Pau Gasol
Tale of the tape: The 32-year-old, 7-foot, 227-lb. Gasol averages 14.0 points and 8.7 rebounds per 36 minutes this season, shooting 44.9% from the field with a .459 effective field goal percentage and a 15.7 PER. Lakers coach Mike D’Antoni recently moved Gasol to the bench indefinitely.
Contract: Gasol is owed roughly $38.3 million over the next two seasons, and becomes an unrestricted free agent after the 2013-14 season.
Roundtable:
Justin DeFeo: Assuming he can be had from the Lakers without having to give up Brook Lopez, Gasol would be an interesting commodity. His contract is swollen, but pairing a super-skilled Gasol with the somewhat comparatively skilled Lopez would make for an opposing team’s defensive nightmare. However, I don’t think the Brooklyn Nets can put together the type of package that would entice Los Angeles to unload their Euro big, at least without another team involved.
Sandy Dover: Gasol is tremendously successful when you put him on any team where the coach isn’t a moron. He’s going to be a Hall of Famer, he still has a lot of good play in him, and is terrific when healthy (most of the time). If the Brooklyn Nets are willing to part with Lopez for Gasol, and the Lakers keep their silly head coach, the Nets have a shot.
Mark Ginocchio: The Brooklyn Nets are too old and unathletic, so trade for an aging guy who has had an assortment of injuries this season? Or, we can just let the Lakers Jedi Mind Trick someone else into giving away true assets for Gasol.
Benjamin Nadeau: The Lakers have trended upwards recently (finally). I’ve always thought that the Lakers trading Howard or Gasol would be a sign of surrender; since when has Kobe Bryant allowed that? Gasol would be a decent fit, but I don’t see any trade out there unless they want the aforementioned Brooks/Humphries deal. Either way, I think the Lakers will ride & die with this squad until the bitter end.
Max Weisberg: Do the Brooklyn Nets have the assets to land Pau? Perhaps. Do they have the finances to pay the rest of his contract? Yes. Will the Lakers be willing to trade Pau? Questionable. With the Lakers recently beating Oklahoma City — the league’s best team — there are perhaps some in the Laker front office who might want to hold off on a Pau trade. There’s no question Gasol would be a nice fit on the Nets; he’s a superior talent in this league when healthy, and playing with a top PG would only make him better. It is unlikely now though, that the Lakers would trade him as a salary dump, considering their recent mini-turnaround.
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