San Antonio Spurs Emerge as Darkhorse Candidates for Pau Gasol

The Oklahoma City Thunder, Chicago Bulls and Los Angeles Lakers are the frontrunners for the services of Pau Gasol but don’t count out the San Antonio Spurs just yet.

The Texas franchise is emerging as a darkhorse candidate to acquire the Spanish center as they look to add more to the core of a squad that just won the NBA championship last June.

What works for the Spurs is the fact that 34-year-old center-forward has insisted that he wanted to sign with a contender with his new deal. With an intact line-up, San Antonio is an alluring destination for free agents like Gasol.

The defending champions also have some cap space left owing to “friendly contracts” signed by Tim Duncan, Patty Mills and Boris Diaw in this offseason. Also returning are key cogs like 2014 NBA Finals MVP Kawhi Leonard and veterans Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili and Tiago Splitter.

The NBA salary cap for the 2014-2015 season is projected to be set at roughly $63 million with the tax line at $76.8M.

The Spurs, even after considering the new deals of Duncan and company, will have some space to work with if they sign a player like Gasol who will demand around $7M-$9M.

The Spurs’ mission for a back-to-back title and a sixth overall NBA title took a serious turn on Thursday after extending veteran mentor Gregg Popovich to a multi-year contract.

Gasol, who will enter his 14th NBA season, has played for the Memphis Grizzlies and Los Angeles Lakers. He won NBA titles with the latter in 2009 and 2010.

The seven-foot Spaniard was one of the few bright spots for the Lakers in the 2013-2014 season averaging 17.6 points, 9.7 rebounds and 1.5 blocked shots in 60 games.

If San Antonio indeed acquires Gasol, the move will be seen as a major coup for the Spurs, which looked impressively dominant against the Miami Heat in the 2014 NBA Finals.