When the Chicago Bulls signed Pau Gasol in the summer of 2014, it was viewed as a steal for the Bulls. They essentially swapped the max contract letdown in Carlos Boozer for perennial hall-of-fame forward Pau Gasol on a cheaper deal.
The one interesting part of Pau’s deal was his player option, one he is expected to exercise at the end of this season so he can test his value on the free agency market. A market expected to have more money available than ever before.
Following from Vincent Goodwill of CSN Chicago.
Gasol told CSNChicago.com Wednesday night after his 26-point, 19-rebound, four-block and three-assist performance against the Denver Nuggets that it’s “very likely” he’ll opt-out of his contract this summer and test the market.
“As long as I keep playing like this,” Gasol said. “I know I’ll have some options.”
“I feel pretty good right now physically,” Gasol said in the locker room after Wednesday’s game. “I had to take it easier in the preseason so I started a little slower this season than I would’ve liked but because of how I played this summer I had no choice. I had to refuel somehow so I could have enough gas to make it through the entire season and still get to the end with enough and push through so I can play well in the playoffs.”
Over half of the teams in the NBA will have max contract money available and once you go beyond Kevin Durant, Mike Conley and Al Horford, there might not be many players who warrant a max deal unless a team reaches for a potential star. Rajon Rondo is already rumored to be getting a max deal in the summer and Pau Gasol, despite his advanced age, could also get one similar to Rondo. A shorter max but a max nonetheless.
Pau could get it and I could totally see a team come out of nowhere to throw him that money. Who knows, he also could take a cheap deal and reunite with his brother in Memphis with a ton of money coming off the books this summer.
Wherever Pau goes, he will immediately make them better and it could be the final stop on his great career.
