I cannot believe this. The Grizzlies traded Pau Gasol to the Lakers for Kwame Brown, their rookie PG, and two first round picks. The Lakers now have Kobe, Bynum, and Gasol. Wow, I am pissed. What's wrong with you Memphis? http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=3226203 This is not April 1st is it? Incredible...
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Clif25 @ Feb 1 2008, 03:52 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>I cannot believe this. The Grizzlies traded Pau Gasol to the Lakers for Kwame Brown, their rookie PG, and two first round picks. The Lakers now have Kobe, Bynum, and Gasol. Wow, I am pissed. What's wrong with you Memphis? http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=3226203 This is not April 1st is it? Incredible...</div> The west becomes even more unbalanced... damn this sucks! I guess we'll have a lot more to complain about when the Warriors get overpowered by the likes of the Spurs, Lakers, Hornets, Blazers, Jazz, and Suns. They all got two sets of bigs that we don't.
It's the curse of Webber, first Baron isn't an all star, now the west gets even stronger! Mullin needs to make some moves.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Legacy @ Feb 1 2008, 05:33 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>It's the curse of Webber, first Baron isn't an all star, now the west gets even stronger! Mullin needs to make some moves.</div> I don't know if it means that the Warriors need to make some moves. It just means that players like Harrington, and probably even Wright and POB will need to step it up against these bigs when needed. However if there is a no-brainer deal then do it by all means. But yeah, at least the Lakers were already up there in the West.
The one thing I'm terrified is now that Memphis got rid of a max contract, they could throw money at Monta Ellis or Biedrins... F-ing a! Now I'm getting mad... Memphis is f-ing things up.
They are loaded at guard I wouldn't worry about losing Ellis. The early rumor is they are targeting Okafor.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Custodianrules2 @ Feb 1 2008, 07:14 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>The one thing I'm terrified is now that Memphis got rid of a max contract, they could throw money at Monta Ellis or Biedrins... F-ing a! Now I'm getting mad... Memphis is f-ing things up.</div> Pretty Brutal... Let's see if they'll swap Mike Miller for Pietrus since they're dumping real estate
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Legacy @ Feb 1 2008, 05:33 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>It's the curse of Webber, first Baron isn't an all star, now the west gets even stronger! Mullin needs to make some moves.</div> Mullin did make a move -- Webber. Pfft. It's not enough. It never is. Until the Warriors lift that championship trophy high above their heads. BTW this trade looks bad on paper, but if Memphis can pick up Shawn Marion, Gilbert Arenas, Antawn Jamison, Elton Brand through free agency with the extra cash they have, then it won't look so bad. We can do the trade exception for Mike Miller, but I doubt Cohan will pay the extra salary.
The W's do not need Miller. They've got enough shooters and swingmen. This makes the Lakers definitely better but that does not mean the W's have to do something.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Custodianrules2 @ Feb 1 2008, 07:14 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>The one thing I'm terrified is now that Memphis got rid of a max contract, they could throw money at Monta Ellis or Biedrins... F-ing a! Now I'm getting mad... Memphis is f-ing things up.</div> Both Monta and AB are restricted so the most money they can get is through the Warriors. Baron is another story, but like Shape said they won't be targeting guards. It could be Okafor, but I heard their GM Wallace has had his eyes on Shawn Marion for a long time like sixth grade or something.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (jason voorhees @ Feb 1 2008, 07:31 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Custodianrules2 @ Feb 1 2008, 07:14 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>The one thing I'm terrified is now that Memphis got rid of a max contract, they could throw money at Monta Ellis or Biedrins... F-ing a! Now I'm getting mad... Memphis is f-ing things up.</div> Both Monta and AB are restricted so the most money they can get is through the Warriors. Baron is another story, but like Shape said they won't be targeting guards. It could be Okafor, but I heard their GM Wallace has had his eyes on Shawn Marion for a long time like sixth grade or something. </div> Marion makes sense too, Iavorini coached him in Phoenix. The Grizzlies also like Deng. Also don't forget Memphis has Darko still. Him and Biedrins would be redundant.
I'm predicting that the 76ers and Grizz will get into a big free agent battle for Elton Brand. I think Monta and Baron are safe. The Grizz already have Conley, Lowry, Cirittenton, Miller (for now at least), Gay. Even Biedrins alongside Darko doesn't make sense.
I guess Kupchak got over on Mullin because Gasol would be a great piece on the Warriors. But who would you give up for him? They'd probably be asking for at least either Biedrins or Ellis and I would not give up either one of them for Gasol now. Wright needs to get more play, the guy may be raw but he brings something that the Warriors otherwise lack. When is the last time you saw a dunk like the one he had vs. Charlotte from any Warrior? Andris struggled for the first year or two also, but I believe the fact that he got some early playing time helped him develop.
We didn't have a chance to get Gasol, because Memphis wanted an expiring contract in return. Even if we did, we wouldn't make a deal, because that trade will put us way over luxury tax threshold. Memphis is in complete fire sale mode, so I am sure Miller will be sold for an expiring contract as well. Actually, that deal did put Lakers way over the luxury tax threshold, and as far as I know, they didn't pay luxury tax before. So, it would be very interesting how Lakers will deal with luxury tax in the future. Kobe will get 20 mils, Gasol will get 17 mils, Odom will get 10 mils and Bynum will most likely get at least 12 mils per year. Walton's 6 mils and Vlad's 6 mils are virtually untradable, so I wonder how Lakers will react financially after losing at least 20 mils per year. You can go to http://bt.davka.info/ and download at least 20 Warriors games per season, if not more. BTW, did anybody realize that every 8 Western conference PO teams are above .600 today? Wonder when was the last time that happened...
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (jason voorhees @ Feb 1 2008, 07:25 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Legacy @ Feb 1 2008, 05:33 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>It's the curse of Webber, first Baron isn't an all star, now the west gets even stronger! Mullin needs to make some moves.</div> Mullin did make a move -- Webber. Pfft. It's not enough. It never is. Until the Warriors lift that championship trophy high above their heads. BTW this trade looks bad on paper, but if Memphis can pick up Shawn Marion, Gilbert Arenas, Antawn Jamison, Elton Brand through free agency with the extra cash they have, then it won't look so bad. We can do the trade exception for Mike Miller, but I doubt Cohan will pay the extra salary. </div> If they end up with Arenas or Brand, then I guess that is a good thing. If they come out with Jamison or Marion, I'd rather just keep Gasol.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Kwan1031 @ Feb 3 2008, 01:39 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>We didn't have a chance to get Gasol, because Memphis wanted an expiring contract in return. Even if we did, we wouldn't make a deal, because that trade will put us way over luxury tax threshold. Memphis is in complete fire sale mode, so I am sure Miller will be sold for an expiring contract as well. Actually, that deal did put Lakers way over the luxury tax threshold, and as far as I know, they didn't pay luxury tax before. So, it would be very interesting how Lakers will deal with luxury tax in the future. Kobe will get 20 mils, Gasol will get 17 mils, Odom will get 10 mils and Bynum will most likely get at least 12 mils per year. Walton's 6 mils and Vlad's 6 mils are virtually untradable, so I wonder how Lakers will react financially after losing at least 20 mils per year. You can go to http://bt.davka.info/ and download at least 20 Warriors games per season, if not more. BTW, did anybody realize that every 8 Western conference PO teams are above .600 today? Wonder when was the last time that happened...</div> The Lakers definitely gambled, but it has a potential to win a ring now if you think about Pau and Bynum frontline. It'll probably be a short time thing because of the team budget involved, but maybe it'll pay off like how the Heat won the championship that one season. The Lakers will now probably have to deal somebody like Odom for an expiring deal and get rid of either Walton or Radmo. That'll stop the bleeding somewhat, but they'll be so thin in many places. Because they'd probably lose a few bench guys to free agency, trade away some draft picks, or draft but don't sign the pick. This western conference is going to be a lot tougher than it already was (8 teams above .600 is crazy!!!)... ...and the key to it has always been the 20/10 guy that can pass, a crapload of all-around D, and a great backcourt. Hopefully, that'll be us someday. It could happen in just one season, provided the team chemistry is instant.
