The Chicago Bulls are reconsidering their earlier opinion of wanting to retain two-time NBA champion power forward Pau Gasol next season as the team is reportedly "softening on the public stance" it issued that the Spaniard is part of the Bulls' core.

There are also speculations that the 35-year-old big man is "open-minded" about entertaining offers from rival organizations who wanted to acquire his services for the coming seasons.

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ESPN reported that the six-time NBA All-Star is expected to decline his $7.7 million player option for 2016-2017, which in effect will make him an unrestricted free agent this July. A lot of teams are rumored to be interested in making a move for him when that happens, including his former team Los Angeles Lakers where he won his two NBA titles so far.

Gasol is just in the second year of his three-year, $22.3 million contract with the Bulls. If he decides to opt in this summer, then he will still become an UFA next year. However, all indications are pointing that the 15-year veteran would like to test the free agent market this offseason as the league's salary cap for teams balloon to unprecedented amounts because of a recent TV deal.

The Chicago Tribune recently noted that their "sources said the Bulls are softening on the public stance general manager Gar Forman issued at the trade deadline that Gasol 'is part of the core,' not to mention Gasol is open-minded to entertaining rival offers".

If that is the case, then it can be seen that Chicago was merely preparing for the inevitable opting out of Gasol, which they can't do anything about. All that the Bulls can do is hope that Gasol will accept the new deal they will offer him if the team really wants the Spain international to stay in Chicago moving forward.

Despite his advanced age, Gasol is still as effective as ever when it comes to consistency and production, averaging 16.5 points, 11.0 rebounds, 4.2 assists, and 2.0 blocks per game in almost 32 minutes a night in 69 games for Chicago so far this season.

TagsNBA News & Rumors, NBA News & Rumors 2016, Chicago Bulls, Bulls news & rumors, Bulls news & rumors 2016, Pau Gasol, Bulls rumors, Bulls rumors 2016