Lakers Rumors: What the Lakers Could Get from Bulls for Pau Gasol

Chicago Bulls guard Derrick Rose created a bit of a stir this week when he claimed he would trade forward Carlos Boozer to the Los Angeles Lakers in exchange for Pau Gasol.

Rose has since backed off that stance, claiming he never said anything to the extent, which is believable given Rose's personality. He's been the rare superstar in the NBA of late that hasn't pushed for a superstar sidekick.

Even if Rose's comments were accurate and he was pushing for a Gasol trade, it would be a highly unlikely one to complete without a third team involved.

Given the salaries and where the Bulls are at with their rotation, the Lakers could expect to only receive a package from Chicago that include Boozer and guard C.J. Watson. The trade would work financially, but neither team would be entirely happy with the results.

The only other player the Bulls could include without messing up their rotation would be rookie Jimmy Butler, but adding him to the deal wouldn't make the Lakers want to part with Gasol.

From the Bulls perspective, they would get longer in the frontcourt with Gasol, but parting with Watson is something they likely wouldn't want to do, especially given the fact that Rose has been banged up this season.

Chicago would then be asking Mike James to take on Watson's backup minutes, which would weaken their backcourt.

From the Lakers' perspective, they get worse up front.

The Lakers' length makes them what they are and dealing Gasol for Boozer should be out of the question. Not only do they get smaller, but Boozer isn't the player Gasol is. That's no knock on the former Duke product, but Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak could do much better if he were going to deal Gasol.

Adding Watson would be nice, given the Lakers' point guard struggles, but not at the expense of losing Gasol.

It's easy to say, "let's trade Gasol to this team," but there always isn't a trade there to be had.

The most important thing that gets overlooked is the fact that Chicago is 27-8 at the All-Star break. They are under no pressure to make a deal.

So while Gasol to the Bulls sounds nice, neither Chicago nor the Lakers would be happy with a deal at the end of the day.