so many people in the nba are always saying shit like, we can thank memphis for that. thats just insulting to pau, he has worked harder and harder and deserves all the credit, not the fact he got traded here. everybody though he was handed to us, that it was unfair, but if it was them who got him then they'd be saying something different. yes the lakers got a better deal, but memphis had been a crap team with gasol eating up thier cap space for way to long and i am suprised he wasnt traded earlier. the team decided to rebuild and they seem to be getting along nicely and have a huge amount of potential with some of their young stars. they saw what they wanted for the future of the team and knew gasol couldnt be a part of it, they needed a fresh start. lakers offered the bet deal, simple, all these other teams are pissed off about it, its been two f'n years dude, maybe you should have offered a better deal than we did. but you didnt, we did, we got him and we are doing great because of it. nobody handed the championhip to the lakers, all those guys worked extra hard to win it and get there in the end, so fuck the ret of the nba who thinks we were handed this shit.
Pau Gasol was actively shopped by the Grizzlies before he ended up with the Lakers. Buss was the only owner at the time willing to take the cap hit and his risk paid off. The Grizzlies are happy with the player his brother's become.
People always complain about the trade, but Marc looks respectable and there wasn't much being offered. It happened with Vince Carter and Mo Williams as well.
Marc has made that trade look awfully good so far. He's not as good as his brother, but he's been a double double machine and might be making them regret the Thabeet pick.
I couldn't believe they actually selected Thabeet. I figured they were using him as a smokescreen to get someone to trade up for Rubio. I thought for sure they'd draft Rubio or Tyreke Evans.
The trade was a steal for the Lakers, but it wasnt as bad of a deal for the Griz as everyone made it seem. They got young talent and cap space and draft picks. Now why they would trade Pau and then sign Zach Randolf for the same money is beyond me.
That'd been logical thinking. As it is, I think Thabeet could be a good player, but he's a huge project. He's got a lot of upside, especially defensively and as a rebounder, but I think he could be a very good player. Maybe when Randolph's contract expires, they'll try moving Thabeet in to the starting lineup and sliding Gasol to the 4.
If the grizz played their cards right they could have had Marc AND Either of Rubio or Tyreke. They got Kwame, Marc, Javaris, cash and picks which could have become either of the 2. They didn't trust Javaris enough, but he had loads of potential... Imagine the assets they would have had... Kwame (expiring), Conley or Rubio could be packaged with Javaris and traded for something more. It wasn't a lopsided trade. It was just bad business follow through on the part of the Grizz.
