The Bulls Should Make Pau Gasol’s Decision For Him

Pau Gasol has a player option in the third year of his contract with the Chicago Bulls for $7.769 million next season. It’s probably best for both Gasol and the Bulls that he decline it and look elsewhere.

If the front office duo of Gar Forman and John Paxson were even tuned into the Bulls’ loss on Thursday night against the Miami Heat, their decision on whether or not to keep Pau Gasol next season should have been made clear.

Down the homestretch of a close ballgame, Gasol was getting mollywhopped by soon-to-get-paid big man Hassan Whiteside on the glass and couldn’t box out Whiteside if his life depended on it.

But then again, that’s been Gasol’s tenure in Chicago.

Gasol has been an asset on the offensive end of the floor. His ability to bring bigs away from the basket with his mid-range shooting and his ability to pass out of the high post has made him an All-Star in both seasons as a Bull.

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However, as valuable as Gasol has been on the offensive end, it’s his work (or lack thereof) on the other end of the floor that should have the Bulls looking to other options next season, instead of Gasol and his almost-$8 million player option.

Throughout the year, Gasol had made it clear that he’s looking for one final paycheck before he heads to Springfield, Mass. and the Basketball Hall of Fame. Gasol turns 36 this July and could still have some value on the open market as a offensive-minded center.

Back in December, Gasol spoke with CSN Chicago’s Vincent Goodwill after a 26-point, 19-rebound performance against the Denver Nuggets.

“As long as I keep playing like this,” Gasol said to Goodwill. “I know I’ll have some options.”

Even with Gasol thinking about his pending free agency, the Bulls were reportedly still hell-bent on keeping Gasol in Chicago, according to ESPN NBA insider Brian Windhorst.

In an appearance on the popular talk show Waddle and Silvy on the ESPN Radio affiliate in the Chicago back in February, Windhorst mentioned that not only would the Bulls look to keep Gasol through the trade deadline, they’d look to pay him what he wanted.

(If you missed that interview, Windhorst mentioned how the Bulls could look to keep Gasol for … wait for it … up to $20 million a year with the salary cap explosion set to kick in this summer.)

Then, Thursday night happened.

Gasol scored 21 points and 12 rebounds to help keep the Bulls in the contest against the Heat, but his lack of … well, anything … on the defensive end was an issue against Whiteside and Amar’e Stoudemire.

Just because the block numbers say so, doesn’t mean Gasol is a defensive presence.

Plus, Gasol’s unenthusiastic post-game comments on his future after the Bulls were seemingly eliminated from the postseason by the Heat were something to take note of:

"“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.”(ESPN.com, Nick Friedell)"

Those weren’t even the more intriguing words of the night from Gasol.

Here’s what he said about the Bulls’ effort throughout the year on the defensive end:

Coming from the guy that has countless vines in fans’ collections of possessions like this, the comedic level of these thoughts are rather high.

He’s not a guy from Iowa or New Mexico, so there’s a good chance that Gasol could find himself playing elsewhere next season after this year’s cesspool of a season.

The Bulls have to get younger with their overall roster — something that’s been a problem — and have two 30+ year-old big men both lined up to be free agents this summer (including Joakim Noah).

There’s no telling what Cristiano Felicio‘s future is, but he’s been solid in limited action on the floor. Nikola Mirotic and Bobby Portis were both selected (and traded for) to be the bigs of the future for the Bulls in two of the past five drafts.

Next: The Miami Heat stick the final dagger (again) in the Bulls

If (and with Jerry Reinsdorf still at the helm, it’s not a huge “if”) Forman and Paxson are still running the show this summer, avoiding Pau Gasol like Gasol avoids rotations on defense would probably be a wise decision.