7 Surprising Factors That Could Keep Pau Gasol in Los Angeles

A tumultuous season for Pau Gasol in Los Angeles with the Lakers ended with L.A. losing in five games to the Oklahoma City Thunder in the playoffs. Now trade rumors once again dominant talk surrounding the Spaniard.

It’s no surprise that Gasol’s name has returned to trade rumors considering he already had been traded earlier this year (before David Stern’s veto).

After the vetoed trade, Gasol remaining in L.A. was still a big question mark moving forward. Kobe Bryant eventually delivered the ultimatum to management, essentially saying trade Gasol or don’t, but make a quick decision.

This led to speculation by Brian Kamenetzky of ESPN Los Angeles, which included a Gasol trade to the Chicago Bulls for Carlos Boozer and C.J. Watson and a trade to the Atlanta Hawks for Josh Smith and Marvin Williams.

In addition, Ric Bucher of ESPN stated during a broadcast referenced by the Examiner that the Lakers could trade Gasol to Boston in exchange for Paul Pierce to help take the scoring load off of Bryant.

Despite the rampant trade rumors, there’s still a good chance that Gasol will remain in Los Angeles next season. Here are seven factors that could keep Gasol in L.A. moving forward.

7. Lakers Won't Underrate Pau

Just because Gasol may be on the trading block again this summer doesn’t mean that the Lakers will bite at any trade offer.

Yes, the Lakers technically already traded Gasol, but that was in order to add Chris Paul who is arguably the best point guard in the NBA.

Would the Lakers pull the trigger on a trade that nets them Carlos Boozer from Chicago or Kyle Lowry from Houston? It’s possible, but I doubt that the organization would go that route.

The Lakers know how valuable Gasol is to their team and to teams looking to acquire him via trade, so I don’t see L.A. making a snap decision to trade him for 10 cents on the dollar this summer.

6. Size Advantage with Gasol

One of the Lakers’ biggest advantages against other NBA teams, to this point, has been their size.

The Lakers have a distinct advantage down low not only because of their sheer length and height, but they have two of the most skilled bigs in the NBA by way of Gasol and Andrew Bynum.

Would the Lakers sacrifice that advantage moving forward? Would they become a better team if they broke up the Bynum/Gasol duo?

Those are difficult questions to answer, but when Gasol and Bynum are utilized to their unique skill sets, they are truly two of the most dangerous threats in the NBA.

5. Age

At 31 years old, Gasol isn’t getting any younger. Although 31 isn’t necessarily old for a basketball player, seeing that Steve Nash at 38 and Grant Hill at 39 are still playing at a high level, Gasol has a lot of miles on the odometer.

Gasol has played 11 seasons in the NBA, and thanks to his time spent with the Lakers, he has logged a lot more minutes due to deep playoff runs.

Teams looking to give up young talent in order to add Gasol will have to make certain that they’re close enough to making a championship run of their own before they make any rash decisions.

With that said, there may be a distinct lack of trade partners out there to provide a landing spot for Gasol, should he become available on the trade market.

4. Pedigree

For as much flak as Gasol takes from Kobe Bryant, and the media, whenever he has a lackluster performance (keeping in mind that a poor performance from Gasol is seen as a great performance from about 70 percent of the league’s power forwards), the seven-foot Spaniard still has what it takes to win games.

The Lakers won the Larry O’Brien Trophy with Gasol in 2009 and 2010. During those championship runs, Gasol meshed so well with Bryant on the court that if you told a Laker fan after the ’09 season that Gasol’s name would reach trade talks just a few years later, they’d likely think you were crazy.

After the failed trade that would have brought Chris Paul to the Lakers, L.A. hung on to Gasol and ended up losing to a juggernaut Thunder team led by a slew of hungry, young players.

There are plenty of fan bases around the NBA that would love to be able say their team made it as far as the Lakers did this season.

If the Lakers choose to trade Gasol, they’ll likely remain a playoff-caliber team. However, treating Gasol like dirty laundry after he helped the organization win two championship trophies certainly seems fickle. Lakers’ brass need to remember how much Gasol meant (and still means) to this team.

3. Possible Bynum Trade

Andrew Bynum had his best statistical season by far this year for the Los Angeles Lakers.

For the first time since his sophomore season, Bynum was able to stay consistently healthy despite the grueling shortened schedule. As a result, the Lakers’ center put up huge numbers in 60 games played.

Bynum averaged 18.7 points and 11.8 rebounds per game this season (both career-highs). In his seventh NBA season, he finally garnered his seemingly unlimited potential. Although maturity still seems to be a bit of an issue with Bynum, it’s hard to argue that he had a tremendous breakout year.

With that said, the Lakers organization could use his career year to their advantage this summer in the trade market.

If the Orlando Magic want to ensure that they don’t lose Dwight Howard at season's end for no compensation, they’d be wise to trade their superstar center to get value in return.

If the Magic decide to do so, Bynum, despite his checkered past as far as injuries are concerned, is a much more desirable option then say, Brook Lopez of the Brooklyn Nets.

Should the Lakers come to the consensus that Bynum’s breakout year was an anomaly that may not get repeated, I wouldn’t be shocked to see Los Angeles swing a deal for Howard.

If that happens, the Lakers core moving forward would be Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol and Dwight Howard. Now that’s a scary big three.

2. Possible Coaching Change

Mike Brown had arguably one of the most difficult jobs in the NBA this season trying to replace coaching legend Phil Jackson on the Lakers’ bench.

For the better part of the season, Brown managed to handle media criticism well and, more importantly, kept Kobe Bryant from turning his back on him.

However, some spotty decision-making, like trying to make Gasol more of a perimeter player instead of keeping him in the post where he’s most effective, could hinder Brown moving forward.

With a core of Bryant, Gasol and Bynum, the Lakers certainly have the firepower to win another championship. Nevertheless, they’ll need every member of the staff to get as much out of those three players as possible if they are to make that dream a reality.

Allowing Bryant to hoist up 23 shots per game, like he did this season, simply won’t fly. Gasol and Bynum are fantastic second and third options, but they have to actually be included in the offense for this team to maximize their potential.

Can Brown do his job and make everyone on the roster happy, or will there be a coaching change in L.A. to suit the team’s needs?

Only time will tell, but if a coaching change happens, I like Gasol's chances of staying a lot more.

1. Gasol to the Los Angeles Clippers

Although I’m being facetious, this is certainly a surprise factor that would technically keep Gasol in Los Angeles.

At this point, I truly believe it’s a 50-50 coin flip as to whether or not Gasol will be back in a Lakers uniform next season. If he were to reach the Los Angeles Clippers in a trade, it satisfies both criteria of Gasol remaining in Los Angeles and simultaneously parting ways with the Lakers.

Gasol is still one of the best power forwards in the league at the offensive end of the floor, but at this point his confidence may have simply taken too many hits for him to remain effective with the Lakers.

Gasol has handled his time in Los Angeles with a huge amount of grace considering how often he is criticized and made the scapegoat for the Lakers shortcomings.

If the Lakers decide to keep him on the roster, I expect him to continue playing at a high level, but how much tension can that relationship take on before falling apart?

We’ll soon know the answer.