NBA Rumors: Pau Gasol returning to Los Angeles Lakers?
By Jack Crosby
If you ask for most people’s opinion, they will probably tell you that there is no way that Pau Gasol returns to the Lakers this summer as he becomes an unrestricted free agent. After not being treated all that well by the organization, which includes being named in constant trade rumors despite being one of the most consistent forces on the team, you can see why he would maybe just want to walk away and sign elsewhere.
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However, a return to Los Angeles shouldn’t be ruled out completely.
As Dave Macmenamin of ESPN Los Angeles pointed out recently, GM Mitch Kupchak is making a good effort to keep his star with the team.
"Has Pau Gasol already played his last game for the Los Angeles Lakers? Not if the Lakers’ brass has their way, he hasn’t.Although the Lakers’ ideal free agency scenario involves convincing both LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony to come play for them this summer, according to a source with knowledge of the team’s thinking, they are not ruling out the return of the four-time All-Star and two-time NBA champion Gasol by any means. …“It’s going to depend,” Kupchak said. “Pau and I spoke a lot during the season, a lot during the postseason. And we let him become a free agent. And I know it’s something that he’s looking forward to. He loves Los Angeles and he’d love to stay here. He’d love to continue to win, but it is a pretty active marketplace. Or it will be. And he’s going to have some options that are probably pretty good. We’re going to have to sort through our challenges and there are scenarios where Pau would be back and we’d pursue him. And there are scenarios that he wouldn’t be back or that he chooses to go someplace else.”"
Of course, a lot of Gasol returning to the team surrounds whether or not the Lakers can bring in James or Anthony –or both. Whatever the case, it’s going to be a wild ride this summer for one of the most notable franchises in sports, who also doesn’t even have a head coach yet.