Sam Amick

USA TODAY Sports

SACRAMENTO — The aw-shucks superstar is listening to the argument put before him, if only because it's against his always-polite nature to interrupt.

Marc Gasol as a leading MVP candidate, the Memphis Grizzlies center having led his team to an NBA-best 15-2 record while dominating on both ends of the floor?

Marc Gasol as the most coveted free agent this summer, possible savior of the New York Knicks, San Antonio Spurs or Los Angeles Lakers should he decide to leave this city where he has been since following his older brother, Chicago Bulls forward Pau, from Spain as a chunky high-schooler in 2001?

Marc Gasol as the league's most intriguing talent, a 29-year-old whose physical evolution from roly-poly to ripped has taken him to new heights yet again?

He's listening, but he's not hearing it.

"I don't see anything extraordinary," Gasol, who is averaging a career-high 20.1 points to go with 8.1 rebounds, 3.6 assists, 1.5 blocks and 1.2 steals per game, told USA TODAY Sports this week. "I see that (his play is) good, and I'm in a good place, but I don't see anything like (Golden State Warriors point guard) Steph Curry or something like that. I think it's pretty normal and natural. I'm having to take more shots because I've been asked to do that, and so far it has worked out pretty well."

Nothing to see here then, apparently. Except for everything.

Because Gasol's statistical output wasn't always what it is now, it used to be that NBA scouts, executives and coaching types were the only ones who truly appreciated his contributions. Sunday afternoon in Sacramento was no different in that regard, as the scouts on hand marveled at everything from his Dirk Nowitzki-esque fadeaway jumpers to his high-post passing to the little things he does on the defensive end that haven't been a secret since he was the Defensive Player of the Year for the 2012-13 season.

Even with the Grizzlies somehow getting one nationally-televised game this season (excluding NBATV), Gasol's game is less of a secret now than ever. Yet no one appreciates it more than the teammates and coaches who hope this isn't their last hurrah together.

"I always tell him, 'Man you're the best center in the game, the best big man in the game. Dwight Howard ain't better than you — he just blocks more shots than you. You're the best center in the game,' " Grizzlies forward Zach Randolph told USA TODAY Sports. "It's about winning, and about the big fella coming back, because everybody knows that all the teams are loading up to get him.

"I say a little bit to him (about free agency). I mean we're the best 1-2 big men in the league (as far as a) four and five together. You've always got to explore your options, and he's been in Memphis (a long time). ... You worry (about him leaving), but then again it's a business too. I understand that. He understands that."

Inside Grizzlies circles, there is a confidence that Gasol will remain that's rooted in their past accomplishments and future projections. After all, they're just two seasons removed from the franchise's first appearance in the Western Conference finals and just one from the 2013-14 campaign that they're convinced was cut unjustly short by Randolph's suspension in the deciding Game 7 of a first-round series loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder.

With Gasol missing 23 games with a knee injury, it became the season in which his worth was there for all the world to see: The Grizzlies went 40-19 in all during the regular season with him and 10-13 without him.

Then came the wild summer that had rival teams hoping Gasol might formulate his exit plan amid all the chaos: A management change that put former front-office head Chris Wallace back in charge, and a coaching situation — Dave Joerger received permission from owner Robert Pera to interview with the Minnesota Timberwolves and appeared on the verge of being hired, only to return on a longer deal with the Grizzlies — that was beyond bizarre.

"I was in contact with everybody (during that time)," Gasol said. "I was in contact with Robert, and I was in contact with Coach, and they told me that everything was going to be fine, and I believed them. There was no reason for me not to believe them."

Said longtime Grizzlies guard Tony Allen: "Once Coach Joerger said he was coming back, we knew what the game plan was, what kind of offense he was trying to run. We understand what he wants on defense. He's a guy who knows his X's and O's, so everybody just bought in this year. And when you've got 15 guys buying in, it's hard for somebody to lose focus."

Fast forward six months, and it's as if it never happened. After years of the Grizzlies' lackluster offense looking like their lone weakness, Joerger — who took over for Lionel Hollins last season — pushed this idea of Gasol increasing his offensive load. Not only is Gasol's scoring up nearly six points per game from last season, but Memphis — which was 17th in offensive rating in 2013-14 — is now ranked eighth in the league (106.3 points scored per 100 possessions).

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To a man, they're mad about how last season ended and looking every bit like a team that is capable of reaching the NBA Finals for the first time in franchise history. There is an edge here even more than before, a bitterness about their unfulfilled last chapter that is — a la the San Antonio Spurs last season when they lamented the loss to the Miami Heat in the 2013 Finals — clearly fueling them in the early going.

For Gasol's part, he's reluctant to talk about his looming free agency for fear that it might distract them from this path to redemption.

"I think at the end of the season, we're going to sit down and put the cards on the table and see where everybody stands," said Gasol, who could sign a five-year, maximum-salary deal with the Grizzlies but can only get four-year deals elsewhere. "I've been pretty open with everybody always, and they've been pretty open with me, and I respect that. We're both straight shooters, and we'l see where everybody wants to be at and we'll make a decision, but I don't see how that effects now because it doesn't help.

"I really don't want it to be a distraction in there with my teammates because it's just not fair for them. I don't think it's fair. It's me, and if it doesn't bother me, it shouldn't bother anybody. If it's not a big deal for me, it shouldn't be a big deal for anybody."

As he made clear, he's far more worried about making his next meal than he is the unknown that awaits him in July.

Gasol's diet has had everything to do with his physical transformation. And the nutritional turnaround — from the McDonald's drive-thrus that got the best of him years ago and led to his infamous nickname "The Big Burrito" to this regimented routine that includes growing his own food — appears to be complete.

"I'm thinking about what I'm going to do tomorrow, what I'm going to do today (rather than free agency)," Gasol said. "I want to see if the broccoli that I planted and my cauliflower has grown at all since we've been gone (on a road trip). ... I have a little (garden). But it's been cold and been up and down, so I don't know if they held up or not.

"(The diet change) started because of my injury last year. After being hurt, being away from the game for a few weeks, that (showed) me that I was not invincible. I've never missed games like that, so after that I had to make a conscious effort. 'How can I change the things I do?' I was a pretty good player, pretty OK player, but if I wanted to be better and stronger, I had to change a few things and change them — you just change your habits — and this is kind of the result. I don't think it's over yet. I think there's more to come."

Even Gasol's garden, however, takes a backseat to his new baby girl who is just 11 weeks old.

"I want to be with my little girl, want to be with my wife," he continued. "I'm a guy who lives in the moment, so everything that happens to me right now I enjoy it."

Cliché though it may sound, there's a genuineness to Gasol's perspective that comes from his past. Long before he was so widely known as one of the best two-way talents in the NBA, he was the little Gasol brother who was struggling to find a role overseas. He played sparingly for his hometown FC Barcelona team early on, and — after being drafted 48th overall by the Lakers in 2007 — became part of the Lakers-Grizzlies trade in 2008 that sent Pau to Los Angeles and was seen at the time as one of the most lopsided transactions in the history of the game.

He's in a positive place both personally and professionally. The rest, he's quite confident, will figure itself out.

"I've been on the other side," Gasol said. "When I started my career back in Spain (after completing high school in Memphis), for three years I didn't play. So every time I get a chance to play I take a lot of pride in it. I value it."

The focus, then, will remain on the present. And as is almost always the case when it comes to the high-profile free agents, what happens from here on out will play a significant part in his future.

"We have the tools (to win a championship)," Gasol said. "Now to be consistent and disciplined through all, that's going to be the key. It's going to be tested later on, especially in the playoffs when everybody takes away something (schematically) and your consistency and your discipline is going to be tested.

"We stick together through those times, and we do what we're working on right now. I think the instincts take over because you've been doing it for so long and if you don't get the ring you don't get it, but at least you did everything you could do to get it, so you can sleep at night fine and you can go out and eat with your teammates because you know — looking them in the eye — that you gave everything you had."

Follow Sam Amick on Twitter @sam_amick.

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