Pau Gasol’s roller coaster relationship with the Chicago Bulls is intact.
First, he was trade fodder at the deadline. Then, he was a pivotal part of this team’s immediate future. Now, he’s not sure what he is to the Bulls, or what the Bulls are to him.
From ESPN.com’s Nick Friedell:
After the Bulls’ 106-98 loss to the Miami Heat, those playoff chances are just about dead. The Bulls would have to win their last three regular-season games, and the Indiana Pacers would have to lose their last four games to claim the final spot in the Eastern Conference playoffs.
“Nothing is set right now,” Gasol said after the game. “Definitely, I will evaluate what I need to when the time comes. But the way the team has responded to adversity and the way we finished up the season has not been so far great, and it’s been disappointing. So at the end of the day, when the time comes, I will evaluate things. It’s hard to finish the season like this. It’s not finished, but we’re in a very, as we know, extremely difficult position, so everything will be thought of and considered.”
Pau Gasol is having a monster year individually, but he will turn 36 in July. If he wants to spend what’s left of his career playing for a contender, the Bulls aren’t it. They aren’t making the playoffs this year, and no matter what they do with the rest of the roster, they’re going through a rebuild.
That’s what happens when you undergo such a stark stylistic shift. The Bulls appear invested in head coach Fred Hoiberg, which is fine, but they have to give him the right mix of talent to maximize his offensive constructs. And they haven’t.
Derrick Rose isn’t a good fit, and his time in Chicago could come to an end after next season. Joakim Noah isn’t a great fit and will most likely leave this summer. Gasol, too, doesn’t exactly fit the bill for the spacey bigs Hoiberg’s offense accentuates.
It’s unclear whether the Bulls will admit to this rebuild in function. If they blow up the roster, Gasol is almost certainly gone. But if they believe that, as presently constituted, they’re still a contender, there’s a better chance of Pau Gasol returning.
At the moment, given how Chicago ended the season, and played the entire year overall, it seems like a safe bet that he’ll leave.
