Pau Gasol will not be back with the Lakers next season.
Nothing is a certainty, and I’m sure somewhere in the multi-verse there is a world where Pau Gasol stays with the Lakers. There probably is even one where Lakers fans would be happy about that. But in this universe I have heard for a while that the Lakers and Gasol will part ways this summer and it is pretty mutual. The relationship has run its course.
Gasol keeps a blog in Spanish and wrote about his plans, something translated for us by Mark Medina at the Los Angeles Daily News.“Re-signing for the Lakers is a possibility, but I’m not sure whether to say it’s a remote one. If there’s anything or anyone who could make me stay it’s Kobe Bryant. I’d stay for him, but there’d have to be significant changes. I’ve said it many times: I want to be in a team that has a solid chance to win another tournament and where I can be an important factor in the game….
“I’ve never concealed the fact that (Lakers coach Mike) D’Antoni’s style doesn’t suit my game. Everybody knows this. I don’t know if my decision will be swayed by whether Mike stays or leaves. Obviously, the coach is a very important factor for any team.”
If D’Antoni is back then Gasol is gone, but the smart money is that D’Antoni is toast in Los Angeles despite some front office supporters. Kobe Bryant reportedly doesn’t want him, that’s an issue. Also, to bring him back would enrage the fan base, and as a general rule of thumb it is not good business to enrage the fan base.
Even with a new coach the fit isn’t there. Despite Kobe Bryant’s love of Gasol, the Lakers are in a multi-year rebuilding process and the aging, declining Gasol is not part of the future in Los Angeles. Outside of Bryant the Lakers need to have the long term in mind here.
I expect this summer Gasol will be rejuvenated and find his love of the game again playing for Spain (in Spain) for the World Cup, then will bring that bad to a new NBA home that is a better fit, and he will put up good numbers. People will say it’s a renaissance, but it’s just a matter of fit.
Gasol seems to get that.