Report: Bulls Close To Deal For Pau Gasol

After yesterday’s stunning announcement LeBron James was headed back to Cleveland, the dam on the rest of the 2014 free agency class is starting to break. Pau Gasol, who has been rumored in New York and — most recently — San Antonio is nearing a deal to join the Chicago Bulls, Yahoo! Sports reports.

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Marc Stein and Ramon Shelburne of ESPN add that the deal would rely upon with a sign-and-trade with the Lakers, who are holding out for draft compensation, like they did before agreeing to terms with Houston for Jeremy Lin yesterday.

ESPN reported earlier Friday the Bulls and Spurs were the two leading candidates for Gasol, with San Antonio waiting in the wings if the Bulls are unable to complete the sign-and-trade with LA.

Chicago fears that Carmelo Anthony will return to the Knicks, so they’re prioritizing Gasol ahead of this summer’s free agent No. 2, despite reports ‘Melo has narrowed his options down to Chicago and New York.

The Lakers, who still need to agree to the sign-and-trade, have offered two contracts to Gasol, both of which he’s spurred: a two-year, $23 million deal and three years at $29 million, reports Dave McMenamin of ESPN Los Angeles.

The Bulls, for their part, have tried to include Carlos Boozer in sign-and-trade options, so they wouldn’t have to amnesty the lame-duck power forward. Senior writer at Basketball Insiders, Eric Pincus, came up with a pair of rather complicated deals for the Bulls to acquire Gasol as part of a sign-and-trade for Boozer, considering cap restrictions. He also adds that Mike Dunleavy‘s contract is the piece that will make the sign-and-trade’s with Boozer work.

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Does Gasol land in San Antonio or Chicago?

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