Reports Differ On Gasol’s Interest In OKC

Pau Gasol is one of the most sought-after free agents on the market. After a week of incessant wining and dining by his distinguished suitors, reports of Gasol’s preferred destinations are finally emerging.

Yahoo Sports’ Adrian Wojnarowski and CBS Sports’ Ken Berger has the Oklahoma City Thunder, Chicago Bulls, and Los Angeles Lakers as favorites to land Gasol, with the San Antonio Spurs and New York Knicks still the running.

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However, ESPN’s Dave McMenamin reports that the Thunder are unlikely to sign the Spanish superstar.

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Oklahoma City has been considered one of Gasol’s most viable free agent suitors since it was reported that Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook personally pitched him in Los Angeles last week. As a legitimate post-up threat with canny playmaking instincts, Gasol would be a perfect fit next to Spanish national team teammate Serge Ibaka in the Thunder frontcourt.

But OKC is limited to offering Gasol a contract worth the midlevel exception. Additionally, McMenamin says that Gasol expressed hesitation at leaving Los Angeles for a town like Oklahoma City in his meeting with Brooks.

During Gasol’s meeting with Brooks, according to a league source, the 13-year veteran peppered Brooks with questions about the quality of life in Oklahoma City and wondered aloud about leaving a culturally diverse city like Los Angeles for middle America.

That concern suggests that the teams in cosmopolitan locales like New York and Chicago hold the same crucial advantage that the Lakers do. The issue for Gasol is that the Knicks, Bulls, and Lakers will hold the same financial limitations that the Thunder do if they sign Carmelo Anthony, and Pau longs to play for a title-contending team.

There’s no ideal fit for Gasol out there – a team that combines a culturally sophisticated market with a championship caliber roster and the cap flexibility to offer him a contract that appropriates his on-court value. If Carmelo opts for New York or Los Angeles instead of Chicago, though, the Bulls can likely afford him the best realistic amalgam of those desires should they make good on amnestying Carlos Boozer and complete another salary-shedding move.

That reports differ from such reputable sources on Pau’s interest in the Thunder is a stark reminder of how fluid his free agency really is. As with all conjecture during the silly season, we won’t know Gasol’s ultimate destination until we know for sure.

Where will Gasol sign?

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