Lakers make trade for Pau Gasol

[BWillie]

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=3226203

What a great trade this will be IMO. Just wait until Bynum comes back. Bynum will be the "raw" scorer, while Gasol is another 7-footer with a good finesse game who can also rebound. To top that off they have the best player in the league and a great side-kick Lamar Odom. Kobe will have a ton of room to operate and spread the floor. And if they double team him, they are screwed.

Lakers could be scary when they get everybody healthy.

They traded away the hack Kwame Brown and rookie Javaris Crittenton and a couple first rounders. Pau Gasol is a 20 and 9 guy. People think his production has been down this year due to some nagging day to day injuries, but it is apparent that Pau is frustrated playing for a crappy team like the Grizzlies. I think a change of scenery will give him a spark.

Starting line-up when healthy could look like this
PG: Derek Fisher
SG: Kobe Bryant
SF: Lamar Odom
PF: Pau Gasol
C: Andrew Bynum

[kcxiv]

about ****ing time. We were hurting with 3 guys down right now.

Sucks we traded away crit, but Farmar is young and will be a awesome player in a year or 2. Kwame is the most worthless player in the NBA i swear.

[ChiefsCountry]

So I would assume they are out of the running for Kidd now.

[kcxiv]

Lakers needed guys in the middle more then they needed Kidd.

Bynum hurt, Mihm hurt, Walton hurt, Ariza hurt.

[BWillie]

So I would assume they are out of the running for Kidd now.

Naw, Kidd's career is about over. He's on the downslope of his career. Still a good player. Besides, the Lakers have up and coming Jordan Farmar who will be a great player in a couple of years.

[DJ's left nut]

Kupchak gets roasted over the Shaq deal b/c of Odom's uninspired play. What gets lost is that the Shaq deal was actually a pretty good return...it was the Butler for Brown deal that turned that whole thing into a screwjob.

Now that you turn Brown's deal around for Gasol, that Shaq deal turns into Shaq, a spare combo guard (Farmar is a beast and even Sasha's looked good), and a couple of late 1sts into Odom and Gasol.

Kupchak has redeemed himself by undoing to Kwame Brown disaster and picking up Ariza for Cook (undoing one of his more questionable contracts).

Now if we can just find some team stupid enough to deal for Walton (paging Isiah), we'll be in great shape and Mitch will have undone most of his screwups.

Good time to be a Laker's fan.

[KevB]

It was a trade the Lakers had to make, but I don't know how well Gasol fits into the Lakers triangle offense. He's more of a slow it down, throw it to me in the post and watch me bounce for 10 dribbles kind of player. I'm a Grizzly fan, and none too happy about the return. This was a classic case of selling low, a terrible mistake. They're just a bad franchise right now, with an owner who's simply trying not to lose money. He threw money into that team for several years, but Jerry West just didn't quite make enough right decisions.

[nychief]

wow... the traditional Chiefs/Lakers fans.

[DJ's left nut]

It was a trade the Lakers had to make, but I don't know how well Gasol fits into the Lakers triangle offense. He's more of a slow it down, throw it to me in the post and watch me bounce for 10 dribbles kind of player. I'm a Grizzly fan, and none too happy about the return. This was a classic case of selling low, a terrible mistake. They're just a bad franchise right now, with an owner who's simply trying not to lose money. He threw money into that team for several years, but Jerry West just didn't quite make enough right decisions.


With his good mid-range and spot up game, he'll be a perfect compliment to Bynum in the triangle.

Bynum posts up down low
Pau moves around the elbows for mid-range shots
Kobe can cut and drive
Fisher and Farmer from out deep
Odom cleans up the scraps.

That team is fast, it is quick, it is long. They'll have two seven footers and even the guards are decent sized. Their freakin' small forward will be 6'11'' (Odom). Everybody brings an offensive game to the table and with Bynum out there and Gasol able to concentrate on help D, it'll be strong on defense as well.

If they learn to play together, it's the best team in the NBA.

[Micjones]

Good trade.

That team keeps improving.
They're still a couple of years away, but they're getting better.

[Jamie]

The Grizzlies wouldn't accept anything from Chicago less than Loul Deng for Gasol, but now they give him away to Los Angeles for nothing. Awesome.

[JohnnyRingo]

this is only a total mind blower b/c i didnt think anyone watched NBA anymore ROFL

j/k :p

[BIG_DADDY]

Gasol plays tonight. Lakers just became contenders. Can you say Twin Towers? I knew you could.

[ChiefsCountry]

The Grizzlies wouldn't accept anything from Chicago less than Loul Deng for Gasol, but now they give him away to Los Angeles for nothing. Awesome.

Kwame had a huge contract that will be off the books, that is almost as valuable as getting a Deng.

[BIG_DADDY]

Gasol plays tonight. Lakers just became contenders. Can you say Twin Towers? I knew you could.

Awesome game. The only thing better than the potential of watching the Lakers take it all now is watching the boo hoo looks on the Celtics faces after all they went through to put together that team.

[Frankie]

What country is Gasol from? Just curious.

[ChiefsCountry]

What country is Gasol from? Just curious.

Spain

[Frankie]

Spain
Thx.

[kcxiv]

Awesome game. The only thing better than the potential of watching the Lakers take it all now is watching the boo hoo looks on the Celtics faces after all they went through to put together that team.
Yep, Lakers are built right now for a good 5-7 year run. Celtics are 2-3 years.

Possible Lakers/Suns Kobe/Shaq match up in the play offs? damn it. Possible Lakers/Celtics? i know its far off, but i bet Stern is salivating right now.

[BIG_DADDY]

Yep, Lakers are built right now for a good 5-7 year run. Celtics are 2-3 years.

Possible Lakers/Suns Kobe/Shaq match up in the play offs? damn it. Possible Lakers/Celtics? i know its far off, but i bet Stern is salivating right now.


Lakers / Celtics final would be a HUGE draw.

[kcxiv]

It was a trade the Lakers had to make, but I don't know how well Gasol fits into the Lakers triangle offense.
I would say it looks like he was born to fit into the Triangle.

[Ecto-I]

Off topic, but did anybody see the Kobe-over-the-shoulder, Walton-behind-the-back-to-Odom Showtime dunk last night! Unreal!

[kcxiv]

Off topic, but did anybody see the Kobe-over-the-shoulder, Walton-behind-the-back-to-Odom Showtime dunk last night! Unreal!

Yep, the degree of difficulty on that play was pretty insane.

[kcxiv]

http://www.mediafire.com/?1lu9cfbbcyh

thats the play for download. ITs in HD. Its just done perfectly.

[Ultra Peanut]

Watching Pau in a Lakers jersey honestly pains me.

[kcxiv]

Watching Pau in a Lakers jersey honestly pains me.

It brings me much joy! I at least know 1 of my damned teams has a chance to do something special.

[kcxiv]

<object width="425" height="355"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/XQ62zr-Meo4"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/XQ62zr-Meo4" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object>This is the awesome play.