NBA Trade Rumors: Derrick Rose Must Push Bulls to Trade for Pau Gasol

The Bulls are a great team, but they're not championship level yet. Derrick Rose needs to do everything in his power to pressure his team into making a move to vault Chicago over the Heat and Thunder. 

Fortunately, Rose seems to be doing that very thing, at least according to Chris Sheridan of Sheridanhoops.

Rick Telander of the Chicago Sun-Times detailed Rose's actions after his first game back from injury, also touching that rumor.

"

Rose bolted from the arena before reporters had a chance to talk to him.

It may be that he is tired of discussing his back, about which we can only hope there is nothing more to be said. Best outcome? His back is never an issue again.

Or it could be Rose didn’t want to talk about the rumor, first reported in Spain, then in English on NBA writer Chris Sheridan’s blog, that Rose wouldn’t mind, would even welcome, the Bulls trading power forward Carlos Boozer to the Lakers for center Pau Gasol.

"

I will grant that it's not necessarily Rose's job to lobby for a trade in the media. If he were to do that and a trade didn't happen, things would be a little awkward between Rose and Boozer, to say the least. 

But not campaigning for it in the media and not campaigning for it are two different things. If Rose wants to leave the locker room early after a game because he doesn't want to talk about a rumor, fine. But he needs to walk straight out of that locker room and into the office of the General Manager demanding this trade. 

Gasol brings tremendous versatility, and more importantly, he knows how to win. After all, this is a guy who's made three NBA Finals, winning two of them. He's won those being an in-the-paint guy, having an elite perimeter player scoring the majority of the points. 

While Rose himself is young, the team is not. When you have a chance to win a title, you need to do everything in your power to make that happen. Bringing Gasol in would make the Bulls instantly better, giving them the ability to score from all areas of the floor.

Gasol fits Rose's style of play a lot better than Boozer. He is better out running, which is how the Bulls will win in the playoffs. 

As the reigning MVP, Rose certainly has a lot of pull with the Bulls. He needs to use that pull to make the team better. A Gasol trade would certainly qualify. 

Follow @mdixon1985