Bulls Trade Rumors: Chicago ‘motivated’ to move Pau Gasol
The Chicago Bulls are reportedly motivated to move Pau Gasol before the 2016 NBA Trade Deadline
The Chicago Bulls shook things up a bit on the Wednesday before the 2016 NBA Trade Deadline as it was reported early in the day that the team was “shopping” veteran big man Pau Gasol. However, there were plenty of reports saying that, although the Bulls were willing to listen to offers, that it didn’t seem as if Chicago was ultimately pushing to get Gasol out of the door. That may no longer be the case, though.
According to a report from Chris Mannix of The Vertical and Yahoo! Sports, the Bulls are now “motivated” to try and move Pau Gasol ahead of the deadline on Thursday at 3 p.m. ET:
Regardless of how you want to characterize it--shopping, listening, etc--several execs believe Chicago is now motivated to move Pau Gasol.
— Chris Mannix (@SIChrisMannix) February 18, 2016
The concern regarding Gasol when it comes t the Bulls is the fact that he has a player option for the last year of his three-year contract with Chicago that could make him an unrestricted free agent this summer if he were to decline it, which he’s expected to do. The Bulls would be covering themselves instead of risking losing Gasol in free agency for nothing.
However, the questions that ultimately arise are what the Bulls would be looking for in return. You’d have to imagine that it would take a hefty package to lure a veteran, All-Star big man out of Chicago, a deal that would almost surely include draft picks and young assets.
Moreover, you have to wonder what the Bulls would look like going for if Gasol did indeed get dealt in regards to their frontcourt. Joakim Noah is out long-term and the timetable on Nikola Mirotic is up in the air after complications from his appendectomy. You’d have to imagine that Chicago would want a piece that could help them this season in return for trading Gasol.
With all of that in mind, there’s going to be a bit of work to do if the Bulls are indeed going to trade Pau Gasol before Thursday’s deadline. If it does happen, though, it’d be one of the bigger deals we’ll see in 2016.