Pau Gasol-Fred Hoiberg relationship not on solid ground

SHARE Pau Gasol-Fred Hoiberg relationship not on solid ground
pau11.jpg

MIAMI — Bulls general manager Gar Forman has said a top priority this offseason will be re-signing Pau Gasol.

But he might find out the feeling isn’t mutual.

Gasol wanted to stay when the Bulls were close to moving him at the trade deadline, but he reiterated he would opt out of his player option and test free agency. Gasol also said he’d take into account how the Bulls finish the season when making his decision. The two-time NBA champion wanted to see some fight, some will. He has seen neither.

“Nothing is set right now,’’ Gasol said. “Definitely I will evaluate what I need to when the time comes. The way the team has responded to adversity and the way we finished up the season has not been so far great. It’s been disappointing. At the end of the day, when the time comes, I will evaluate things. It’s hard to finish a season like this … so everything will be thought of and considered.’’

But Gasol wasn’t calling this his last week in a Bulls uniform, either.

“No, not really,’’ Gasol said. “I’m at a point in my career where I’ve played a lot of basketball and try and give it my best every single night. I think overall I’m doing pretty good. But I’m not thinking it could be my last game. From that standpoint, I’m not thinking too far ahead.’’

While Forman and the front office might want the 7-foot center, they better talk to their coach. According to a source, Fred Hoiberg has been less than pleased with Gasol’s effort at times, especially on defense.

Hoiberg wasn’t going to get into that after the loss to the Heat on Thursday, but he said for the second time in a week that he actually was strongly considering going with rookie Cristiano Felicio in crunch time instead of Gasol. He almost did it against the Rockets last week, and when Gasol couldn’t keep Heat big man Hassan Whiteside off the glass, he came close to making that move again.

Asked why he didn’t, Hoiberg said he had to give the benefit of the doubt to the “two-time NBA champion.’’

Besides the lack of fight shown by his team, another factor Gasol will consider is Hoiberg.

When he came aboard last season, Gasol had his reservations about playing for former Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau. But Gasol quickly grew to respect Thibodeau’s work ethic, especially his acumen on defense.

Sources have said Gasol hasn’t felt the same about Hoiberg, and Gasol did nothing to dispel that when asked about the team’s poor defense most of the season.

“We haven’t given it enough importance on a daily basis,’’ Gasol said. “We haven’t been able to put enough games where we play together and with intensity and the effort required on the defensive end. In this league, you’re going to have better or worse nights offensively, but defense is going to give you a chance each and every night, and we relied too much on our offense.

“We just haven’t had the defensive mindset, nor emphasis on it, so we paid the price a lot of times. We’ve been too casual a lot of times. And that’s why we are where we are.’’

Follow me on Twitter @suntimes_hoops.

Email: jcowley@suntimes.com

The Latest
White Sox fans from all over will flock to Guaranteed Rate Field on Thursday for the team’s home opener against the Tigers.
Archer Courts, 2242 S. Princeton Ave., will soon get a new hot water system, ventilation system and rooftop solar panels through a grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Leasure will make his major league debut on Thursday.
The funds will help target a big problem for a city opening its doors to President Joe Biden and the Democratic National Convention in August. Just 17.94% of registered voters in suburban Cook County and 25.7% of registered voters in Chicago voted in the March 19 primary.
Playing time has dwindled for Tinordi, a physical defensive defenseman who was a pleasant surprise for the Hawks last season but hasn’t found nearly as much success without Connor Murphy.