The Pau Gasol era in Chicago seems finished.
Gasol and the Bulls seemed adamant the big man would stick around this summer when asked back near the NBA trade deadline. Since, though, the Bulls have tanked and now Gasol is quite open about his future.
And it isn’t pretty for the Bulls.
Gasol blasted how the Bulls have responded down the stretch in an interview with ESPN.com’s Nick Friedell:
Nothing is set right now. 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.
K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune added a chilling note about the outlook for the two sides:
Despite what both sides said publicly at trade deadline, the surprise now will be if Pau Gasol is on Bulls next season.
— K.C. Johnson (@KCJHoop) April 8, 2016
Can anyone blame Gasol?
Chicago sits ninth in the Eastern Conference after once sticking right in the thick of things when it came to the playoff race. Not only have the Bulls lost two games in a row, Chicago is a loser in seven of its last 10 outings. To top it all off, rumblings about a Jimmy Butler trade popped up over the past few weeks, only making the situation look more dire.
Gasol has said Chicago would be his first option this summer, but that seems like years ago after this most recent quote. Why would Gasol stick around if the Bulls move Butler? Why would he stick around at all when the front office hasn’t proven to anyone the current core would work and that it might have an itchy trigger finger when it comes to trades?
It would be silly to say with 100 percent certainty that Gasol would be better off elsewhere. But he’s 35 years old in the final years of his prime and these Bulls don’t strike much of anyone as a surefire contender next year. Why not explore somewhere out West again or sniff around Carmelo Anthony and the New York Knicks?
Based on Gasol’s comments, that’s what he’ll do barring a major promise or reshuffling in Chicago.