Kevin Durant and Pau Gasol (Photo : Getty Images)
Many of the superstar free agents proceeded to sign even before Kevin Durant announced his decision.
DeMar DeRozan, Dwight Howard, Mike Conley and Al Horford all signed with their old and new teams as only the Boston Celtics was the team in the running among teams involved with those players.
Pau Gasol has yet to make his move even as there are a handful of teams that are reportedly willing to pay top dollar for him. The Minnesota Timberwolves and Toronto Raptors are reportedly making bids for him, but the Spaniard's heart seems set on one destination.
The Portland Trail Blazers have reportedly offered a daunting a two-year $40 million offer for Pau Gasol-averaging at 20 million per season, which is just right based on the market projections that Ramona Shelburne mentioned in ESPN.
"The market for Pau Gasol appears to be around $18-22 million/year. Raptors, Bulls, Blazers, Wolves, Spurs among the teams in discussions with him, per sources. Not clear yet if he'll wait until Durant decides."
That's a far cry from the 7.7 million he made for the Chicago Bulls. It should be noted that it's a discount he was willing to take. Gasol presumed that the Bulls would be a contender in the Eastern Conference with Derrick Rose still a respectable player and Jimmy Butler rising to become a superstar. Along with Joakim Noah and being coached by Tom Thibodeau, one can't really blame Pau for taking a chance with the Bulls.
However, it does tell us something about Pau's next decision: He wants to win a title and that will be a factor that may trump the money. This is probably the only reason why he has yet to take the rumored Portland deal. Gasol would be a great fit in Portland as they need inside scoring. They are already a playoff team with Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum shooting the lights out in the backcourt.
But if Pau wants a title, the Spurs are likely his first choice, as team site Pounding The Rock concluded. They quoted basketball writer Tom Petrini:
"Gasol waiting for Durant's decision indicates to me that the Spurs are his first choice. San Antonio will probably get either Pau or KD."
That seems like a logical explanation of why Gasol is waiting on Durant's decision. If the Spurs get KD, he'll likely join the Blazers.
