Pau Gasol: Has LA Lakers Management Made Amends?

One day, Pau Gasol is the biggest trade piece offered by the Los Angeles Lakers. The next day, he's the team's co-captain.

During the long, strange trip of the past three months, Gasol has weathered a serious storm of rumors and vicious trade allegations—many of them surfacing directly from the El Segundo offices of his employer. But as soon as the talk stopped, the two-time NBA champion found himself holding the torch for his Lakers once again.

That Gasol? The same player who was dangled in front of Minnesota Timberwolves management for Michael Beasley, Derrick Williams, Kevin Love—anybody they could get?

That Gasol? The same player who undeniably changed the face of the Lakers franchise upon his arrival in 2008?

Trade Gasol?

Apparently he can't be traded—he's our new co-captain.

Instead, in the darkest of moves, Lakers godfather Mitch Kupchak made Houston an offer they couldn't refuse and callously told Laker legend Derek Fisher that his time was up. When crime boss Jim Buss decides you're out, there are no two ways around it: it's time to pack your bags.

Lakers management isn't stupid. You're simply not going to get equal value for the Spaniard on the retail market.

In a truly backhanded fashion, Buss communicated to Gasol that no matter how many times the team tried to trade him over the past three months, they still see him as a critical piece in the Lakers' championship puzzle.

Um, thanks?

Not the biggest vote of confidence from management, but for a player searching for the slightest sense of stability during these rocky times, Gasol will take it. 

Speaking with the media after the Fisher trade, Gasol maintained he's finally ready to put the trade talk behind him:

"A big relief," according to the Spaniard.

"A big load off my shoulders."

"Having to deal with it on a daily basis" was a real burden for the 30-year old.

"It's time to play...I'm happy to be here and part of the team...and [it's time to] just focus on playing."

Now the co-captain of the team, Gasol will surely take the events of last week to exercise his trade demons and finally settle in for the season.

The uncertainty was clearly taking its toll on Gasol, and Lakers management has finally put an end to it.

Until the next time.

Hallelujah.

We forgive, but we don't forget. And for a professional like Gasol, it's all taken in stride.

Even against management's best efforts, the Lakers simply couldn't part ways with Gasol this past week—they count on him too much.

In this volatile, high-stakes game of basketball, where billions of dollars are in play and on the table, this half-hearted show of support is as good as it gets.

And so the two move forward, both acknowledging that this is the price you pay when managing a roster, and both adopting a workmanlike approach in their quest toward the communal goal—the franchise's 17th NBA championship

As we painfully learned this summer, like it or not, that's just how it's done in the NBA.

The business of basketball is strictly business.

No hard feelings, Pau.