As the trade deadline approaches along with it comes the rumors of availability for a litany of players. There have been top names all around the NBA reportedly made available and it now appears an All-Star big man could be on the move, for the right price.
The Bulls are going to be without Joakim Noah for essentially the remainder of the season and Nikola Mirotic will be out for an extended period of time but still, the Bulls are fielding calls for their two healthiest and more experienced big men, Pau Gasol and Taj Gibson.
Following from K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune.
A first-round pick and a rotation player.
That’s the asking price, according to league sources, from the Bulls in most of their trade talks as Thursday’s 2 p.m. deadline approaches.
The Bulls have been in several discussions, with most talk centered on Pau Gasol, Taj Gibson and Tony Snell, sources said. Not surprisingly, there has been little interest in Snell.
However, Gasol has drawn interest and the Bulls are weighing whether to deal a player who has made clear he will exercise his player option and become an unrestricted free agent this summer. The Bulls have turned down some unknown offers for Gasol, a source said, so they won’t trade him just to trade him.
If a trade for either Pau Gasol or Taj Gibson does happen, it could mean the impressive rookie Bobby Portis will immediately get more playing time. Ideally you would imagine Chicago would want to get rid of Taj to keep Pau as the veteran leader on the team to anchor the frontline. Pau also wants to remain in Chicago, as Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical on Yahoo! Sports reports.
Six-time All-Star center Pau Gasol holds significant interest in signing a contract extension with the Chicago Bulls this summer and has strongly resisted the idea of a trade that would turn him into a two-month rental, league sources told The Vertical.
Bulls general manager Gar Forman has been discussing trades on several fronts involving Gasol, although some teams interested in Gasol worry that his love for Chicago could cloud his motivation in fully committing to a short-term stay for the rest of the season, league sources said.
Gasol, 35, plans to decline the player option on the $7.4 million owed to him in 2016-17, but has significant interest in signing a new deal to remain with the Bulls, league sources said.
It appears that Taj might be the odd man out if the right team makes the call on the veteran big man.
