Pau Gasol (Photo : Twitter)
The NBA trade rumors continue for Pau Gasol who has been on the mill since the Lakers won their last championship in 2010.
Gasol was actually traded to the New Orleans Pelicans (then Hornets) to bring Chris Paul to the Lakers in that infamous vetoed trade.
Since then, Pau has been rumored to be traded for numerous teams all the way until he became a free agent.
Now, the headlines have Pau Gasol about to exercise his player option, according to CSN Chicago. He has good reason to. He's 35 and probably has one shot to get a final long-term deal while he's performing at his best. He came to Chicago to chase a title, but that goal seems even farther this year.
While Pau is getting his numbers and is one of the league's best bargains with his $ 7.4 million salary, even the Bulls fans know that he probably won't stay and they think it's best to trade him.
From Blog A Bull, user 'Mike Faust' commented that Gasol is "becoming more of a cry baby" as he demands more touches and a bigger role.
The dilemma is that the Bulls could not give him that as they may have embraced the idea that he is leaving.
The Rudy Gay trade was proposed earlier this year, and the comment reiterates that it's a trade the Bulls should make. Combining Pau Gasol, Doug McDermott, Aaron Brooks and Kirk Hinrich could make a package that would match Rudy Gay and Darren Collison.
Except for McDermott, all of those players are veterans who can be assets for the Sacramento Kings which has a veteran-loving coach George Karl. Gasol would be a calming influence on the Kings and a good complement to DeMarcus Cousins and a mentor to Willie Cauley-Stein. Also, Gasol goes back to California (not LA though).
It probably won't bring Pau a title, but the Kings could overpay him knowing that free agents aren't so excited to join their team due to questionable management among other things. On this end, Gasol may even bring a culture-shift and help the Kings in the future.
Pau will not retire title-less(he already won with the Lakers). Besides he did not win a title with the Bulls even though he took less money. The Kings could throw more money at him than any of the contenders. Perhaps that would be worthy of consideration.
