<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>Memphis Grizzlies owner Michael Heisley said he believes the Bulls should be willing to pay the NBA's luxury tax and said he traded Pau Gasol to the Los Angeles Lakers on Friday in part because he was worried the Lakers were ready to make a deal to acquire Ben Wallace. Heisley, a St. Charles resident, spoke to the Memphis Commercial-Appeal about the Grizzlies' decision to trade the 7-foot Gasol to the Lakers essentially for draft picks and salary-cap room. The Bulls had been chasing Gasol for more than a year and were disappointed not to land the 27-year-old power forward. "We had conversations with Chicago which were non-satisfactory," Heisley said in the Commercial-Appeal. "They didn't want to take on the luxury-tax situation and Los Angeles was. In this league, if you're in a big-market area you can afford to do those things. "We negotiated as hard as we could for quality players and (the Bulls) refused to give up anybody in their core group. What they offered us were guys who play on the second and third team, so we turned them down." The Bulls thought they had a deal a few weeks ago to obtain Gasol in exchange for Andres Nocioni and other pieces, but the Grizzlies insisted the Bulls take another bad contract, most likely Brian Cardinal, in return. In order to make that deal, or acquire Gasol for expiring contracts, the Bulls' payroll would have risen beyond the luxury-tax threshold next season. "There is no mystery to it," Heisley said. "I'm not dumb enough to think we got quality for quality for Pau. What we did was try to open up flexibility. We had to reconstruct and start building a team like Portland did and like what Minnesota is trying to do." To get Gasol, the Lakers gave up Kwame Brown's expiring contract, rookie guard Javaris Crittenton, all-but-retired guard Aaron McKie, the rights to Gasol's brother Marc, two first-round draft picks and cash. "What we started to see was that we weren't going to get an elite player coming back," said Memphis general manager Chris Wallace. "Rather than take a 'name' player that wasn't going to get us where we wanted to go, we preferred to get picks and salary-cap room." Heisley also felt the Grizzlies needed to act fast before the Lakers decided to acquire Wallace from the Bulls for Brown and Vladimir Radmanovic. "Otherwise we'd be like Chicago is today and gotten nothing done," Heisley said. "We were worried that the Lakers might do the deal with Chicago." A Bulls source doubted the Lakers had serious interest in acquiring Wallace and wondered if there might be hard feelings between Heisley and Bulls chairman Jerry Reinsdorf. Heisley is a longtime Chicago-area resident who has said he became interested in owning an NBA team while watching the championship-era Bulls. "When Chicago broke up the Bulls, I was fuming for three days," he said. "And the Bulls still aren't back." Injury report: Ben Wallace (sore knee) and Tyrus Thomas (sprained foot) skipped Sunday's light practice at Seattle's Key Arena, but both are expected to play tonight against the Sonics. Bulls coach Jim Boylan continued to maintain that Andres Nocioni is not injured and the reason Boylan sent Viktor Khryapa to replace Nocioni less than two minutes into the third quarter of Saturday's 105-101 loss at Sacramento was because Khryapa was playing well. That last part is debatable, since Khryapa had no points, 4 fouls and 3 turnovers in 21 minutes against the Kings.</div> Source: LA Daily Herald Thankfully Heisley blinked first.
I wouldn't be mad if we actually got Ben Wallace, but I'll be mad to hear that the Lakers pass on Gasol.Not many teams wanted to pay luxury tax and thats why they didn't want to acquire Gasol.But thank god Heisley reacted fast. Kwame and Radmanovic for Wallace ain't bad.
Heisley didn't make out too badly. He got nothing to help them immediately but dumped Pau's contract and got back a very solid young player in Crittenton as well as a prospect in M. Gasol and a couple of future first round picks. Looks bad now but like someone else mentioned it worked out well for NOH and Toronto when they literally gave away Baron and VC for nothing but cap room.
If we'd traded for Ben Wallace I would've cried. He's being paid for work he did 3 years ago (which is how the curreny system works in the NBA unfortunately). To me, even when he was in his prime (as defensive player of the year) he was just that, a defensive player. Kwame brown is a poor mans ben wallace. If we'd traded for Wallace it wouldn't have changed a thing.
I honestly don't think Big Ben would have helped this team all that much. He's still a solid defensive player, but in the West, there's no way he can guard the bigs. He's undersized and is on the downside of his career. And offensively, he'd have actually been a downgrade from Kwame. I don't see how he could've helped the Lakers.
Big Ben would have been a lateral move, would not be a good fit for this team at all, to undersized and over his prime..
Wallace had a horrible Rashard-Lewis type of contract from the moment he signed with Chicago. Why would anyone want him, even in his prime, at that price? No thanks.
