Pau Gasol Trade Rumors: Why the Golden State Warriors Should Pursue the Big Man

The Los Angeles Lakers are reportedly making Pau Gasol available, and the Golden State Warriors should try bringing him to the Bay.

Ever since the "Veto," Gasol and the Lakers really haven't looked right, and the team is understandably looking to shake things up. Gasol—a four-time All-Star, an All-NBA second-teamer just last year and a two-time NBA champion—fits a need for the Warriors.

The Warriors need a center—Gasol is one. They need an interior defender—and Gasol is a good one.

Most importantly, they need someone to turn their losing ways around and teach the younger guys in Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Ekpe Udoh how to win in the NBA.

Which player on the floor can really be their leader now? How often does the second-best player on two championship teams become available?

Gasol would immediately become the most accomplished player the Warriors have had in years and a player who can be their leader. As of right now, the team's top three players can't even claim they have two playoff appearances in their careers combined.

Golden State needs a player with Gasol's credentials and talent, and they should come calling with a package centered around Monta Ellis and David Lee. I say "package" because if I'm the Warriors, I'm doing whatever I can to get the Lakers to include one (or both if they include Dorell Wright maybe) of their two potential first-round picks this year (maybe include Andris Biedrins too).

Ellis is a great scorer, no doubt, but what has that really done for the Warriors? I do believe that if the Warriors had acquired a big man who could defend then Curry and Ellis could play together, but that has yet to happen, and that window has been all but shut.

If the Warriors don't trade Ellis now, he is eligible to be a free agent next season. He likely either walks, or the Warriors sign him to Danny Granger money. Do either of those two propositions sound enticing? Plus, the Warriors aren't exactly winning with him as their top player.

Trading Ellis now for one of the top five centers (and on the Warriors Gasol would be a center) in this league—the trade is worth it alone just to say the Warriors have a top five center playing on their team. Have you ever been able to say that in your lifetime? Here is the chance.

David Lee is a very good player. He is a terrific rebounder, a good scorer and he seems like a great guy. However, he was brought to the Warriors as a great piece, at the time, to fit into Nellie ball because that is the system he grew up with in the NBA.

Mark Jackson wants to shift to a defensive-oriented team, though, and Lee doesn't really fit that system. Yes, he is putting up great numbers, but defensively, they are not where they want or need to be.

Bottom line, though, Lee is owed oodles of money. Someone who is that bad defensively, especially when you have no one else to help him out, shouldn't be collecting that big a paycheck. The Warriors should unload him now while they can because, again, the Warriors aren't winning with him either. 

If you think Gasol is too old at 31 years of age, Lee will be 30 (it's getting harder to classify either of these guys as old, but I guess that just means I am getting old) at the end of the next regular season, with three years and $44 million left on his deal. How fast do you think teams are going to hang up on Larry Riley when he calls offering up Lee in two or three years from now? It would be like he is trying to sell them a new long-distance phone plan.

Gasol has two years left on his deal, and ideally, the Warriors could build a winning team around him and Curry in that time. If they can't, Gasol and all of their other key players will be eligible for free agency, giving the Warriors a chance to start over from scratch, which wouldn't be the worst thing in the world. 

Go, Warriors—go get Gasol now and use the cap money you will have this summer to build around him, Curry, Thompson and Udoh.

And try to win a championship sometime soon—and by championship, I mean a playoff spot.