Pau Gasol (Photo : Twitter)
The NBA Trade rumors continue as we near the opening of the season. Some interesting trades are being proposed by fans.
Most of these trades are prompted by the direction of their team: should they go all in for the season or look ahead to the future? Thus, some of these trade proposals may actually happen.
From the fans at Blog a Bull, a proposal to send Pau Gasol to the Sacramento Kings emerged. This is not another DeMarcus Cousins trade rumor, but this time the point of the trade is to get younger, focus on the defensive aspect of the frontline and get a reliable back-up for Derrick Rose.
Thus, they are sending Gasol and Kirk Hinrich and possibly a first round pick (preferably Sacramento's own pick (which is top 10 protected, Chicago got it from Cleveland in the Luol Deng trade, Cavs got it from Kings in 2011 h/t Real GM). Sacramento might fall short of the playoffs yet it might be out of the top 10, so this pick is actually valuable.
For the Bulls, they'll take rookie Willie Cauley-Stein to replace Joakim Noah (or accept the baton as the latter ages) and not lose the defensive presence inside. Also, Darren Collison will be the insurance point guard for the Bulls.
Ever since the Bulls had a coaching change with Fred Hoiberg, there have been questions on how Gasol would adjust to the faster pace. Pau would fit in with old school coach Goerge Karl and presumably help keep DeMarcus Cousins in place. The Kings would also take a draft pick back, so the idea of trading Cauley Stein for a Pau who might have 3 good years at most would be more acceptable.
Again, this trade would work if the Kings believe that they can actually make the playoffs. For the Bulls, they also don't want to throw away a resurgent Eurobasket MVP, unless the new, faster system calls for it.
