CHICAGO -- While many people around Chicago believed the Bulls had a decent chance to sign Pau Gasol after failing to land Carmelo Anthony in free agency, Joakim Noah was not one of them.
"I thought we had no shot with all the teams that were looking at him," the Bulls' All-Star center said. "The fact that he picked Chicago says a lot. He could have moved to the warm weather, but he picked the cold and we can laugh about it but it's true. It says a lot about his character.
"A lot of people talk about winning and wanting to win, but at the end of the day he made a decision based on winning, and I respect that."
Gasol, a native of Barcelona, where temperatures fall below 50 degrees an average of about four days per year, did not discount the cold factor, mentioning it as the first difference he will experience in moving from the Western to Eastern Conference.
"But once I realized the choices I had were all good," Gasol said, "I thought the Bulls had a great potential to achieve something special ... my gut also told me, 'Hey, this is a place you want to be.'"
The subject of as many trade rumors in the past few years alone as perhaps any other athlete in professional sports, Gasol, at 34, said he was ready for a new start despite the urging of Lakers teammate Kobe Bryant to stay in Los Angeles and eventually retire together.
"I felt it was time to be in a different position, a position where I felt I had a chance to explore my talent and add to the quality and value of the team I would join," Gasol said. "It felt right for me to make that decision [to leave L.A.]
"It was hard to do it, but life is about making tough decisions at times. It means you have to look ahead. Right now, I'm just excited ... I feel energized, rejuvenated and like I just can't wait to jump on the floor and play with the guys, which is something I love feeling."
Gasol is not the only Bulls player who is excited. Derrick Rose, with more than enough of his own reasons to look forward to the 2014-15 season after two consecutive season-ending knee injuries, is already having visions of the two-time NBA champion and four-time All-Star on the floor with him.
"I automatically go to the fourth quarter where [Gasol] gets the ball and I'm out on the perimeter waiting to get a set shot," Rose said. "Let him work. You've got Joakim and Taj [Gibson] on the other side cleaning up everything else. You have [three] shooters on the floor with me, Jo and Pau. I just see him in the post, waiting for a jump shot, and you pick your poison."
Perhaps even more appealing for the former NBA MVP? "There's going to be a lot of games," Rose said, "when I'm not going to have to do a lot to win the game."
Gasol said he turned down more lucrative offers than the three-year, $22.3 million contract he signed with the Bulls. But the 7-footer, who brings a 17.4-point, 9.7-rebound average in 60 games from last season, said the "nice mix" of hungry, young players ready to reach the next level was extremely appealing.
The chance to play with one of the hungriest teams helped him close the deal.
"I look forward to playing with Derrick, to develop our relationship on and off the court," said Gasol, who said he received calls from several top players around the league trying to recruit him to their teams, including Rose. "We can develop a special bond, and I look forward to seeing him play, see him gaining confidence and dominating the game like he used to."
The Bulls are also counting on a bond forming between Gasol and Nikola Mirotic, the 23-year-old forward who enters the NBA after playing six years for Real Madrid in the Euroleague. And the easygoing Gasol, a former NBA rookie of the year with the Memphis Grizzlies, is more than willing to be a mentor to the Spanish-Montenegrin.
"I can relate to what he's going through because I've been through it before, and I know it's important having someone you can rely on during the season and have that support," Gasol said. "Every time he sees me, he says it just feels good to see someone he can speak Spanish to, that it kind of feels a little bit more like home having me on the team."
A two-time Olympic silver medalist for Spain's national team who made the all-tournament team in this summer's FIBA Basketball World Cup, Gasol said staying close to his Spanish roots "helps me stay grounded. It keeps things in perspective no matter what I do or where I am."
Moving to a city with a culturally diverse populace was no coincidence.
"To me, it was important on a personal level because I'm not just a basketball player," said Gasol, who once wanted to be a doctor and whose parents are both medical professionals. "I have other interests, other desires than basketball, and Chicago had a lot to offer from that aspect."
For Noah, the most ardent suitor in the pursuit of Gasol, his new teammate could not have made a better choice.
"I think it's going to be great," he said. "I'm so excited about being able to work with Pau, somebody who has unbelievable talent and unbelievable experience, too, somebody who has won championships. I'm in my eighth year, and, at 30 years old, just to have somebody I can still learn from is pretty special."
