Los Angeles Lakers rumors: If Carmelo Anthony signs with Lakers, Pau Gasol will stay
By Jack Crosby
Coming into the free agency period, all of the focus has been on the Big Three from the Miami Heat and Carmelo Anthony. However, on the second day of free agency on Wednesday, it was Pau Gasol who stole all the headlines as teams such as the Chicago Bulls and Oklahoma City Thunder threw their names into the race as legitimate contenders to pry him away from the Los Angeles Lakers.
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Before this, according to reports throughout the week, it seemed as if the possibility of Gasol resolving his differences with Lakers management and returning to the team were getting even better.
Well, according to a report from the Los Angeles Times, the possibility of Gasol returning to the Lakers is still there…as long as they can convince Carmelo Anthony to join him and Kobe Bryant.
"“If the Lakers get Carmelo, Pau will stay,” said a person familiar with Gasol’s thinking."
If this is indeed the scenario that would secure Gasol coming back, then we’ll no more about that soon as the team is scheduled to meet with Anthony on Thursday as he continues his free agency tour. Melo has already spent time with the Rockets, Mavericks and Bulls, so the Lakers will be one of the teams to get the final pitch in.
At this point in his career, Gasol’s main goal is to get more rings on his fingers before he walks away from the game. Bringing Anthony into the mix with he and Kobe would definitely put the Lakers in prime position to make that come to fruition for him.