West presenting the WC trophy

[The Relentless KB]

It's not so much that the package sucked altogether (although it did), it's more that it sucked compared to what other teams who had a need for Gasol likely would have put together when we got closer to the deadline. The Grizzlies had 100% of the leverage and used none of it.

1 of 2 things is true (possibly both):

1) Collusion was involved with the Logo's influence.

2) Chris Wallace is just a complete and utter moron.

You are more than welcome to believe item #2, but quit trying to polish that turd of a package and tell us that the Lakers gave up anything of value.

There is years of evidence of this with his years with the Celtics. He isn't a good GM, but you can see what he was thinking with the trade.

Keep imagining what you want. I'm sure you have a great explanation for trading Rodman to the Bulls for Perdue or the Spurs team that had averaged 58 wins the previous 3 years before the tank job of a season once Robinson went down that had Duncan gift-wrapped to them.

[~~~~~~]

It's not so much that the package sucked altogether (although it did), it's more that it sucked compared to what other teams who had a need for Gasol likely would have put together when we got closer to the deadline. The Grizzlies had 100% of the leverage and used none of it.

1 of 2 things is true (possibly both):

1) Collusion was involved with the Logo's influence.

2) Chris Wallace is just a complete and utter moron.

You are more than welcome to believe item #2, but quit trying to polish that turd of a package and tell us that the Lakers gave up anything of value.

I'm sure Jerry West had an influence on it as a consultant. The Grizzlies consulted with him and and he said it looked like a good deal for Memphis. Who has the final say are the team owners. Jerry Buss of the Lakers is known to be liberal with acquiring players. Don't know about Michael Heisley of Memphis. If Heisley gives the trade a stamp of approval, that's on him whether or not he was up to date on "fair trade value" given to him by Wallace. If Memphis wants to do the trade before the deadline and not procrastinate, that's on them. Other teams who have to wait 'til the last minute to put something together, that's on them. Lakers got the deal done, that's on them. And that's the bottom line.


All these other teams, whining "waahhh it wasn't fair"....Oh wells, that's life and it was no secret that Pau Gasol was available. IMO, other teams already saw how the Lakers were stacked with talent, especially in the bench, and playing well, even with Kwame, before Bynum went down. But that's on them for being short-sighted on not picking Farmar, Turiaf, Vujacic, Walton, Bryant and Bynum during the draft in previous years.

All the other teams should worry about what they have to do to get better players to help their franchise win instead of worrying about what the Lakers are doing.

[Tag]

The Grizzlies couldnt have done any better for what they were looking for, cap space. The Grizzlies were looking to free up some money, and you couldnt find a bigger NBA dud with an astronomically over the top salary then Kwame Brown. Yes it was a steal, but no other team had a better offer for what memphis was looking for.

To the New Yorker others, by all means stay in your watch-your-back-or-you'll-get-shot-rotting apple and nanny state eurotrash nations. That leaves more sunshine and hot women for the rest of us here in LA.

[Mr. Body]

Women in LA aren't hot. They're plastic androids. British women ain't great shakes, though. I'd take Polish women - was there last weekend. Nice.

In any case, that was a first post of some bull right there.

[GrandeDavid]

True fans of the game? Oh like you guys right? Wonderful, classy, basketball fans like yourselves right?

People who don't even respect themselves, let alone the game they claim to love so much.

I'm willing to assume that you have little business judging anybody, and save your smart ass comments about posters here and Texas. In fact, why don't you piss off and stop antagonizing people. Find something to do with that existence you call a "life".

[GrandeDavid]

Funny how moronic, vapid generalizations like this are OK because this is a Spurs board, and god forbid anyone think differently than a Spurs fan.

Stop typing "God" in lower case, please.

[Kobe24Forever]

Not to give new life to this topic, but was anyone else weirded out that Jerry West presented the trophy to the Lakers for being Wester Conference Champions.

Isn't he still an adviser to the Grizzlies? First he / Chris Wallace giftwrap Gasol to the Lakers and a couple of months later he's handing them a trophy? Also, it looked like he had tears in his eyes or something.

It was great trade by the Lakers but one that would've caused a catlysmic fight in my fantasy league.

Ok, I've said enough. Time to think about reloading in the off-season.

and why, i see david robinson on the bench every other playoff games, isn't he retired? wasnt he a former spur, david robinson is a wierdo.

[GrandeDavid]

I say this as an European.

Los angeles is one place you don't want to be in the US.

I go LA on business from time to time and I also enjoy my visits. But there is absolutely no way I would even consider living there. Tired, violent, filthy, overpopulated, geographically unstable, dry climate. Just not my ideal city.

[Phil Hellmuth]

the capspace argument is weak. who really wants to go to memphis via FA? yea they might want to sell their team, but that in other words is a sabotage move to benefit the purple and gold.g

[K-State Spur]

There is years of evidence of this with his years with the Celtics. He isn't a good GM, but you can see what he was thinking with the trade.

Keep imagining what you want. I'm sure you have a great explanation for trading Rodman to the Bulls for Perdue or the Spurs team that had averaged 58 wins the previous 3 years before the tank job of a season once Robinson went down that had Duncan gift-wrapped to them.

That's a ridiculous comparison. If not for the injuries, the Spurs were still likely a top 6 team in the West, even after moving Rodman.

That was purely a move that hoped to be addition by subtraction. Rodman's value was greatly diminished by his at ude/age. The Bulls bought low.

It should also be noted that Rodman's tank went pretty dry not too long after that trade.

[Superstar Basketball]

and why, i see david robinson on the bench every other playoff games, isn't he retired? wasnt he a former spur, david robinson is a wierdo.

what's your point? Magic is there almost every game... so is Kareem.
KB24? Great. Another Kobe Bryant -rider.

There's 2 types of fans in L.A:
- Kobe homers
- Lakers fans.

Let me guess. You're one of those MJ23, Bulls-loving, me-me shooting guard that jumped on the Lakers bandwagon just a week ago. You were probably a D. Wade nut-hugger just 2 seasons ago.

[The Relentless KB]

That's a ridiculous comparison. If not for the injuries, the Spurs were still likely a top 6 team in the West, even after moving Rodman.

That was purely a move that hoped to be addition by subtraction. Rodman's value was greatly diminished by his at ude/age. The Bulls bought low.

It should also be noted that Rodman's tank went pretty dry not too long after that trade.

Rodman's tank went pretty dry after he won THREE RINGS.

The point is there are a lot of lopsided trades throughout the history of sports. This one is not even close to being decided on the Grizzlies' end of things, and people are whining about it. They got a great expiring contract and pieces to build around their future.

[K-State Spur]

Rodman's tank went pretty dry after he won THREE RINGS.

The point is there are a lot of lopsided trades throughout the history of sports. This one is not even close to being decided on the Grizzlies' end of things, and people are whining about it. They got a great expiring contract and pieces to build around their future.

Rodman was a good contributor to the '96 Bulls. He was pretty mediocre on the '97 team. And he was a s of himself on the '98 team.

If it weren't for the hair and drawing attention to himself, he would have just been a footnote on the second three-peat.

His value to the Spurs was negative (and other teams knew it) because he wasn't going to put them over the edge towards a championship and he didn't get along with the Admiral (who was still one of the best centers in the game).

[romsho]

It was ironic, to say the least. You might say when the Pau Gasol trade was made, Jerry West helped literally hand the Lakers the trophy. Now it isn't just a metaphor, it actually happened. Seriously, if Boston finishes off Detroit, we need Kevin McHale to present the hardware to the Celtics, and then see a YouTube Clip of David Stern giggling uncontrollably. This needs to happen.

[GSH]

All the other NBA teams, I think the Bulls were one of them, interested in Gasol only dabbled with the idea of a trade. The Lakers were the only team that gave Memphis a serious offer.

Horse. . Sorry, no other way to put it. Horse. .

When the trade details finally went public, several GM's started rumbling about the better offers they had made for Gasol. They went so far as to anonymously leak details about those offers. That's when Cupshack expressed his outrage about them anonymously bashing the trade. And in response to that, Pop was the one with enough courage to step forward and say, "I'm on record. It's not anonymous. you." Or words to that effect.

The Lakers were prepared to give up Lamar Scrotum AND Andrew Bynum, plus a bunch more for Garnett. Virtually every trade scenario specualtion said that they would have to give up those two to get Gasol.

There were four headline trades this season. Garnett, Gasol, Kidd, and Shaq. Two of the teams had to give major concessions, and probably crippled themselves for several years to come. And two of the teams had former Hall of Fame players as GM of the other team in the trade. They seem to have come out OK.

Could be coincidence. And maybe all those earthquakes aren't related to the fault line you live on. Maybe O.J.'s wife was killed by that one-in-a-billion person who is a genetic match for him. Maybe Barry Bonds' home runs had nothing to do with the steroids he took. Maybe Arnold Schwarzenegger won because he was the most qualified person to be governer of California, and he just happened to be a famous actor.

I mean, there's like a lot of coincidence in California. You know? And I don't even see why people have, like, a problem with that.

[Holt's Cat]

Maybe Pau will find the real rapist for Kobe.

[Pucho!!!]

Trading for Gasol cost the Lakers Kwame Brown, Javaris Crittendon, two 1st round draft picks, a second round draft pick and rights to Marc Gasol (Pau Gasol's brother), plus one other player I forgot. Crittendon is a 6' 5", quicker version of Jordan Farmar and can potentially play defense like Trevor Ariza. Marc Gasol is a younger, bigger, stronger and heavier version of Pau with better defense and offense.

Lakers shouldn't have thrown in Marc Gasol 'cause he has the potential to be a real impact player with his size and skills. All he needed, had the Lakers kept the rights to him, would have been 2 or 3 years, if that, of seasoning in the NBA, learning from Kareem and he would be able to dominate games at the center and power forward positions at certain times.

Lakers should have offered Farmar instead of Crittendon because Farmar will always have trouble playing against bigger/stronger Deron Williams type guards. Crittendon is quick enough to take on smaller/faster guards and also has better ball handling skills than Farmar. From what I saw during the his time with the Lakers, Crittendon doesn't seem to get fazed playing on the road but instead becomes more aggressive unlike Farmar who at times goes into a s for extended stretches.

All the other NBA teams, I think the Bulls were one of them, interested in Gasol only dabbled with the idea of a trade. The Lakers were the only team that gave Memphis a serious offer.

Thats not true, the griz really didnt give any other teams time to set up real offers. They pretty much jumped at what the lakers were offering them hence why the 1st guy that started this thread stated the irony of jerry west presenting the western conference trophy to the lakers because he has strong ties to both the griz and lakers (just wanted to make sure the lakers fans understand).

[sedale threatt]

I've heard a lot of people joke about a league/Memphis/Jerry Wes conspiracy to help the Lakers, but this board is the first place I've seen people who actually believe it.

Here's the part that I don't get--what was in it for Memphis? Did the league and the Lakers sneak them a back door check for ten million? Why did they do it? Are they just Laker fans? Did they do it just to screw the Mighty Spurs Dynasty? Please explain it for me. Thank you.

[GSH]

Thats not true, the griz really didnt give any other teams time to set up real offers. They pretty much jumped at what the lakers were offering them hence why the 1st guy that started this thread stated the irony of jerry west presenting the western conference trophy to the lakers because he has strong ties to both the griz and lakers (just wanted to make sure the lakers fans understand).

Not exactly. The Griz made it known that Gasol was available. Several teams approached them about potential deals. But there's always talk, and most of it never amounts to anything. And nothing came of any of those talks.

The deal with L.A. was consummated quickly and quietly. Memphis could easily have shopped Gasol around at that point, but they didn't. They didn't have to worry about disrupting their team chemistry, since they had given up on the season anyway. If you go back and look at the talk right after it happened, even the Laker homer sportscasters and forums thought the Griz could have gotten more for Gasol. Many of them were crowing about how it was the biggest theft in NBA history.

I've heard a lot of people joke about a league/Memphis/Jerry Wes conspiracy to help the Lakers, but this board is the first place I've seen people who actually believe it.

Here's the part that I don't get--what was in it for Memphis? Did the league and the Lakers sneak them a back door check for ten million? Why did they do it? Are they just Laker fans? Did they do it just to screw the Mighty Spurs Dynasty? Please explain it for me. Thank you.

People believe it all over the country. It probably affects us more directly, because we were the ones most likely to run into them in the WCF, which is exactly what happened. But go out and do a few searches, and you'll find plenty of people who thought the trade stunk. And not just fansite homers.

This is the best I can figure about the reason: The Grizzlies have been losing serious money for years. Best I remember, something like $18 mil per year. Their attendance is one of the worst in the league - maybe the worst, since NO got good. The owner has been packaging the team for sale. There was a pending offer for something like $360 million from investors that included Christian Laettner. But Laettner and his group couldn't come up with the money when it was all said and done.

I read one description that said the owner was "strip mining" the team to get it ready for sale. Bottom line, he didn't give a where Gasol went. Nor was he interested in re-building the team. Jerry West could see that life as the GM of a disassembled, and soon-to-be-sold team wasn't going to be much fun for a long, long time. There wasn't much he could do about it. But there was something he could still do for his first love.

Yes, he stepped down before the trade. But if he had stayed, the trade probably would have been looked at even closer, just because of the connection and the absurdity of the terms. I'd say that the coincidence in timing was... fortuitous. But if you think, even for a second, that he didn't influence the deal... you should volunteer as a juror on the next O.J. trial.

[GSH]

Here, I dug up some links:

(Laettner's group trying to buy the team)
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=2792474

(This one is too kind and PC, but has some details)
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/200...ies/index.html

(Last week, Griz general manager Chris Wallace expressed outrage that other NBA general managers leaked details of Gasol offers to national media, and then anonymously criticized their deal with the Lakers.

"Well, there you go," Popovich said. "I'm on the record.")
http://www.commercialappeal.com/news...s-spurs-coach/

(Aaron McKie's salary was necessary to make the deal work. The league had to "believe that the Grizzlies really signed him with the intent of playing him". Yeh. Right.)
http://www.pe.com/sports/basketball/...3.405308d.html

I could find you some links to Lakers forums, and homer sportswriters, where they talked about how one-sided the deal was. Frankly, I'm sick of Lakers fans. You can do a Google search on your own if you don't believe it. I didn't make any of this up.

Does it prove anything beyond a shadow of a doubt? Of course not. Neither did the O.J. trial. But you all know the same thing about that one. Guilty.

[Zee Laker]

Basketball fans still respect the Spurs, though:



*cough*asterisk*cough*



That's gonna burn ya up, isn't it? Get used to it.



*cough*asterisk*cough*


no respect for ya'll. Stern's favorite widdle team.



*cough*asterisk*cough*

whatever makes you feel better about losing man. Nice try

[angelbelow]

marc gasol is no where near pau in terms of offense.

[Harry Callahan]

No, you have to live with the fact that your favorite team was just stomped by an emerging Lakers dynasty. Have fun watching the Lakers win multiple les over the next 10 years while Spurs shrivel back into irrelevancy.

Yeah, right, Kobe's going to out there scoring 35 a night when he's 40. Don't get me wrong, the Lakers are a very good team right now, but when Kobe gets a little older and breaks down, there will be other younger teams to move the Lakers aside.

This will happen well before 2018.

[Harry Callahan]

BTW,
Kobe was essentially laughing at what the Lakers had to give up to get Gasol.

Kobe said the Gasol trade was and I quote "A contribution". Pretty astute, actually.

The Lakers had what a lot of contending teams did not - a high dollar contract with a totally useless player (Kwame Brown). I don't know when that contract expires, but it may been soon. They traded away backups, stiffs, and two low #1's for a quality big man.

This is just another in the long line of "contributions" LA has benefited from.

The Spurs did not have the pieces to trade to Memphis, particularly comparable player contracts. Their big money contracts are appropriated (that means "given", Laker fans) to their key guys. They have never (given their financial situation) been able to have a non productive player earning big dollars.

[sedale threatt]

chris wallace sent gasol to the lakers because the griz were bleeding money and they needed salaries off the books in order to sell. the lakers had the biggest expiring contract available. jerry west used to work for the grizzlies, loves the lakers, and admits to being told about the deal. i understand all of that. i'm still trying to understand the stern/nba/lakers "conspiracy" angle. what was the conspiracy? why did chris wallace participate in it?