So let me get this straight: "Give money to the poor!" "How do you know they want it? Stop trying to think of what other people want! That's selfish!" How about we keep words for what they actually mean. Dame, being human, wants a lot of things, not all of them consistent. I'm sure top of his list is winning a championship with the Blazers. Great. Sadly, that's not going to happen (barring every other team losing all its good players to Covid). Also, if we hold on to Dame too long it will set back any rebuild for several years, and it'll just be sad watching him jack up shots for lottery teams as we get mad at him. I think, because of they way he died young, people have forgotten how shitty Kobe's last couple of years were with the Lakers. And that's a team that can rely on signing any big free agent out there. We're a team whose greatest FA acquisition ever was Brian Grant.
Lol… thats an interesting comparison. Because getting free money has all the baggage of uprooting a family, starting over, etc… come on Rasta, you told me to stop being selfish but its clearly evident your motives are not based on what Dame has said, taking him for his word. But rather a selfish motive based on what you THINK he wants, vs what he has said he wants. Ill go what what he has said over what you think. Sorry.
Marc Gasol wasn't an unknown like Greg Brown. Gasol was considered an excellent prospect who had already played well in Europe. I respectfully disagree that Portland has "lots of guys" as valuable as Marc Gasol back then. I don't think even Little is as valuable as prospect Marc Gasol and Little is by far the most valuable young player Portland has. Marc Gasol was the reason that Memphis was willing to part with Pau Gasol--Portland doesn't have a young player who could command a top-level player in return.
This is a bit of revisionist history. Marc Gasol was the 48th pick in the draft a yr before the trade, and his name was hardly mentioned by the pundits who analyzed the deal after. He was so obviously a throw-in. Even Gregg Popovich (given SA's history of scouting in Europe) was vocal in how one-sided that deal was in LA's favor. He was hardly a known entity. And he had put up OK numbers one season on an above average team in Europe. Come on, man. Greg Brown has arguably more pedigree at age 20 than Gasol did at the same age. As do Nas/Ant. "What they did in Memphis is beyond comprehension," said Popovich. "There should be a trade committee that can scratch all trades that make no sense. I just wish I had been on a trade committee that oversees NBA trades. I'd like to elect myself to that committee. I would have voted no to the L.A. trade." When told that Wallace had challenged executives to criticize the deal publicly, Popovich replied, "Well, there you go. I'm on the record."
I remember conversations at the time about the trade in this community (though I guess it was back when it was on BasketballBoards.net, before the big exodus here), where people pointed out that Gasol was an excellent prospect based on his play in Europe. I think one thing you're overlooking in how the trade was viewed at the time is that back then people had a lot less respect for the importance of excellent play in Europe. So for many teams, sure, Gasol may not have rated highly--but Memphis was obviously not one of those teams, considering they had just had one of their best eras built around a star Spaniard. As for Popovich, he's always been about gamesmanship. Marc Gasol on the Lakers didn't imminently threaten his Spurs teams--a fully-developed Pau Gasol did. Him saying the trade shouldn't be allowed doesn't mean much, IMO.
You're typing that like Andrea Bargnani wasn't the number 1 pick in the draft before Gasol's. And again with this excellent play. This isn't exactly setting the world on fire.
No, I'm not saying European prospects were ignored. I'm not sure how you could get that out of my post.
really? they respected Euro stats well enough to draft a guy #1, but essentially 30 teams didn't respect Gasol to let him drop to 48 in the draft the following year? And you're trying to say that Gasol was a better prospect as a 24 yr old rookie?
just fyi... we drafted Rudy Fernandez 24 picks ahead of this "excellent prospect" Marc Gasol in the exact same draft.
Saying that European performance is less respected than now doesn't mean that you either completely discount them or that you highly rate every good young European player. Not to mention Bargnani rated out better by traditional scouting measures, like athleticism. I don't think it's at all clear that European stats were the crucial thing for Barganani. Gasol wasn't a very good athlete, nor was he a great shooter at the time like Nowitzki, the guy a lot of teams were trying to find again in Europe. Actual performance, rather than eye test, was what Gasol had. Better prospect than who?
Sure, and a lot of people at the time in this community postulated that we could have traded for Pau, using Rudy. Whether or not that's true.
getting lost in the weeds here, but i still think your premise that Marc Gasol (before he ever played and NBA game as the 48th draft pick while being a 24 yr old rookie having mediocre athleticism and AVERAGE stats on an OK team in Europe) being a better trade chip than any of our young guys is just flat out false. no one knew who the hell he was. the only reason the Grizz included him was because he went to HS in Memphis and figured he would help them tank.
here are Marc Gasol's stats before the NBA: so, when Memphis traded for him he was a 24 year old C who had just completed a Euro-season when he averaged 16 & 8 (17.5 & 9 per 36) while shooting 65% from the floor and drawing 7 FT's a game.
Ok. I seem remember there being quite a bit of question about Marc, but I could be mistaken... Seems like he'd have been taken higher in the draft if he were that valuable...
You not knowing who he was is not the same as no one knowing who he was. I knew who he was and I don't even follow European basketball. I think you're biasing this based on your own perceptions of Marc Gasol--you didn't know who he was, so he couldn't have been significant. I don't think Memphis considers the deal without Marc Gasol and I don't think any young player Portland has swings a deal on a similar type of player today.
lol i sat up til 4AM watching our guy Rudy and Rubio tear up the ACB but alright. You might even find my old posts on bballfroum.com with shady links to those games. Marc averaged just 18 mpg on their national team months before that trade. They actually played a guy name Felipe Reyes ahead of him. You should have been sending KP some emails about all your knowledge of Gasol. Maybe we would have recovered easier from the Oden disaster.
