The Chicago Bulls are close to signing Pau Gasol on a free agent deal that could turn into a sign and trade with the LA Lakers and this comes as Dwyane Wade is considering possibly signing with the Bulls after LeBron James left Miami, but with Chris Bosh coming back and Carmelo Anthony still up in the air, the Bulls are going hard after Gasol and want to lock him in.
According to ESPN.com, Gasol had major interest from the LA Lakers and San Antonio Spurs and he also had interest from the NY Knicks, who were hoping to pair him with Carmelo. Anthony still could sign with the Bulls, but right now the NY Knicks appear to be the frontrunner with a five year, $129 million contract. Gasol is a winner and a proven reliable player on both ends of the floor and he has been a key component to championship teams and his connection to Phil Jackson had many thinking he would go to the Knicks.
ESPN is reporting that the Lakers offered Gasol "two years worth $23 million, and three years worth $29 million" for contract and teams were also looking to use sign and trade deals with the Lakers. The Lakers just acquired Jeremy Lin in a trade with the Houston Rockets, who lost out on Chris Bosh back to the Miami Heat and that is a big factor in what happens with Wade. The Bulls feel they have a championship roster ready to go and that Gasol is a major piece of that.
Gasol is one of the top free agents on the market past Carmelo Anthony and LeBron James and teams like the Chicago Bulls, NY Knicks, LA Lakers, San Antonio Spurs, Thunder and Miami Heat have been interested in signing him and New York may look at trading Amar'e Stoudemire or Iman Shumpert to get the cap space, while Chicago has looked at Carlos Boozer for a potential sign and trade for Gasol.
The Los Angeles Lakers are entering a fundamentally important season for the future of the franchise after losing Dwight Howard to the Rockets in free agency before last year and while the team is dealing with Kobe Bryant coming back from a serious injury again, they still may try and keep Pau Gasol if the deal falls through with the Bulls.
While the Lakers very likely will not finish with a better record than the Rockets in the regular season this year, chances are they will play much better than they did last year and one reason will be a rejuvenated Bryant as long as he is healthy. The star appears healthy this summer and if he can keep that up through the season, the Lakers should operate much more smoothly than they did last year. Two years ago the team went 45-37 despite ranking sixth in points per game and fourth in rebounding and now they come in after winning 27 games and while some of those numbers may dip, Bryant should be in a better situation now where he can put up better numbers with Julius Randle and Lin.
Teams who miss out on Gasol on the free agent market could also go after Andrew Bynum. Bynum would be a very interesting option as long as he is healthy and clearly his time in Cleveland and Indy was a mess, but he could turn it around.. After missing an entire season with the Sixers before last year, Bynum will be looking to put up numbers like in 2011-12 with 18.7 points and 11.8 rebounds. Kenneth Faried is a player the Knicks liked in the draft when he was taken and it would bring things full circle if the team tried to trade for him. Faried will be just 26-years-old and two years ago he showed some flashes of elite status and after putting up 11.5 point and 9.2 rebounds.
