Minnesota Timberwolves showing great interest in bringing in Pau Gasol – NBA Update
Amidst the speculation involving Pau Gasol`s exit from the Los Angeles Lakers, Minnesota Timberwolves are joining the list of teams ready to do everything to bring in the Spanish big man as part of their rebuilding process.
Before Thursday night, there had been reports that Wolves are hoping to give away Derrick Williams in return for Charlotte Bobcats second draft pick and then use that to lure the Lakers big. However a deal could not materialize
and the Bobcats used their selection to bring in Michael Kidd-Gilchrist.
In the past few years, Minnesota have been following a system which has seen them draft good players and work their way along the youngsters into a promising prospect, but the management feels it is time to bring in an experienced
veteran.
Their pursuit of Gasol may not come out to be surprising as he already has friendly terms with fellow Spaniard Ricky Rubio and can be the focal point of Minnesota coach Rick Adelman`s corner offense.
The Spaniard can also help out Kevin Love in the post, a position which he had to fill for most part of the season and left him over fatigued by the end of the season, which forced the Wolves management to sideline him for the
last few games.
If the Wolves are able to pull off the trade of Gasol, they would definitely be getting a jump step towards being playoffs contenders as the Spanish captain has already enough experience of winning two back to back championships
with the Lakers.
Ever since the Lakers got knocked out of the second round by the hands of Oklahoma City Thunder, there had been speculations hinting Gasol`s exit. He was also part of the trade that was called off before the season which involved
Chris Paul coming over to the Lakers.
Nevertheless Gasol still has two years left on his contract and is owed $38 million for the course of two seasons. So if the Wolves want to lure him in, they would need a lot of cap space to afford his contract.
For the Wolves to create the much needed cap space required, they would have to buy out the contract of Martell Webster and then refuse to qualifying offers to Michael Beasley and Anthony Randolph to enable them-selves monetarily
to pay the hefty price.
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