howard becomes comfortable playing on a surgically repaired back and Bryant becomes comfortable with the idea he probably won't need Parker to win a sixth championship, Gasol remains out of daily headlines and yet very much part of the big picture.

"One of the best passing big men I have been around," Lakers coach Mike Brown said Friday before the Lakers' 103-98 preseason loss to the Sacramento Kings before 17,792 at the Thomas & Mack Center. "He's a ball mover, and the more guys you have on the floor willing to pass the ball, the better it will be for everyone.

"Pau can score any way you need - jump shot, take someone off the dribble, go to the low post, make plays at the elbow area. Sometimes, he'll do those things at center for us and sometimes at power forward."

It is more a pick-your-poison lineup for opponents to defend now, one that if healthy and cohesive can and should challenge Miami and Oklahoma City for league supremacy.

Gasol will have more to do with that than some imagine.

He has been the team's No. 2 scorer behind Bryant for all but one season since arriving from Memphis in 2008 and has two rings to show for his production, but those scouting the Lakers now must worry about all the issues presented by a pick-and-roll combination of Nash and Howard.

Gasol chose not to speak before Friday's game, following the NBA norm of a star seeking refuge in the training room during media availability.

It's such a cliche move.

But it's impossible not to think Gasol, if rested enough from a summer that included leading Spain to a silver medal at the London Olympics, could be in for a terrific season given who surrounds him.

One of the best things Gasol does is rebound at the offensive end, taking advantage when defenders leave him to help others. He was credited with six offensive rebounds in six seconds of one possession during a playoff win against Denver in June.

Six boards in six ticks of a clock.

I have a feeling teams will need a lot of help to contain the newest L.A. big man this season, that defenders will be leaving Gasol and his career averages of 18.7 points and 9.2 rebounds often.

"(Gasol) and I just have to play off each other, read defenses and make each other better," Howard said. "He's going to get a lot of open shots and make my life a lot easier. When I was (in Orlando), the two things you worried about with him was keeping him off the offensive glass and pushing him as far away from the basket as possible.

"But teams won't be able to just pack it in against us, not with Kobe and Steve on the wings and Pau able to shoot as well as he can. Once the chemistry comes and we're all in sync, we'll be fine."

Nash isn't just the ideal point guard for a player such as Gasol. He is the perfect one, able to create all sorts of scoring chances for someone who can play off screens and make midrange shots as well as any big man in the NBA.

It's not too bad a gig for a guy who was supposed to be traded by now and on the downslope of his career. Not bad at all.

Pau Gasol: one of the greatest afterthoughts in NBA history.

Las Vegas Review-Journal sports columnist Ed Graney can be reached at egraney@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-4618. He can be heard from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday on "Gridlock," ESPN 1100 and 98.9 FM. Follow him on Twitter: @edgraney.