Gasol traded to Lakers
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No. He used to work for Boston, where he drafted Paul Pierce. He said after the draft that they were looking at Robert Traylor, but Dallas drafted him first, He then traded away up-and-coming PG Chauncey Billups and Dee Brown away for a few scrubs and some dish soap.
This guy shouldn't be running an NBA team.
Granted, this trade is a decent step towards rebuilding, seeing as they will have their own high 1st rounders come 08 and 2010, but this guy doesn't exactly have the best draft record. To his credit, he did draft Chauncey Billups and Joe Johnson, but he displayed no desire or ability to keep these players.
Other notable draft choices:
Ron Mercer (6th pick 97)
Paul Pierce (10th Pick 98)
Jerome Moiso (11th pick 00)
Joe Johnson (10th pick 01)
Kedrick Brown (11th Pick 01)
Joseph Forte (21st pick 01)
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Sour grapes aside, he did exactly what the owners wanted him to do. They've been losing money ever since they bought the franchise, and continuous efforts to sell the team have failed. So he essentially traded in the older Gasol for the younger one, plus some draft picks, at a savings of close to $50M. The trade wasn't about making the Grizz into the next NBA powerhouse, it was about cutting their upkeep costs to far less than any other NBA team, without hurting the team's long term prospects. I'm sure that the owners are absolutely delighted with him right now. He may not have the greatest record when it comes to evaluating draft candidates, but he carried out this particular assignment perfectly well. At least the Grizz acquired only one, very temporary, "flexible piece."
I'm not sure how they ever will make money in Memphis so they have to pray anyone will come to a game to see a bunch of 19 and 20 year olds play, the ones from LA being crap. Buying out a guy is just tossing money away.
I'd rather have Kwame than Justin but I thought Kwame was going back to LA. Even if there is a "Payton Rule," I can't for the life of me see how either Kwame or the Lakers get hurt by this inconvenience.
I'd rather have Kwame than Justin but I thought Kwame was going back to LA. Even if there is a "Payton Rule," I can't for the life of me see how either Kwame or the Lakers get hurt by this inconvenience.
It took seven pages, but someone finally nails the reason behind this trade. Lamar Odom was the original main component in this deal, not Kwame. The Grizz owner wanted Kwame and not LO's big contract. They are just dumping payroll to sell the team. Kwame's contract happened to be the biggest one available at the current time. Trust me, several teams made bids...Kwame had the best contract
Oh, and hi all. I am glad to be here.
Oh, and hi all. I am glad to be here.
It was a business decision. In reading about the trade, the Grizzlies are a 13-win team, losing $20,000,000, and not going anywhere with Gasol. They get a young prospect in Crittenton, and Brown's expiring contract. The deal is about cap flexibility, acquiring picks and young players for future moves. The move is about the future, and about business. I would like to think that he had other offers but believed that for what they are trying to do, this deal is the best for them. On top of Gasol demanding a trade.
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Sounds like he was just unloading so the team could be sold and it had nothing to do with the future skill level of the team. What exactly are the Lakers' draft picks worth? Not much not even to a team that wants to develop. Remember the year the Lakers didn't even want their number one pick? Sometime they are just clutter because where the Lakers' picks will be, there's not much talent to be drafted.
Almost any team in the league could have made a deal like this yet the Lakers were picked. Is there a business reason for that? And if anyone believes this was done to help rebuild the Griz, why trade for draft picks that might very well be the worst picks of their respective years?
Almost any team in the league could have made a deal like this yet the Lakers were picked. Is there a business reason for that? And if anyone believes this was done to help rebuild the Griz, why trade for draft picks that might very well be the worst picks of their respective years?
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It took seven pages, but someone finally nails the reason behind this trade. Lamar Odom was the original main component in this deal, not Kwame. The Grizz owner wanted Kwame and not LO's big contract. They are just dumping payroll to sell the team. Kwame's contract happened to be the biggest one available at the current time. Trust me, several teams made bids...Kwame had the best contract
Oh, and hi all. I am glad to be here.
Oh, and hi all. I am glad to be here.
While the "brain trust" in Memphis may not be the best, I am pretty sure they are not complete idiots who didnt realize that LO has only one more year after this one on his contract. the owner just wants out. He is losing money big time (even though he is extremely wealthy) and wants out. LO would not help them much even if they were looking at this from a rebuild standpoint as opposed to a salary dump.
They had the choice of LO or Kwame, outside of them being blind and utterly clueless, they made their choice. This was an answer to the Lakers dreams, they got rid of Kwame and improved their front court with a really good player.
However, lets see how Pau and Bynum coexist in the paint..there isnt a lot of "room" there for two...or is there?
The basketball world holds it's breath
They had the choice of LO or Kwame, outside of them being blind and utterly clueless, they made their choice. This was an answer to the Lakers dreams, they got rid of Kwame and improved their front court with a really good player.
However, lets see how Pau and Bynum coexist in the paint..there isnt a lot of "room" there for two...or is there?
The basketball world holds it's breath
Lol. I'm sorry, man, but I found out that a retired player was S/T'd to make it happen. Talk about the cherry on top. I'm almost embarrassed, but I have said before that MK was good at brainstorming deals, just not closing them.
Aaron McKie, who had been a volunteer assistant coach with the Sixers this season, was signed earlier Friday by the Los Angeles Lakers and then traded to the Memphis Grizzlies as part of the deal for F Pau Gasol. A 13-year veteran with Portland, Detroit, Philadelphia and the Lakers, McKie is expected to be released by Memphis. Sixers general manager Ed Stefanski said McKie was signed for a "substantial amount of money."
random poster at RealGM: what the hell is THIS about? you can sign retired players just to be apart of a trade for expirings?!?!? i've never, ever heard of this.
Aaron McKie, who had been a volunteer assistant coach with the Sixers this season, was signed earlier Friday by the Los Angeles Lakers and then traded to the Memphis Grizzlies as part of the deal for F Pau Gasol. A 13-year veteran with Portland, Detroit, Philadelphia and the Lakers, McKie is expected to be released by Memphis. Sixers general manager Ed Stefanski said McKie was signed for a "substantial amount of money."
random poster at RealGM: what the hell is THIS about? you can sign retired players just to be apart of a trade for expirings?!?!? i've never, ever heard of this.
Mitch deserves props. They wanted Webber to help out when Andrew went down but the deal breaker was that the Lakers wanted him to sign 2 10-day contracts. The reasoning? They needed that window in between contracts to create a roster spot to use for McKie to sign him for cap purposes for the deal to go through. Webber had no way of knowing this. He turned the offer down. The Lakers didn't offer MBenga another 10-day contract creating a roster spot for McKie who was at that time still a "property" of the Lakers, consummate the trade, sign Mbenga to another 10-day contract. Presto! Kupchak's master plan is revealed. Definitely brilliance, at the very least.
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I read now that he may have still been under LA's rights due to not filing his retirement papers. If this is true, it must've been Kupchak's suggestion to McKie in the event of a future S&T. Kupchak learned that trick from West, no doubt. They could write a book on how to manipulate the CBA and salary cap (also judging by the yearly increments made to ready themselves for Shaq in 96).
A few comments from a Laker fan.
Kwame Brown is the whole point the Grizzlies even considered trading Gasol to the Lakers. He has a $9.1M expiring contract. The Grizzlies are looking to save money due to sagging profits ($20M loss this year), and they may even want to be there for the big FA pool this summer to build around Rudy Gay. If that's the case, there is zero reason for the Grizzlies to want much more talented players from the Lakers or any other team for Gasol (like Odom). Odom, for example, has $22M left on his contract (pro-rated), so it makes more sense to pay Kwame his pro-rated $4.5M than paying Lamar, saves $17.5M and LO isn't close to an All Star this season to boot.
Crittenton was also an important consideration. Financially he's a sweet deal, as he's a rookie and therefore is locked into his contract at $2M per year until 2011. He has huge upside at just 19 years old. For those who don't know who he is, Laker brass and Laker fans have been high on him all year. Sad to see him go, but obviously you do a deal like this when you're talking about a 27 year old All Star PF/C that is triangle matchup nightmare for opposing squads. So Kwame Brown the player is irrelevant, anything he gives them is merely window dressing, because they're NOT looking to get equal value back, they know they won't get it. They traded for Kwame because of his contract, which NO other team in the league could provide that also was wiling to give up a young prospect like Javaris Crittenton. Gasol also has about $50M of guaranteed cash remaining on his contract, and Buss is one of the few owners in the league willing to commit to paying that kind of money.
Btw, there is also precedent for superstar trades for expiring contracts + scraps, at mid-season (like now), and just in the last 3 seasons too. For example, superstars like Vince Carter were acquired for Mourning, draft picks, and expiring contracts. Tracy McGrady was traded for a huge contract in Francis, Mobley, and expiring contracts. Rasheed Wallace was traded for reserves and draft picks. And both Carter and Wallace were deadline deals too, just like this one.
Collusion? Nope. Just a lot of great scouting and the magic touch of Jerry West finally rubbing off on Kupchak after he and the FO were a disaster of a management team between 2000 and 2004. 2005-2008 has been very West-like, to say the least, a complete turnaround in philosophy from slow, shoot-first mediocre athletes to athletic, skilled 2-way players.
Kwame Brown is the whole point the Grizzlies even considered trading Gasol to the Lakers. He has a $9.1M expiring contract. The Grizzlies are looking to save money due to sagging profits ($20M loss this year), and they may even want to be there for the big FA pool this summer to build around Rudy Gay. If that's the case, there is zero reason for the Grizzlies to want much more talented players from the Lakers or any other team for Gasol (like Odom). Odom, for example, has $22M left on his contract (pro-rated), so it makes more sense to pay Kwame his pro-rated $4.5M than paying Lamar, saves $17.5M and LO isn't close to an All Star this season to boot.
Crittenton was also an important consideration. Financially he's a sweet deal, as he's a rookie and therefore is locked into his contract at $2M per year until 2011. He has huge upside at just 19 years old. For those who don't know who he is, Laker brass and Laker fans have been high on him all year. Sad to see him go, but obviously you do a deal like this when you're talking about a 27 year old All Star PF/C that is triangle matchup nightmare for opposing squads. So Kwame Brown the player is irrelevant, anything he gives them is merely window dressing, because they're NOT looking to get equal value back, they know they won't get it. They traded for Kwame because of his contract, which NO other team in the league could provide that also was wiling to give up a young prospect like Javaris Crittenton. Gasol also has about $50M of guaranteed cash remaining on his contract, and Buss is one of the few owners in the league willing to commit to paying that kind of money.
Btw, there is also precedent for superstar trades for expiring contracts + scraps, at mid-season (like now), and just in the last 3 seasons too. For example, superstars like Vince Carter were acquired for Mourning, draft picks, and expiring contracts. Tracy McGrady was traded for a huge contract in Francis, Mobley, and expiring contracts. Rasheed Wallace was traded for reserves and draft picks. And both Carter and Wallace were deadline deals too, just like this one.
Collusion? Nope. Just a lot of great scouting and the magic touch of Jerry West finally rubbing off on Kupchak after he and the FO were a disaster of a management team between 2000 and 2004. 2005-2008 has been very West-like, to say the least, a complete turnaround in philosophy from slow, shoot-first mediocre athletes to athletic, skilled 2-way players.
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Also all this great scouting and magic touch requires an owner who has enough income to withstand a large luxury tax hit.
This "great scouting and magic touch" isn't available to teams who can't afford it like, er, Sacramento. While the Lakers salaries will be about $75 mil, their income is twice that.
This "great scouting and magic touch" isn't available to teams who can't afford it like, er, Sacramento. While the Lakers salaries will be about $75 mil, their income is twice that.
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