Post-it for Bulls: Go get Gasol
Grizzlies may be ready to shop out-of-place forward
Sam Smith
December 3, 2007
Now that the Bulls appear to be straightening themselves out some, it's time to deal.
The name that will be heard the most, here and around the NBA, is a familiar one. Not Kobe Bryant. If things start to go bad Monday night when the Bulls host Dallas, I wonder if the United Center fans will begin chanting, "Pau, Pau."
That's who'll be available who most fits the Bulls' needs and about whom the Bulls have had trade discussions before. Last winter they refused to deal Luol Deng for Pau Gasol, and that was reasonable. Though Gasol—in theory, anyway—has a post presence, it's doubtful the exchange would have netted the Bulls more offense after giving up Deng's scoring. That was when Jerry West was in charge in Memphis.
Now with a new general manager, a new coach in Marc Iavaroni and a new style, it's clear that Gasol is lost and likely expendable. At least that's the belief around the NBA, and teams expect a shot at Gasol by the trading deadline. The question is how much you really can give up for a seventh-year player who never has been a good rebounder or defender and hasn't been on the winning side in a playoff game.
How about Tyrus Thomas and Andres Nocioni?
That's a deal that makes some sense for both sides in that it doesn't alter the Bulls' perimeter core of Kirk Hinrich, Ben Gordon and Deng. And it gives Memphis an athletic runner in Thomas, who fits Iavaroni's fast-paced style.
When Iavaroni was the lead assistant for the Suns, there was serious discussion of dealing Shawn Marion for the rights to Thomas because the Suns liked Thomas so much. Also, the Grizzlies were prepared to go after restricted free agent Nocioni last summer, but when they realized the Bulls would match the offer, they opted for Darko Milicic.
The Grizzlies see Milicic, just back from injury, as a better role-playing fit than Gasol. Such a deal would enable them to spread the court better with shooters, since they have Mike Miller and Rudy Gay and can move Gay to small forward and Miller to shooting guard.
Gasol is not a classic back-to-the-basket player, but he's a 7-footer. He'd allow the Bulls to put Ben Wallace back at power forward, where he belongs, and enable Wallace to play more help-side defense, at which he excels.
It also would enable the Bulls to slow the game more and throw it inside. Failing to do that has been one cause of their high turnover rate because they're always seeking drive-and-kick opportunities. Movement is nice, but it also leads to more mishandling when there's no change-of-pace release when the shooters go cold.
Gasol clearly is out of place in Memphis. Though he has backed off his vocal trade demands of last season, he's averaging career lows in points, rebounds, assists, blocks and steals, while his minutes haven't changed dramatically. Having been burned by speaking out last season, he has remained quiet. But the Grizzlies are expected to start exploring the market for him.
"I have to be a little more active without the ball," Gasol told Memphis media. "There are not a lot of plays called. Period.
"It's more of a flow game. I haven't felt extremely comfortable with it because I was used to being told, 'You go here, this is going to happen and you're going to get the ball.' I just have to look for the ball and get my offense in the flow. It's been hard to assimilate."
The Grizzlies also made a nice pickup of shooting guard Juan Carlos Navarro, who is close with Gasol. And since Navarro is just on a one-year contract, the Bulls could sign him next summer as a free agent to complement and comfort Gasol.
Kobe isn't going to happen. This one makes more sense.
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