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"FacebookPinterestGetty Images\n\nA year ago, the Lakers were going for the three-peat, counting on Kobe Bryant, plus their two seven-footers, Pau Gasol and Andew Bynum. Then came the shell-shock of the 2011 playoffs, and the realization that Kobe's last stand might require some imported help. Or, at very least, tinkering that acknowledged the sieve-like Derek Fisher and some recurring questions about the bench.\n\nAll of a sudden, the Lakers were gunning for Chris Paul and Dwight Howard, and Pau \u2014the man most responsible for the team's post-Shaq renaissance \u2014was expendable. Bynum started the All-Star Game, Pau didn't even sneak in as a reserve (his brother Marc, whom the Grizzlies got in exchange for their franchise Spaniard, rightfully took his spot.) Somewhere between last year and now, the Lakers went from a veteran team to an old one. It may be a matter of perspective, or perception, but it's the kind of shift that has real world implications. Gasol, still very good, has supposedly been dangled in an attempt to shore up longstanding weaknesses. For instance: Almost every time a team has played the Lakers close in the playoffs, it's had to do with Derek Fisher making their point guard look like a super hero.\n\nIf Pau is cast out from Lakerland, though, it will even things out. Marc's success has helped redeem the deal with Memphis that brought his brother to LA, but the fact remains, the Lakers were extraordinarily lucky to land Pau in 2008 for the price they did. And things couldn't have worked out better, if we allow them a mulligan on that year's Finals. Gasol got a chance to win two titles, the Lakers got back on track, and Kobe got that second act he so desperately needed.\n\nSay Gasol lands in Houston, a oft-mentioned destination. He won't end his career on a high note, but he won't suffer. And really, does it matter? To get all deep about it, his time under Phil Jackson could very easily have never happened in the first place. It's karma coming round, and don't worry, it would hit Gasol as hard as it will the Lakers. Gasol, who already was nearly traded at the beginning of the season, seems to have come to terms with it. The Lakers, on the other hand, are seriously deluded if they think they can lose one half of their Twin Towers set-up and still overpower other teams. Oh, how much easier things would be for them if Lamar Odom were still around!\n\nWhere We Would Like to See Him Go: The main Gasol rumors are 1) a deal to Houston that would send Kyle Lowry to the Lakers, thus relieving them of the burden of Fisher and 2) an unidentified swap, semi-broken by Roland Lazenby last Friday, that may or may not have been the Rockets rumor come true. There has been word of a Gasol for Rajon Rondo trade, and while that would be a great look for the Lakers--obviating the need for two big men the way Chris Paul's presence would have--the Celtics already have enough aging tall people. The Timberwolves were reportedly interested, which doesn't make a ton of sense, since Gasol plays the same position as their best player, Kevin Love. Some noise to consider, for kicks: Gasol joining the Bulls and Derrick Rose; the Mavericks going after him.\n\nWith Gasol, though, the most important thing to remember is that, improbably, he got a ticket out of Memphis and ended up with rings, a rep, and most likely, a place in the Hall of Fame. What happens now is almost irrelevant. Pau Gasol will move on, because maybe he should have never been there in the first place."^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.gq.com/story/home-and-away-where-pau-gasols-headed-and-where-we-wish-hed-go>