Pau Gasol Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Lakers Notes: Kobe, Gasol, Meeks

December 20th, 2013 at 1:24pm CST by Luke Adams

Kobe Bryant‘s knee injury doesn’t affect the Lakers’ short- or long-term picture, according to Grantland’s Zach Lowe, who writes that the team wasn’t going to make the playoffs this season either way and was already locked into Kobe’s two-year extension. In his latest Lakers-centric piece, Lowe writes that he’s talked to “dozens” of GMs, execs, coaches, and scouts around the league about Kobe’s new deal, and while some acknowledge that it makes business sense, none have been willing to call it a good contract. Here’s more on the Lakers:

While it makes sense for the Lakers to gauge Pau Gasol‘s market value, Lowe notes that there are plenty of roadblocks to finding a logical trade partner, including Pau’s $19MM+ salary and L.A.’s desire not to take on long-term money. Lowe mentions the Cavaliers, Bobcats, Suns as potential players for Gasol, though it sounds like he’s speculating about the possible fit rather than reporting any actual discussions. Ultimately, the Lakers may be better off holding on to Pau and re-signing him to a two-year contract, says Lowe.
As he faces another six weeks of recovery time, Bryant tells Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports that “only an idiot” would doubt his ability to return from his latest injury.
Jodie Meeks will draw interest in free agency next summer and figures to earn a raise on this year’s $1.55MM salary if he continues to play well. However, if it’s up to him, the 26-year-old guard would “love to be a Laker for a long time,” as he says to Lang Greene of HoopsWorld.
Faced with a scarcity of options at the point, the Lakers reached an agreement with 2012 lottery pick Kendall Marshall and made the signing official today.

Lakers Not Open To Pau Gasol Trade

December 18th, 2013 at 6:12pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Lakers aren’t interested in trading Pau Gasol for now, having been encouraged by Gasol’s play in the last three games and his fence-mending efforts with coach Mike D’Antoni, who criticized his performance, report Ramona Shelburne and Marc Stein of ESPNLosAngeles.com. The Lakers have reportedly fielded offers for Gasol, and they engaged in exploratory talks with several teams, according to Shelburne and Stein, but they didn’t get too far.

The Rockets are one of the teams the Lakers spoke to about Gasol, but those talks never got serious, the ESPN scribes say. Stein thinks that the Lakers might be better off trading Gasol for Omer Asik and Jeremy Lin, but says such a deal would likely have to involve a third team and cautions that such talk is merely speculation (Twitter link).

The Lakers remain interested in Tyson Chandler and they’ve made exploratory calls on Iman Shumpert, but it doesn’t sound like the Knicks are biting. Gasol is set to hit free agency at season’s end, and the Lakers are apparently open to re-signing him.

Odds & Ends: Asik, Gasol, Wolves, Mirotic

December 17th, 2013 at 9:45pm CST by Alex Lee

With December 15th in our rearview and the trade deadline two months ahead of us, things should start to heat up quickly, as our Luke Adams noted in his Trade Season Primer. Here are some trade-related rumors as well as some odds and ends from around the league on Tuesday night:

With two days remaining until the Rockets self-imposed December 19th deadline, Marc Stein of ESPN.com tweets that there is a consensus expectation that Omer Asik will be moved in a three-team deal in which he ends up in Boston or Philly.
Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports adds the Cavs and the Hawks to Stein’s list and says that there is a fifth mystery team in the mix for the center’s services. (Twitter links)
Meanwhile, Alex Kennedy of HoopsWorld tweets that he is hearing that an Asik deal may go down on Wednesday, though he cautions that nothing is definite.
Kennedy also writes about the possibility of the Lakers finally pulling the trigger on a deal to send the disgruntled Pau Gasol out of Los Angeles, opining that while the team has overvalued the Spaniard in the past, the combination of his contract, his struggles this season and his issues with Mike D’Antoni may finally be enough for the Lakers to move him.
As Tim Faklis of Canis Hoopus writes, the Timberwolves don’t have the assets to complete another significant trade this season. Faklis concludes that any deal could only involve some combination of Dante Cunningham, Luc Mbah a Moute, Alexey Shved and/or Shabazz Muhammad. Referencing Faklis’ story, Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN tweets that the Wolves are limited in their flexibility and that he is told to expect “status quo” in Minnesota for now.
We know that not only have the Bulls met with Nikola Mirotic, but that they’re aggressively trying to bring him over from Spain for next season. Nick Friedell of ESPN Chicago tweets that the Bulls “love” Mirotic and that if they get him stateside this summer that it should be considered their big offseason move. To put that into context, Friedell adds that the Bulls consider Mirotic more valuable than the top-10 protected first round pick of the Bobcats that they own. (Twitter links)

Lakers Interested In Shumpert, Chandler

December 15th, 2013 at 8:59am CST by Zachary Links

The Lakers recently called the Knicks to express their interest in Iman Shumpert, sources close to the situation tell Chris Broussard of ESPN.com. No trade is imminent, however, and sources say the Lakers’ call was more about doing their due diligence.

The Lakers are unlikely to make a deal before the end of their current four-game trip, but they could be interested in bolstering their backcourt given the recent rash of injuries. Steve Blake has now joined point guards Steve Nash and Jordan Farmar on the injured list thanks to an elbow injury that will sideline him at least six weeks. Shumpert, of course, is a two-guard, but Kobe Bryant has been uncharacteristically pass-happy since making his return.

Shump isn’t their only possible target Sources tell Broussard the Lakers also are interested in center Tyson Chandler but have yet to inquire on him. Los Angeles is deciding whether to propose a Pau Gasol-for-Chandler trade and even though the Knicks aren’t looking to move him, they’ve gotten several calls. The Knicks would rather keep Chandler, but they’d consider moving him if it meant also dealing struggling guard J.R. Smith.

Lakers Open To Re-Signing Pau Gasol

December 14th, 2013 at 8:56am CST by Zachary Links

Pau Gasol‘s frustrations, offensive struggles, and impending free agency have the Lakers considering trade options for the big man. However, sources tell Ramona Shelburne of ESPNLosAngeles.com (via Twitter) that the team is still open to re-signing him at season’s end. Los Angeles believes that Gasol can succeed in coach Mike D’Antoni‘s system and hopes that he does.

D’Antoni held a team meeting Friday to address the rising tensions between him and Gasol in which he urged the forward or anyone else who had an issue with his coaching to speak to him directly. With a relationship that is still termed as “professional,” one has to imagine that there’s at least a chance for reconciliation between the two.

As for the trade possibility, sources tell Shelburne and Marc Stein of ESPN.com that the Lakers would be reluctant to surrender their hard-fought financial flexibility in a deal for Gasol or any other player. Yet it is believed the Lakers would consider taking back salary commitments for the 2014/15 season if they received a strong offer featuring a player who could significantly help them this season and beyond or other assets to help them reload around Kobe Bryant.

The Lakers have yet to engage other clubs in talks for Gasol and have told him that they’d like to work out a new deal, sources tell the ESPN.com duo. That could be easier said that done given Gasol’s friction with D’Antoni and Kobe’s brand new two-year, $48.5MM deal.

Odds & Ends: Gasol, Knicks, Clippers

December 13th, 2013 at 11:24pm CST by Chuck Myron

It seems high trading season has begun early this year, as this week has featured another Rudy Gay swap, plenty of rumors about Omer Asik and Kyle Lowry, and a flurry of roster moves. Sunday is December 15th, the day many players become eligible for inclusion in trades, so the week ahead doesn’t figure to be any slower. Here’s more from a busy Association:

Kobe Bryant dismisses the notion that Pau Gasol and Mike D’Antoni are at odds, as Dave McMenamin of ESPNLosAngeles.com notes via Twitter. “That’s every year,” Bryant said. “They’re like an old couple. That’s every year. It’s not really anything new. It’s not a big deal.” Of course, D’Antoni and Gasol have only been together since last season.
Every part of the Knicks franchise is in “complete chaos,” says Frank Isola of the New York Daily News (Twitter link). New York lost to the Celtics tonight for the second time in six days, but in contrast to Sunday’s 41-point blowout, this time it was only by four.
Ongoing negotiations for a local TV deal helped motivate the Clippers to spend on Chris Paul and Doc Rivers, according to Bleacher Report’s Jared Zwerling.
Many around the league see Iowa State coach Fred Hoiberg as the top candidate for an NBA head coaching job among those currently leading college teams, tweets Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com.
HoopsWorld’s Nate Duncan tries to identify the players who’ll stick around for the long-term on the Suns, Jazz and Kings as each team rebuilds.

Odds & Ends: Gay, Pau, Fisher, Jenkins

December 13th, 2013 at 3:42pm CST by Luke Adams

Rudy Gay spoke to Sam Amick of USA Today about being traded for the second time in the calendar year, and indicated that he had yet made up his mind about his 2014/15 player option. Gay suggested he’ll make his decision with championship contention in mind, adding, “It’s really not as much about the money as you’d think.” If that’s truly the case, his decision to opt into the final year of his contract won’t be the lock that many expect.

Here’s more from around the NBA, as another week nears its end:

I appeared on the latest episode of The Baseline podcast to discuss the Kings‘ acquisition of Gay, along with a handful of other topics, including the Raptors‘ next move, Omer Asik trade rumors, and the Clippers‘ signing of Stephen Jackson. You can listen right here.
We heard earlier that the Lakers have been listening to offers for Pau Gasol, in part because he and coach Mike D’Antoni aren’t seeing eye-to-eye, and D’Antoni’s remarks today likely didn’t help mend any fences. Responding to Pau’s recent comments about being frustrated by his role, D’Antoni said, “That’s a classic, ‘I don’t know what I’m supposed to do.’ Well, you don’t have trouble getting up to the paystub line. You know what you need to do to get your check. You know what to do. They will. They’ll figure it out.”
Derek Fisher is planning to retire at season’s end, and isn’t sure what his post-playing career will bring, as he tells Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News: “I’m not going to want to necessarily just sit around the house, but I’ll take a step back from the grind of the NBA schedule and see where my heart and passion takes me.”
Mark Deeks of ShamSports explains in a piece for SBNation.com why the window between December 15th and 19th could result in high trade activity.
In a separate piece for The Score, Deeks examines a number of intriguing unsigned forwards who could help NBA teams this season. Deeks previously looked at guards and bigs.
The Hawks recalled John Jenkins from the D-League, the team announced today in a press release. Since being assigned to the Bakersfield Jam a week ago, Jenkins appeared in four games, averaging 21.5 PPG and 6.3 RPG. He’ll be in uniform for Atlanta tonight against the Wizards.

Lakers Fielding Offers For Pau Gasol

December 13th, 2013 at 12:34pm CST by Luke Adams

The Lakers have been fielding trade offers for Pau Gasol for “a while,” sources tell Sean Deveney of the Sporting News, who reports that the team may be moving toward finding a new home for the big man. According to Deveney, tensions between Gasol and coach Mike D’Antoni have been “simmering” for the last year.

“I don’t think there is anything personal between the two guys,” one of Deveney’s sources said of D’Antoni and Gasol. “They’re both professionals. I don’t think they’re buddies or anything. But on the court, it is just not working out.”

Gasol has been the subject of plenty of trade rumors in the past couple years, but has always been considered a tough player to move. The fact that he’s on an expiring contract helps, but his $19MM+ salary will make it difficult to find a taker, especially considering the Lakers are reluctant to take on multiyear contracts that would compromise the team’s projected cap space for 2014 and/or 2015.

Additionally, Gasol’s play on the court this season hasn’t increased his trade value at all. The Lakers expected the 33-year-old to return to All-Star form following the departure of Dwight Howard, with whom Gasol never quite meshed. Instead, his .417 FG% and 15.4 PER are the worst marks of his 13-year career.

If the Lakers were to seriously consider a trade involving Pau, they would likely need to get at least one big man in return to bolster a thin frontcourt, says Deveney. L.A. would also like to get younger, so landing at least one draft pick would be a key, according to Deveney’s source. Given that asking price, I wouldn’t be surprised if Gasol simply stayed put, forcing the Lakers to make a decision next summer on whether or not the Spaniard will be a part of their future.

Odds & Ends: Knicks, Salmons, Bobcats

December 12th, 2013 at 4:58pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Knicks were bent on injecting youth into their team, and they brought Josh Powell and Ike Diogu to camp with no intention of retaining them for opening night, no matter how well the two veterans played in preseason, a source tells Bleacher Report’s Howard Beck. For now, New York seems engaged in a pursuit of Kyle Lowry as it tries to unload Raymond Felton, who made Ben Golliver of SI.com‘s “All-Atrocious Team.” Here’s more from around the league:

New Raptors small forward John Salmons is a “prime candidate” to be dealt again before the trade deadline, writes Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun, pointing to his de-facto expiring contract. No Raptors appear off-limits for a trade.
The Bobcats released James Southerland on Wednesday, but not because the organization was disappointed with him, notes Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer. “He was brought in as a developmental player. We like him a lot,” coach Steve Clifford said. “Nothing he did he could have done better. We just needed someone more ready to play.” Charlotte signed veteran Chris Douglas-Roberts to replace Southerland.
Pau Gasol hinted that there’s a chance he could sign an extension with the Lakers, during his recent interview with Scott Howard-Cooper of NBA.com. The possibility of an in-season agreement has seemed like a long shot.
A Prim Capital investor was found guilty of obstructing a grand jury investigation into the firm’s ties to the players union, reports Nate Raymond of Reuters. The son of former union executive director Billy Hunter has served as a Prim executive.
Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports profiles freelance trainer Rob McClanaghan, who works with some of the NBA’s top players and has exerted influence on front office decision-making.
Mark Deeks of ShamSports examines several free agents and D-Leaguers who could be on the radar of NBA teams in a piece for the Score, calling Drew Gooden perhaps the most talented among available big men. Deeks looked at guards on Wednesday.

Pau Gasol On Free Agency, Grizzlies

December 11th, 2013 at 5:59pm CST by Charlie Adams

Pau Gasol sat down with Scott Howard-Cooper of NBA.com and discussed his future with the Lakers. Although he made it clear he was interested in staying in Los Angeles, Gasol wouldn’t rule out the possibility of moving on to another club when he hits free agency this offseason:

“There’s different factors you have to take into account. The financial factor. That I’ve been with this franchise, for what I’ve been through, the loyalty I have to them. And also the chances of winning a championship. Those three are the most. What percentage I will give or prioritize, we’ll see when the opportunities come along. But I would like to first be in a position to win a championship again and enjoy the last few years of my career and be in a good position to do so.”

We’ve heard before that Gasol isn’t totally committed to staying in purple and gold so this statement don’t come as a huge surprise. What’s more intriguing is Gasol’s thoughts on the potential for a reunion with the Grizzlies:

“It’s appealing. One of the best centers in the NBA, one of the best interior players, is my brother [Marc Gasol]. There’s a lot of attractive factors there. But who knows if that’s even a possibility or if that will ever happen. Right now, I’m just trying to focus on (the Lakers’ opponents) and staying healthy and playing a very successful year so this team and others will have the certainty and the confidence that I am a difference maker, that I am an elite player and I have a lot of years in me.”

In a poll last week, most Hoops Rumors readers voted that they believed this would be Gasol’s final season in LA. The 33-year-old is playing below his career averages in most statistical areas and probably has his best playing days behind him. Still, Howard-Cooper is quick to point out that much of his appeal comes from intangible factors such as his vast playoff experience, and many teams will surely be interested in signing the 13-year veteran come next summer.