Pau Gasol: Top 5 Free Agency Destinations

2. Oklahoma City Thunder

And now we come to the surprising favorites of the Pau Gasol Sweepstakes, the Oklahoma City Thunder. OKC has really come out of nowhere in this race and according to ESPN’s Marc Stein and Ramona Shelburne, Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook were even in on the pitch to Gasol. The Thunder are currently limited to $5 million under the luxury tax line, but as Darnell Mayberry of The Oklahoman reports, the Thunder could afford Gasol at a more reasonable price if they’re willing to trade Kendrick Perkins.

Now, I can’t imagine KD and Westbrook’s pitch to Gasol was along the lines of “PLEASE come to OKC so we can finally get rid of Kendrick!!” But even though the Thunder have stubbornly refused to amnesty Perkins to this point, nobody’s said anything about trading him. Gasol would fit in brilliantly with the Thunder offensively and his passing and scoring ability would draw attention off Durant, Westbrook and Serge Ibaka.

He’d also benefit from the defensive attention on those players. Defensively, he’s a much worse defender than Perkins, but Ibaka and the up-and-coming Steven Adams would be able to hide him a little bit on that end of the floor. If the Thunder are indeed the frontrunner in this contest for Gasol, the rest of the league should be worried. The last threshold preventing the Thunder from breaking through is smart offense, and Gasol’s passing ability would certainly contribute there.