1:56pm: The Bulls have turned down some offers for Gasol, so they’re not trading him for the sake of trading him, Johnson writes.
12:50pm: Johnson indicates Chicago’s asking price for Gasol is the same as it is for Gibson: a rotation player and a first-rounder (Twitter link).
12:44pm: Sources who spoke with Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com dispute the idea the Bulls are aggressively shopping Gasol, saying instead that the Bulls have merely fielded calls about him (Twitter link).
12:16pm: The Bulls are aggressively shopping Pau Gasol, league sources told Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical On Yahoo Sports. However, the team is insisting on a first-round pick and a player in any deal involving Taj Gibson, tweets K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune. Gasol is almost certain to opt out this summer, while Gibson doesn’t have a player option on a contract that runs through next season. Chicago wants to extract value from Gasol, lest he simply walk away in free agency, Wojnarowski writes.
The Bulls offered Gibson to the Raptors for Patrick Patterson, as Zach Lowe of ESPN.com heard, though Johnson alludes to conflicting reports on which team initiated that idea (Twitter link). Chicago had been determined to find an upgrade on the wing, as Wojnarowski reported when the team began to make Gibson and Joakim Noah available, but that was before Noah went out for the season with a shoulder injury and appendicitis forced Nikola Mirotic to the sideline, weakening the team’s frontcourt. The Bulls apparently measured the market for Gasol around that time but were more focused on Gibson and Noah. Now it seems their focus has changed.
Gasol said earlier this season that he’s very likely to opt out, making those comments in December, when the Bulls were reportedly poised to make a strong push to re-sign him this summer. Brother Marc Gasol has said he’d like to lure him to the Grizzlies, but whichever team Pau finishes the season with would only have Early Bird rights to re-sign if he indeed opts out.
I love Pau but he’s getting older and he’s gonna opt out anyway so might as well see what we can get for him
what about a DeMarcus Cousins-Pau Gasol frontcourt?
Who would the Kings give up?
Rudy Gay, Caron Butler for Pau, Doug McDermott and Aaron Brooks(salary filler)
Ben Mac to the Bulls for pau
Pau in Houston would be interesting, assuming they trade Dwight
Raptors go get pau gasol!
Raptors wouldn’t be a horrible fit. As good as Pau has been, I think I like Thad Young in Toronto better.
t jones and donte montejunas for paul gasol.. howard to nets for brook lopez.. done and done.
The Jones/Monte for Gasol swap is interesting, although Chicago might not want two restricted free agents that essentially play the same position and both will probably see similar offers, so it doesn’t make sense to pay two guys big bucks when they play the same position. The Howard for Lopez is also interesting because it would allow the Nets to clear immediate cap room at the end of the year if they want to rebuild/reload the roster. However, for that exact same reason the Nets might not want to do that swap since Howard can walk at the end of the year making him a rental while giving up a controlled big man when the cap is set to jump, so they would probably want another asset that can help them out long term, whether that be a first round pick/couple of second rounders or a guy like KJ or a pending restricted free agent (Jones or Monte).
Will be fascinating to see if any contender would pay that price for Pau.
Tank it already, GarPax. This team is going nowhere. Get under the luxury tax limit if possible, pad the “L” column for some more ping-pong balls, and if a 1st-rounder or two can be harvested out of it, great.