Pau Gasol Traded to the LA Lakers

[Silas]

I'm hoping Gilbert signs with Seattle, that'd be great for the Sonics. They need someone who's reliable in the fourth quarter, Kevin Durant is a ways off from that. The Sonics will certainly have enough money to sign him, especially if they can dump Earl Watson for an expiring contract.

[---]

Wow.

Cupcake just raped the collective asses of Memphis Grizzlies fans and staff everywhere. Even moreso now that it's been announced that Kwame is going to be waived and resign with LA.

I gotta grade this deal.

LA essentially turned Kwame Brown and a good looking PG prospect who got no time anyway into a 20/10 player in Gasol. Then they get Kwame back anyway. The picks will be only in the mid to late first round anyway so they don't hold that much value.

The Grizzlies got a big expiring contract in Kwame who won't even suit up for them, and another good PG prospect in Crittenton to add to their other two in Lowry and Conley. Have fun being a 3rd stringer yet again, Javaris.

The ONLY thing I like about this deal for Memphis (except for maybe a complete rebuild, but they could have gotten alot more eg. a combination of Gordon/Deng and Noc/Noah/Tyrus) is that Rudy Gay is now the man. I like that alot.

I do think this is great for the NBA though. LA Lakers and Boston Celtics suddenly begin that rivalry again. Teams that haven't quite got to that "great team" level in a long time, like New Orleans or Orlando, are well on their ways there. The Spurs/Mavs/Suns seem to be declining, so we won't be seeing the same old matchups.

Boy, a Lakers/Celtics final would be a treat.

[CMJ3]

Wow awesome deal for the Lakers, that starting 5 is pretty damn impressive. Boston v Lakers finals would be the best thing to happen to the NBA in a long time.

[Abctest123]

Awaiting Mafia's (BHZ Mafia, not dada) response to this .

[Jing]

Navarro must be pissed right now

[Lamrock]

Oh man, this is insane. A Lakers/Celtics final looks extremely likely. And Kwame returning to the Lakers makes it all the funnier.

Another 3-peat?

[Veheme]

What a STEAL for the Lakers, Lakers fans are happy, getting rid of Kwame Brown and hey, they got more than what they wanted.

[Lamrock]

getting rid of Kwame Brown

Kwame Brown will be waived and will then resign with the Lakers.

[Jackal]

Another 3-peat?

Relax now.

[Indy]

So Memphis is going to release Kwame, but they'll still have to pay his salary for this year before it comes off the books at the end of this year... and Kwame is also going to get what LA is going to sign him for...

Kwame is the real big winner in this deal.

The guy freaking out about who is going to start for the Lakers at Center tonight is hysterical. That was one of the funniest/ridiculous freakouts I've ever seen.

I also saw someone wondered how Gasol will adjust to the triangle, and he'll be just fine. The triangle is probably the easiest offense in the league for big men.

[jonthefon]

Memphis front office is just plain retarded. The Lakers now will probably be giving them their picks which are in the late 20's, Crittenton is slotting behind two young point guards, Brown is useless and will be waived. This trade is almost as bad for Memphis as the Johan Santana trade was for the Twins. Though now, they can tank for a top-three pick to pick up a good forward to play alongside Gay, Miller and Conley. But Miami and Minnesota are still way ahead of them in that department. FUUUUUUUUCK.

Hopefully, Dallas doesn't make a useless trade for Jason Kidd. Harris and Howard are our future guns.

[mvpshaq32]

BANDWAGONING TIME

But this lineup looks really good, not just on paper. With Bryant now getting his teammates more involved, Gasol should be getting plenty of mid-ranger jumpers. I think he would prefer PF better than C.

Is Fisher going to start? I hope Farmar gets the nod sometime soon.

[thaKEAF]

Bullshit.

[Chino]

Damn! What a lineup for Lakers.

[dan_suth]

What? How could Kwame get waived and re-sign with the Lakers? I thought that there was a new rule added in the last year or two that prevented the waived player from signing with the team that traded him away.

I don't understand this at all, though. Why would Memphis get yet ANOTHER young point guard? I understand that they were looking for a big expiring contract and some future draft picks, but how is adding a 3rd young PG (4th if you count Navarro) good for their future? I just think that they could have gotten SO much better for Gasol.

[nestorlb2150]

lakers are laughing their pants off right now. celtics/lakers finals is what gets be excited right now. im a celtics fan but the lakers are about my 3rd favorite team. wow... i think gasol will do good in LA because the burden of scoring is not with him. i think kobe will like this also his assists will certainly go up because now he has someone he can pass to downlow for a layup or a jumper.

[[Q]]

Another 3-peat?

you know, as good as Gasol is, he isn't that great inside. he does have a tendency to play too soft and then complain to the refs up the floor when he loses the ball or misses the shot.

[Kobe ftw]

Gasol is good, better then 4 K.Browns together:D Lakers are great this season and lets see when Bynum returns, hell of a good lineup with Gasol.

If everything stays good, no injuries, you'll see them deep in the playoffs, its early to talk about Celtics/Lakers final but it could happend,

I'm happy to see Gasol as an Laker.

[Andrew]

A huge coup for the Lakers with that trade, an absolute steal. I wouldn't go so far as predicting a championship because better teams than the current Lakers outfit have come up short but with Gasol they've just become much more formidable. From the Grizzlies' point of view, it's a terrible trade in the immediate future and one that could well haunt them for years to come but if clearing cap space allows them to land a big free agent down the road perhaps it will be worthwhile. For now, they're on the wrong side of a very lopsided deal.

Kenny Smith has written a column criticising the Bulls and Nets for not being able to get trades done and I'm sure a lot of people would agree, though I don't think it's fair. The Lakers got a star player in exchange for one of the most disappointing first overall picks in league history, an unproven rookie and some draft choices. That's a package that's a lot easier to give up than two good young players who are a big reason for your success in recent times or in the case of the Nets one of the best point guards in the league.

The Lakers themselves knocked back trade proposals last year because Bynum was involved. There's no way they could turn down a deal like this.

EDIT: Just saw this, which describes a very appealing scenario with the Bulls that they turned down which was definitely a bad move, much as I like Thabo. However, I stand by what I said before as it pertains to last season's trade rumours. If players like Gordon and Deng are involved, a team like the Bulls hesitates and if a player like Jason Kidd is involved, a team like the Nets are definitely going to hesitate and rightfully so. You don't hesitate to give up Kwame Brown, Javaris Crittenton and a couple of picks for Pau Gasol.

[Mikki]

Mbenga FTW!

[Basket_man]

Now they need a PG to win the title.

[JT_55]

^What's wrong with D-Fish?

EDIT: the arrow

[horry5]

^What's wrong with D-Fish?

EDIT: the arrow

Absolutly nothing - Fish has won three rings.
He does a great job on starting pg with jordan backing him up. Now I'm even more exited 'bout Big-Drews return!

[Drex]

The real question now is if the Lakers will have the balls to play as a team.





I mean, this is nowhere near the 2004 team, with Malone and Payton trying to get the ring accepting a minor role. Now there's Kobe, Odom and Gasol. What will happen when the developing Bynum returns?

[Chaser7]

This was an unbelievable trade.. I can't believe he went to the lakers, after all the rumors going to Chicago. Now both players who were rumored to go to the Bulls (Kobe + Gasol) are together, interesting to see how it turns out. God damn, the West is so fucking tough now. The top 8 teams are all 10 games above .500 right now as of 2/2/08..

EDIT:

Kwame Brown will be waived and will then resign with the Lakers.

What? How could Kwame get waived and re-sign with the Lakers? I thought that there was a new rule added in the last year or two that prevented the waived player from signing with the team that traded him away.

Yeah I pretty sure Dan_suth is right. I'm pretty sure a player who gets waived cant resign with the team that traded him... Its a fairly new rule.. .