Storyline: Pau Gasol Trade?
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The Spurs are working hard to part ways with Pau Gasol, according to one Eastern Conference GM.
Adrian Wojnarowski: “Some players to watch in trade talks between now and Feb. 7, if the Spurs want to improve and with the conversations they’re having around the league, Pau Gasol is a player whose name you’re going to hear. He’s got a partial guarantee on his contract next season, he’s not been a part of this core rotation on this team, you could see him moved before the Feb. 7 deadline.”
Since returning, Gasol is averaging 10.3 minutes in the last nine games, averaging two points and 4.2 rebounds. He could be attractive to a team looking to add a veteran presence, but Gasol’s $16 million salary makes a trade unlikely. “I just don’t see him having any trade value,” one league executive told The Athletic.
Since returning, Gasol is averaging 10.3 minutes in the last nine games, averaging two points and 4.2 rebounds. He could be attractive to a team looking to add a veteran presence, but Gasol’s $16 million salary makes a trade unlikely. “I just don’t see him having any trade value,” one league executive told The Athletic. However, the attraction could be his contract next season. Gasol’s final year is valued at $16 million, but only $6.7 million is guaranteed if Gasol is waived.
With his role reduced, asked if he’s requested or considered a change of scenery, Gasol told The Athletic: “I’m trying to adjust and keep things in perspective. Everything has a positive outcome. I’m glad my foot is reacting well, and hopefully, I’ll get a chance to build on my minutes and my contribution to the team. “Will I love to play more and have a bigger role?” Gasol asked. “Absolutely, because that’s the kind of player and competitor that I am. But at the same time, I follow the coach’s directives, and you got to fulfill a role, whatever that role is. And that’s what you get paid to do. That’s a part of your job as a player.”
Pau Gasol is currently under contract with the San Antonio Spurs. If what I am hearing comes to fruition, that contract will be relocated to Philadelphia and the 7-foot Spaniard will be teaming up with Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons next season. When you are having simultaneous conversations with people all around the world and not a single person is telling you “That is untrue,” you have a smoke/fire situation. And what I am hearing is that a trade scenario that would send Gasol to the 76ers is very much in play as one of the various Kawhi Leonard deals being pondered by the San Antonio Spurs.
Pau Gasol on the block?
If the Spurs are considering Spellman, the move does make sense. Pau Gasol will turn 38 next month, and some around the NBA anticipate he’ll be mentioned in trade talks this offseason. Though Gasol is still efficient, his scoring production did decline in his second season with the Spurs. Gasol averaged 10.1 points and 8.0 rebounds in 77 games. He’s scheduled to make $16 million next season, the second of a three-year, $48 million deal he signed last summer.
Why didn’t you trade Pau Gasol? Gar Forman: “Because we like him. We value Pau. We value him on the floor and the leadership he brings. We didn’t make calls looking to move Pau. We received calls on most of our players. Our job is to listen and to hear what people have to offer and get the pulse of what is happening around the league.”
League sources said the Kings tried to acquire Chicago center Pau Gasol and swingman Tony Snell for center Kosta Koufos and guard Ben McLemore. There also were discussions with Cleveland about receiving center Timofey Mozgov and guard Iman Shumpert for Koufos and McLemore, sources said. The sources wished to remain anonymous because they did not have authority to discuss the matter.
Nick Friedell: Bulls front office was steadfast from the start that they weren’t moving Gasol simply for sake of making deal. Problem for Bulls is they have consistently struggled to land the “big fish” in free agency. Gasol has been very good, but not a superstar.
Marc Stein: Looks like Pau Gasol is going to get what he wants and will finish the season in Chicago
KC Johnson: Indications are Bulls are working to schedule trade call with league for small deal. Kings-Gasol stuff, I’m told, is all but dead.
Steve Aschburner: Pau Gasol told me he never has rooted for his team to make deadline trade, doesn’t think most players do. Disloyal to teammates, he said.
Ken Berger: Still no traction for Sacramento in talks with Chicago for Pau Gasol, who appears to be staying with Bulls. “Always was,” source says.
Kings still pursuing Pau Gasol
Marc Stein: But Sacramento, according to ESPN sources, has not yet abandoned its trade pursuit of Chicago’s Pau Gasol with just under an hour to go
Chris Broussard: I’m told the latest on possible Bulls/Kings trade is that it’s unlikely. I’m told at this point, chances slim that Dwight is moved
Rick Noland: Bulls said to still be talking to Kings about Pau. deal would cheapen Cavs’ game tonight, but wouldn’t be Cavs’ fault
Nick Friedell: Pau on trade rumors: “I think it’s improbable that anything will happen, but it’s fun to talk about it, isn’t it?”
Vincent Goodwill: Gasol: “I don’t want to give up on this team just because we’re going through some difficulties and challenges right now.”
Vincent Goodwill: Pau Gasol believes he won’t be traded but said “it’s a business. I’ve been wrong before.”
KC Johnson: Gasol said he talked to management yesterday.
KC Johnson: Pau Gasol is picture of contentment as Bulls’ shootaround nears conclusion in Cleveland. Will be chatting to him shortly.
Tom Ziller: Yep. Early in Boogie’s career he said he watched a lot of Pau clips on YouTube. twitter.com/sam_amick/stat…
Sam Amick: On Pau Gasol-to-Sac possibility that the Yahoo crew reported, I’m getting skepticism from Bulls side that a deal will materialize today.
As for the trade deadline, league sources said the Kings are aggressively pursuing Chicago center Pau Gasol.
Whether they’re also without Pau Gasol will be determined before the 7 p.m. tipoff. That’s five hours after the league’s trade deadline and Gasol, according to league sources, is available for the right price.
The Bulls have turned down at least two offers for Gasol, one source said, so they won’t trade him just to trade him.
Jake Fischer: Conferred with the league office today: Any amendment to an owed draft pick protection cannot impact another draft pick obligation in any way. Thus, in order for an owed draft pick’s protection to be amended, all teams involved in that pick’s outcome have to accept the alterations.
Kings pushing hard to land Pau Gasol
The Bulls have discussed deals with multiple NBA teams on Gasol, but one discussion lingered on Tuesday, league sources told The Vertical’s Wojnarowski and Chris Mannix: Gasol and Tony Snell to the Sacramento Kings for Kosta Koufos, Ben McLemore and a lowering of the lottery protections on the 2016 first-round pick that Sacramento owes the Bulls. The pick is protected Nos. 1-10, but the Bulls and Kings discussed lowering the protections further to give Chicago a better chance of obtaining use of the pick in 2016, league sources told The Vertical.
The Kings reached out to the Philadelphia 76ers on Tuesday, too, league sources said, because the Sixers have the right to swap picks with the Kings’ on the 2016 pick. The Kings wouldn’t be able to complete the deal involving the pick with Chicago unless they could reach an agreement with Philadelphia. The Sixers were preparing to ask for a further sweetener to allow the Kings to move on a deal with Chicago, league sources said.
Six-time All-Star center Pau Gasol holds significant interest in signing a contract extension with the Chicago Bulls this summer and has strongly resisted the idea of a trade that would turn him into a two-month rental, league sources told The Vertical.
The Bulls have been lightly involved in trade talks involving Taj Gibson and more recently Pau Gasol, although a league source cautioned that the Bulls aren’t “shopping” Gasol, but that they’re open to trading him. Gasol will opt-out of his contract this offseason to hit the free-agent market one last time for a long-term contract that will likely carry him into retirement.
J. Michael Falgoust: Was told this about Pau Gasol earlier today: “He wants to play with his brother” .. Meaning Memphis (again). Ideally #Bulls
A first-round pick and a rotation player. That’s the asking price, according to league sources, from the Bulls in most of their trade talks as Thursday’s 2 p.m. deadline approaches. The Bulls have been in several discussions, with most talk centered on Pau Gasol, Taj Gibson and Tony Snell, sources said. Not surprisingly, there has been little interest in Snell.
Brian Windhorst: Bulls have taken some calls on Pau Gasol but aren’t actively shopping him, sources told ESPN
KC Johnson: Different take. Either way, shopping or listening, Bulls are looking for rotation player and 1st-rd pick for Pau/Taj twitter.com/windhorstespn/…
Bulls shopping Pau Gasol?
The Chicago Bulls are aggressively shopping All-Star forward Pau Gasol, league sources told The Vertical.
Vincent Goodwill: Re: Bulls/Gasol, a league source: “They’re open to trading him. Not sure “shopping” is the right word.”
Gasol is a cultured, big-city guy, and money isn’t his primary concern, which bodes very well for the Knicks, according to a source. Though it’s not a clear position need with Robin Lopez and Kristaps Porzingis, the 2016 free-agent class is not deep, and Gasol represents one of Jackson’s all-time favorite players.
If Jackson makes a play for Gasol to be the perfect mentor to Porzingis, he always could attempt to trade Lopez, who has been effective since late December but also will make more than $13 million next season.
Nick Friedell: Pau Gasol on the possibility of being dealt before the trade deadline: “Anything is possible in life, isn’t it?” Gasol said after Wednesday’s shootaround. “I find it unlikely, but possible at the same time. I think anybody in the league is tradeable unless you have a [no] trade clause, which I don’t have unfortunately. I’ll try to work that out in my next deal.”
In the long term, the previous notion that Noah’s season-ending shoulder surgery would make Dunleavy the team’s only “trade-deadline acquisition” could change. Two rival executives aren’t convinced the Bulls are done gauging the market for Gasol, whom the Bulls would like to re-sign this offseason but at their price.
Bulls want to keep Pau Gasol
Marc Stein: As for Pau Gasol … latest signals out of Chicago are that the Bulls want to RE-SIGN the free agent-to-be. As opposed to trading him
Noah has been bothered by injuries the past two seasons. He had surgery on his left knee following the 2013-14 season, and it was obvious he was not 100% last season. The Bulls were also quietly checking into deals for Pau Gasol, who will opt out of the final year of his contract after this season. But Gasol, who played in Friday’s loss to the Mavericks, is also battling injuries (shoulder, Achilles) and has a short list of teams he will sign with, making it difficult to trade him for a valuable asset.
Ric Bucher of Bleacher Report says the Bulls have already started testing those trade waters: “League sources say the Chicago Bulls have been checking on interest in one of their three bigs on the front line: Taj Gibson, Joakim Noah, and even at one point Pau Gasol. They are looking to get a young talent back, doesn’t matter whether it’s a defensive wing or a genuine stretch four. All of this is being motivated or prompted by the emergence of rookie big man Bobby Portis, who is demonstrating he is ready to take on a role now.”
Pau Gasol available?
The likes of Gibson, Noah and Gasol might not even see the end of their current contracts, as several sources indicated that the Bulls are taking calls on all three players as the trade deadline draws near. Noah’s value has taken a hit this week with a small tear in his left shoulder, and the center told reporters on Wednesday that he is looking at a two-to-four week window now. Not the best news for a player that was starting to look like his old self.
August 18, 2019 | 9:06 pm EDT Update
Entering his fifth season, Richardson was involved in a five-game playoff series loss two years ago against the Sixers. There have been many other, heated games with the two teams. His biggest perception of Philadelphia as an opposing player? “The fans, man,” Josh Richardson said during Saturday’s annual Sixers Summer Shore Tour at the PigDog Beach Bar BQ in Wildwood. “The first thing you think about is how hard the fans are to opposing players. It is tough playing against that and I am excited to play on the same side of those fans.”
In looking at his new team, Richardson noted something he thought he would never see, that he will be the smallest player in the starting lineup. The rest of the projected lineup is 6-10 point guard Ben Simmons, 6-9 small forward Tobias Harris, 6-10 power forward Al Horford and 7-2 center Joel Embiid. “I have never been that ever in my life,” Richardson said about being the smallest. “This will be interesting, looking up to my teammates, talking in huddles.”
Not surprisingly, his summer has been spent working overtime on all aspects of his game. “I’ve been grinding,” he said. Smith says he has benefited from extra summer work in the weight room. The Sixers list him at 199 pounds. He said he was about 205 the last time he was weighed before the summer and now says he is 212 pounds. He hopes to become a solid rotation player. “That is the goal,” he said. “Get in the rotation and play hard and do what I do and have fun.”
August 18, 2019 | 7:41 pm EDT Update
Shams Charania: The Grizzlies are granting the Los Angeles Lakers permission to speak with Dwight Howard, league sources tell @The Athletic @Stadium.
Ramona Shelburne: As @VeniceMase and I discussed the other day on @ESPNLosAngeles … Dwight Howard may have left town on bad terms with some in LA. But he always had a good relationship with Jeanie Buss. Remember, Jeanie and Phil tweeting at him during the recruiting process.
