Pau Gasol Trade Rumors: Could Chicago Bulls Pull off a Trade with Carlos Boozer?

The Chicago Bulls have been rumored to be looking at trades with several teams since the beginning of the season, but the one that seems to be sticking is attempting to acquire Pau Gasol from the Los Angeles Lakers. Earlier in the year, Bulls star Derrick Rose reportedly expressed that he'd like to play with Gasol and it seems like management is looking to make that happen. As the trade deadline creeps up, the Bulls are trying to put together an attractive package for the Lakers.

According to Marc Stein of ESPN, Carlos Boozer would certainly be a part of this deal, but the Lakers would require another player, or players, to get involved as well. They've made it clear that they are looking for a point guard.

A straight trade of Pau for Boozer would not be smart for the Lakers, and wouldn't work, according to the Chicago Tribune. Boozer averages lower points, assists and rebounds and they'd also be losing three inches in height. Somehow a point guard would have to get thrown in the mix.

As Marc Stein suggests, the Bulls may be trying to put together a three-team trade so that the Lakers are more interested in trading the Spaniard. Ben Golliver of CBSSports.com said:

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Boozer represents the least logical swap: he's owed nearly the same amount of money per year, he's owed that money for a longer period of time, he's a worse player and he has no championship experience. The Lakers need flexibility and youth. Boozer is (getting) old and his contract is as flexible as a brick wall.

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Boozer's salary is a huge drawback to this trade because the Lakers have made it known they are looking to downsize in payroll rather than increase, which adding two or more players would undoubtedly do. However, as Ben Rosales of the Chicago Tribune points out, the Lakers could use their traded-player exemption they acquired in trading Lamar Odom to the Dallas Mavericks which is worth $8.9 million. The Lakers lack young skill at the point guard position, so any trade that doesn't supplement that is likely to be turned down by the team.

The Lakers have many other irons in the fire, as have been widely reported but there's no saying what can happen as Thursday afternoon draws closer.