Pau Gasol Trade Rumors: Why Lakers Star Will Finish Season in LA
The Los Angeles Lakers’ star power forward Pau Gasol isn’t getting traded anywhere this season. He’ll be with the Lakers at least until the offseason.
Unlike a guy like Dwight Howard, Gasol has no control over where he goes, but it’s looking increasingly likely that the Lakers aren’t going to get the type of deal for him that they want.
That, along with certain details about Gasol’s contract and his age. will keep him in Los Angeles until after the playoffs.
Pay More
One of the interesting things about Gasol’s contract is that, if he gets traded, his salary for next season is bumped up by 15 percent. So, instead of paying Gasol $19 million for each of the next two seasons, whatever team acquires him will have to pay him $21.9 million for each.
That may not seem like a big difference for these rich NBA teams, but that’s a difference of an entire year’s salary for certain role players.
Teams are not going to want to have to pay more for Gasol upon requiring him, especially considering what they’ll have to give up in the first place just to get him.
To put $21.9 million into perspective for you, consider this: The Chicago Bulls, the newest team to show interest in getting Gasol, don’t have a single player within $8 million dollars of what would be Gasol’s salary for them next season.
That’s how big a deal it is. Gasol is one of the highest-paid players in the league, which makes him much harder to move for obvious reasons.
How Old?
With many young teams stepping up to take over the NBA thrones like Chicago and Oklahoma City, there is a premium on youth in the league right now. Each team wants to get better and younger at the same time.
Gasol is 31 years old, and has been in the league for nearly 11 years. He’s no spring chicken. This is yet another reason why Gasol will ultimately stay in Los Angeles.
Even though Gasol’s skills have not taken a real big dip yet, it stands to reason that they will soon, especially since they started to this season slightly.
Being over 30 years old and in the NBA is not an easy job. Gasol should just ask his teammate Kobe Bryant. Bryant is only two years older than Gasol, but in NBA years he’s more like five or six years older.
Despite his resurgence this season, Bryant has been banged up much of his career, and it has affected his play at times.
Gasol is a good player, but he is an aging one too. Teams need and want talented youth. Older talent doesn’t do as much good anymore.
The Right Deal
The biggest reason that Gasol will still be a Laker for the rest of this season is simply because the Lakers won’t be able to find the deal they are looking for.
The Celtics already supposedly offered All-Star point guard Rajon Rondo to the Lakers for Gasol, and they were turned down.
Then the Chicago Bulls reportedly offered up power forward C.J. Watson and Carlos Boozer. Los Angeles presented a counter offer, but neither team liked what the other was putting out there.
If those deals can’t work for the Lakers, I’m not sure what better deals they will get. Gasol isn’t as valuable as they probably think he is for some of the aforementioned reasons in this article.
The Lakers will be better off trading secondary players or draft picks for Ramon Sessions and Michael Beasley.
Pau Gasol will be a Laker for the rest of this season. He’s too old, too well-paid and won’t get the right deal for the Lakers. You can book it.
