Pau Gasol to Bulls Trade Won’t Happen

Every year when a trade deadline comes around — no matter it the NFL, MLB or even the NHL — there is endless speculation and intense hype around who will go where and why teams need to add this guy and that.

It’s usually at it’s peak in baseball where pitchers and utility players or a power hitter that will put the team over the edge and bring a World Series. But that excitement has poured over into other sports and basketball is in the thick of it this year.

This is aided by the flurry of activity surrounding the Carmelo Anthony drama last year and ow that another major superstar wants a new home, the hype and interest is at an all-time high once again.

But this season, the NBA trade deadline has a real MLB feel where teams are showing they have no problem renting a player for the rest of the season to satisfy a win now mentality.

The Bulls — apparently — are in the market to shift half their roster to another team to add a win now player.

Pau Gasol was involved in the Chris Paul talks this offseason and when he was “traded” it instantly showed the NBA that L.A’s untouchable power forward was now very gettable. But the Bulls are reportedly going all in to add Gasol to replace Carlos Boozer.

There is half truths in all of the trade talk activity. The Bulls were reported to be in dire need of Dwight Howard but those rumors are unfounded and exaggerated. Now that Howard has made it clear he wants to play somewhere other then Chicago, the talking heads need something to gossip about and have placed the Bulls target on Pau Gasol.

While the addition of Gasol would improve the Bulls, it won’t happen. It won’t happen because it’s stupid.

Gar Forman has made it his business to create unbreakable team chemistry and not break the bank doing so. He has prided himself on making smart decisions and has avoided blockbusters. The Bulls, since Forman’s taking of the GM job, have been rumored in huge deals before too.

Remember when LeBron was coming to Chicago and ESPN was already talking about LeBron over taking MJ’s legacy in Chicago? Remember when the Bulls were in principal contract negotiations with Dwayne Wade to bring the Illinois native back home?

All rumors, all untrue. That’s exactly what’s going on here. The pundits take a shred of truth and blow it up into a massive rumor. The Bulls have inquired about Pau Gasol, but that’s it. They’ve inquired, and a deal couldn’t be reached.

That doesn’t mean Forman was wiping sweat from his brow, crunching numbers with pit stains and hit tie a skewed trying to find the perfect deal to please the Lakers. The Bulls weren’t begging the Lakers to take Carlos Boozer and weren’t biting their nails over whether LA would accept the deal.

That makes for juicy headlines and a great Lifetime movie, but not for truth.

When it was reported that the Bulls needed a third team to complete a trade with the Lakers, that doesn’t mean that Forman hoped on the horn and put out an all points bulletin begging teams to become involved in a blockbuster. It doesn’t mean that the trade was simply a piece away from being done or that all that was holding everything up was the addition of a third party.

Gar Forman inquired about Pau Gasol and he talked about making a deal. Papers weren’t flying, rooms weren’t bustling with activity.

The Gasol to Chicago rumors were barely more then a rumor and more a product of the trade dealing buzz saw. Would it be nice? Of course it would be, Gasol is a stud and would become to Rose what he is to Kobe (at least that’s the thought behind the move).

But like a Howard fantasy basketball like trade, adding Gasol would be more hassle then it’s worth. The Lakers don’t want Carlos Boozer, and they need a point guard.

The puzzle pieces don’t fit. The Bulls have a point guard they won’t trade (MVP) and one that wouldn’t value up to Gasol. This is where a third team with a point guard would enter the equation but the key piece moving from Chicago would be Carlos Boozer and most likely wither Omer Asik or Taj Gibson. Luol Deng would be demanded in a trade and him alone is not worth it.

Adding Gasol would mean the Bulls still aren’t ready to hand anything over to Gibson and they’d better trade him at that point because he on’t re-sign if he can be a starter elsewhere.

It’s naive thought and if you want to see it happen, grab a copy of NBA2K12 and make it so. Other then that, don’t expect a trade for Gasol. It doesn’t make sense, the pieces don’t match and it’s so uncharacteristic of how Gar Forman is trying to run this team.