The people requested anonymity because the talks were meant to remain private. The deal never came together before the draft began, and the Bobcats stayed at No. 2 and took Kentucky forward Michael Kidd-Gilchrist.
The Timberwolves are expected to continue their pursuit of Gasol in hopes of putting him with fellow Spaniard Ricky Rubio and Kevin Love on a revamped roster aimed at returning the team to the playoffs for the first time since 2004.
The Wolves’ interest in Gasol has long been rumored, with the highly skilled big man considered an ideal fit for coach Rick Adelman’s corner offense, and the kind of playoff-tested veteran needed on one of the youngest rosters in the NBA. He’s close friends with Rubio, the Wolves’ superb young point guard who is recovering from a torn ACL and hopes to be ready early next season.
Gasol has teamed with Kobe Bryant to win two titles in Los Angeles, but always seemed to catch the brunt of the criticism when things went wrong.
That happened again this year when he averaged just 12.5 points along with 9.5 rebounds in the playoffs, and the Lakers were eliminated in the second round by the younger, quicker Oklahoma City Thunder. He often appeared to get lost in the shuffle while Bryant and Andrew Bynum got most of the touches on offense.
He was the subject of trade rumors all season, starting before it began when Commissioner David Stern, operating as owner of the New Orleans Hornets, nixed a deal that would have sent Gasol to Houston as part of a package for Chris Paul to the Lakers.
“It has been a crazy year and a lot to deal with. … Unfortunately, we had tough losses and things didn’t really go our way for the most part,’’ the four-time All-Star said at the end of the season. “You just have to regroup and digest this loss and this season, and learn from it and move on.’’
Gasol is due to make more than $38 million over the next two seasons, an enormous sum that the salary cap-strapped Lakers might have difficulty footing under the harsher luxury tax penalties scheduled to kick in in 2013.
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