Reports: Derrick Rose Wants Pau Gasol in Chicago

The latest Pau Gasol trade rumor — there have been a lot lately, to the chagrin of Gasol and his teammates — involves Derrick Rose and the Chicago Bulls. From Marca and Sheridan Hoops: “Derrick Rose has let it be known to Bulls management that we wants to play with Pau Gasol if Chicago is able to swing a trade with the Los Angeles Lakers for the veteran power forward from Spain, a source said. The Spanish news outlet Marca was the first to report Sunday that Rose has given his blessing for the Bulls to go after Gasol with a package that would be centered around Carlos Boozer and another player. ‘He hasn’t said so publicly, but he has made that known privately,’ said the source. [...] Carlos Boozer has three years and $46 million remaining on his contract, while Gasol is due to make $38 million over the next two seasons. The Lakers have an $8.9 million trade exception from the Lamar Odom trade that they could use to acquire a player making up to that amount without surrendering much (it could be as little as a conditional second-round pick) in return, which gives general manager Mitch Kupchak enormous flexibility in trying to improve a Lakers team that has struggled offensively all season. If the Bulls were willing to surrender backup point guard C.J. Watson in a Boozer-Gasol deal, it would address the Lakers’ need for a young, steady point guard to buttress their current rotation of Derek Fisher and Steve Blake.”