According to Peter Vescey (NY Post) Options

[spiderman]

According to the NY Post (Peter Vescey), Pau Gasol's exodus from Memphis has lost momentum. If the Grizzlies can't wheedle Ben Gordon and Luol Deng from the Bulls, he's not going anywhere, it says here. Meaning Gasol is staying put. John Paxson unwaveringly refuses to give up both or even two of his consecrated corps (Kirk Hinrich and Andres Nocioni) of four, whereas Jerry West steadfastly refuses to surrender his superior services for anything less. Moreover, there's strong sentiment from above that even if that ideal deal became available it'd be a monumental mistake to move Gasol at this time. Better to delay deliberating parting with a 26-year-old, 7-foot, All-Star caliber talent until it's established what position the Grizzlies will own in this June's draft and whether Greg Oden and Kevin Durant have declared their eligibility for it. Imagine Gasol alongside one or the other and then add Rudy Burrito, Mike Miller (not exactly a lock to remain in Memphis past Thursday), Hakim Warrick, Alexander Johnson, Lawrence Roberts and largely forgotten (special rookie) Kyle Lowry, out forever with a broken left hand. "Trade Pau now and then what?" wondered a Grizzlies executive before answering his own question. "We'll wind up spending the next 10 years trying to replace him." Convinced time and youth, for the most part, are on his side, the Bulls VP is scouring the topography for a halfway decent post-up scorer (Shareef Abdur-Rahim?) unless, of course, someone like Zach Randolph suddenly comes on the market.

[sport1016]

skiles isn't a perfect coach, and his flaw is a clear one, but overall he is one of the better coaches in the league. I think of all the teams that have become coaching carousels over the last decade and i think we should stick with skiles till the team stops improving.

On another note, what about shareef abdur-rahim? I really like his post scoring, and as we;ve seen when PJ brown has good games, we dont need a dominant low post scorer bc we are a damn good drive and kick team. We just need someone good enough that they can consistently give us something down there when we arent hitting jump shots and can command attention when we throw it in.

It probably wouldnt take any of our core players.
Maybe sweets, khryapa and picks could get it done.

[Chicago Bulls Fr...]

skiles isn't a perfect coach, and his flaw is a clear one, but overall he is one of the better coaches in the league. I think of all the teams that have become coaching carousels over the last decade and i think we should stick with skiles till the team stops improving.

we dont need a dominant low post scorer bc we are a damn good drive and kick team.

That won't get us anywhere. Drive and kicks are bad % shots because they are from the 3pt line or just in front of it. The only way the Bulls will have a dominant team is to have a dominant low post player. Shareef wouldn't solve any of our problems because he is shorter but a better shooter than Mr Brown.

Gasol or Bust for this team the way it is consituted right now. If we can't get him It looks like we may be looking at a first round exit again. Possibly a second round if were lucky.

[Balta1701-B]

That won't get us anywhere. Drive and kicks are bad % shots because they are from the 3pt line or just in front of it. The only way the Bulls will have a dominant team is to have a dominant low post player. Shareef wouldn't solve any of our problems because he is shorter but a better shooter than Mr Brown.

Gasol or Bust for this team the way it is consituted right now. If we can't get him It looks like we may be looking at a first round exit again. Possibly a second round if were lucky.

Maybe I don't understand basketball all that well, but isn't the whole idea about having an offensive low post player that he can not only score but is able to dish out to other people so as to open up their shots more and increase the %age? I'm just thinking Dwayne Wade...he's certainly not a post-up guy, and Shaq wasn't effective at all in the playoffs compared to Wade, but either Wade was slashing and creating his own shot or Wade was dishing and opening up outside shots for other people. The Bulls don't have a single slasher who's as good as Wade, but they have a couple ok ones in Gordon, Hinrich, and Deng (all 3 of whom hopefully will keep getting better), and if you throw a non-terrible offensive threat in the lane in the form of Raheem, to the point where the Bulls can get some easy points inside if the opposition puts all its defense on the outside guys, I think the setup could work darn well.

And beyond that, I still don't see the Grizzlies giving up Gasol for anything less than Deng + another big name guy from our team, which is simply more than he's going to be worth. The Bulls just can't give up 40+ ppg, 10 rpg+, and 5 apg+ per game to get Gasol, which is what it looks like the Grizz want if they're asking for Deng + Gordon + PJ still.