Pau Gasol joined the team in 2008, and even though he helped bring two titles to the franchise, Gasol has been mentioned in trade rumors for quite some time now. Gasol was traded before the start of the 2011-12 season, but that deal was cancelled for “basketball reasons.”
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From that point on, Gasol’s future with the Lakers has been in question and it appears as though a chance of Gasol getting traded is still a legitimate possibility. According to the Los Angeles Times, the Lakers are not looking to trade him as of right now, but that may change if Gasol cannot find his niche even with Steve Nash in the lineup.
The Lakers aren’t actively looking to trade Gasol right now, The Times has learned, because they want to see what happens when Nash returns from a small fracture in his leg.
After that, there are two important dates: Dec. 15 is when teams can deal players they signed during the off-season, opening up about 20% more of the NBA’s player pool; and Feb. 21, the league’s trade deadline.
There were rumors surfacing before that the Lakers were interested in acquiring Josh Smith from the Hawks in a deal centering around Gasol, but it appears as though those talks have fizzled. Nevertheless, there may be players out there that attract the Lakers’ front-office. There is no question Gasol is struggling in this D’Antoni offense and he could end up wearing another jersey once the post-season come around.
In the past three games against the Mavericks, Grizzlies and Kings, Gasol has scored 13 points, six points and eight points, respectively.
