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About a year too late with this bit of news here.
http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news;_yl...yhoo&type=lgns
Memphis owner now questions value of Gasol deal
By Adrian Wojnarowski, Yahoo! Sports
For months now, maybe the man most responsible for Los Angeles’ championship run has been ripped over the Pau Gasol trade. The mere mention of su ions over Memphis’ motives gets the Grizzlies owner’s voice rising on the telephone, gets him going on the gossip that suggests something unseemly happened on the way to a Lakers renaissance.
Michael Heisley starts to ask, well, who is ripping Minnesota for the Kevin Garnett trade?
How about Seattle and Ray Allen?
“Is anybody jumping on Popovich in San Antonio because he traded that center to Houston for virtually nothing?” Heisley wondered.
Heisley was talking about Luis Scola, the forward, whom had been a long-ago draft pick of the Spurs. Only problem was, Scola never played a minute for the four-time champions. Gasol was the Grizzlies’ franchise player, and it was Spurs coach Gregg Popovich saying on the record what most of his peers had only the guts to say without attribution: What in the world was Memphis management thinking on the Gasol trade?
When much of the league was determined to make a serious bid for the 7-footer, how could Memphis settle so long before the February trade deadline for such a paltry offer out of the Lakers?
For the first time, even Heisley wondered whether his general manager, Chris Wallace, blew it by caving so soon to the Lakers.
“I don’t know if I got the most value,” Heisley confessed. “Maybe our people should’ve shopped (Gasol) more and maybe we would’ve gotten more, done a better deal. Maybe Chris did call every team in the league. I don’t think he did, but maybe he should’ve…”
Around the league, nothing will change this belief: Whatever the reasoning, this was one of the NBA’s worst trades in years. Most of all, rival executives wonder why they never had a chance to submit a best offer. For Gasol, the 7-footer who transformed the Lakers in the absence of Andrew Bynum, the Grizzlies were willing to take back the expiring contract of Kwame Brown, rookie point guard Javaris Crittenton, two future No. 1 picks and the draft rights to Gasol’s brother, Marc.
Crittenton is nothing special, and those draft picks in 2008 and 2010 will be near, if not at the end of, the first round. Gasol had demanded a trade out of Memphis, had been moping around, giving less than his best. Yes, he had to go, but you don’t trade your franchise player without getting back a minimum of a sure-thing young star and/or two solid young starters. For Memphis, salary-cap space will probably turn out to be money that’ll never make it back into the roster.
The one-sided nature of the trade inspired a lot of people to believe that retired Memphis GM, Jerry West, a Lakers’ legend, played a part in facilitating the deal. West was instrumental recruiting Wallace as his replacement in Memphis and still holds a close relationship with Heisley. His history in Los Angeles, especially his bond with Lakers GM Mitch Kupchak and star Kobe Bryant, made even the fair-minded cynical about the scenario.
Several sources close to the process insist West played no part, and Heisley swears, “Jerry didn’t know about the trade until after it was done.”
Still, it hasn’t stopped a rampant anger around the league that this wasn’t so much of a trade, as much as it was the word that Bryant himself used: a “donation.” Privately, the Lakers were thrilled that they were able to keep negotiations with the Grizzlies quiet because Los Angeles officials were blown away that they could get Gasol for so little.
One source with knowledge of the process said the Bulls had made the most credible offer. For Gasol and Memphis’ Hakim Warrick, the Bulls were willing to part with Andres Nocioni, Tyrus Thomas, Joakim Noah, Thabo Sefolosha, possibly Adrian Griffin and draft picks.
Heisley didn’t offer up those names, but insisted, “Chicago wouldn’t offer us any of their good, core players,” he said. “Our people told me that we weren’t able to get equal trade value for Gasol and that we needed to do a deal that would give us cap space and draft picks. It was no secret in the league that we were considering offers for him, but the Lakers were the one team that stepped up.”
Heisley has been losing money in Memphis, a small market where the franchise has come to flounder. He tried to sell the team, but no one has reached his asking price. Around the league there are those who believe that Wallace was forced to turn the Gasol trade into a salary dump, and there are league officials, including a close friend, who believe, “There is no way that Chris ever would’ve made that trade on his own.”
“I have no buyer’s remorse,” Heisley said. “Listen, I can’t tell you how many people would tell me, wherever I went in Memphis, ‘Get rid of Gasol. …Trade Gasol.’ And then some of the same people are booing us because we traded him. But I don’t mind that. I’m a big boy. I can take it.”
He could live with watching Gasol playing an immense part in bringing the Lakers to the Finals, but he just wonders: When do we get our just reward for gutting this roster, for relentless futility? He keeps watching teams with better records get the luck of the bouncing balls in the draft lottery and the Grizzlies never get that transcendent player to save the franchise’s fortunes. Memphis missed on LeBron James and just one year ago, with the worst record in the sport, they still didn’t get a top two pick to take Greg Oden or Kevin Durant.
“We’ve been in the lottery more than anyone in the NBA, and we’ve definitely had the worst record twice as much as anyone else,” Heisley said. “This is sure a fantastic system we have – isn’t it? – where we’ve never gotten the No. 1 pick. Our ticket sales just stopped last year when we didn’t get one of the top picks. What’s the sense in of all this?”
The Grizzlies have been waiting for something, for someone to save them – maybe the bouncing the ball, maybe dumb luck – but they’ve done little to help themselves. The owner of the Memphis Grizzlies says, yes, come to him with criticism for the Gasol trade because he had the power to stop it. Now, he’s watched the Lakers rush to the NBA Finals, the immense impact Gasol has had with Bryant, and he’s asking the same question the rest of the league hasn’t stopped grumbling for months.
Did the Grizzlies get the best value possible for Pau Gasol?
“I don’t know if I got the most value,” he said.
Even so, you get the idea that, yes, the man most responsible for the Lakers’ championship run does know now.
Between February and now, that truth hasn’t changed. The answer’s still the same.
No way.
Not even close.
About a year too late with this bit of news here.
Comparing Scola to Gasol.
Oh no he di-int.
Heisley has already said he's more interested in putting a bargain fun product on the floor than funding a contender. As for them booing him after begging him to trade Gasol, the fans probably didn't expect to have to share that one bag of chips that LA sent 19000 ways.
Kwame Brown for Gasol is like us trading Vaughn for CP3. Get on the phone with the Hornets, R.C.!
Grizzlies owner getting back at Pop 245 years later
What a re
dude is a fkn re when there were better offers for gasol, and he traded him away for peanuts....and to the point where he thinks he couldve gotten a better deal for miller, when in fact miller wont even land you what the bulls was offering for gasol.
Think long and hard about that dumbass. Then get up and go look in the mirror.
WTF? Spurs trade did not seem shady. They were never going to bring in Scola in here, so might as well get some value for him.
Ok so he is comparing us trading a guy who had never played in a NBA game before in is life to the Grizz trading Pau Gasol? Yeah that seems like exactly the same thing.
It simply can't be defended, but ty try Grizz GM. Fail.
One source with knowledge of the process said the Bulls had made the most credible offer. For Gasol and Memphis’ Hakim Warrick, the Bulls were willing to part with Andres Nocioni, Tyrus Thomas, Joakim Noah, Thabo Sefolosha, possibly Adrian Griffin and draft picks.
So the Spurs specifically wanted to make their interstate rivals that much better. Interesting.
So I'm guessing we won't be making any trade deals with Memphis if they start shopping Mike Miller.
I think the whole Mike Miller fiasco just proves that something fishy went down with the whole Gasol Trade.
After that trade, I remember many teams thought Memphis was doing a fire sale and they got a lot of great offers and interest for Mike Miller, yet Memphis stated they weren't interested in trading him. Which to me made no sense; You trade away your star play for nothing but cap space, but then decide to keep Mike Miller and build around him??
True. Heisley made no secret of the fact that was intending to slash payroll so that he could sell the team. So my question is what changed? Why the is he trying to save face now?
Two huge differences,
Scola was available and the spurs tried to shop him. The other teams did not want to give anything of significance.
Pau Gasol is a much better player than Scola. The Lakers are just laughing at Memphis. The ownership is a mess, and the owner is just trying to deflect deserved criticism.
The Grizz stink, the owner is trying to sell the team. Bad ownership. Bad management. Gasol was the 1st or 2nd pick in the draft when he came out and was an all star player.
Scola is nowhere near that ability. When Yao comes back next year his number will decline to probably 10 and 7 (pre Yao injury numbers).
The grizz owner is so stupid about basketball he thinks Scola is center. Idiot. No wonder that team is a cesspool.
WHEN ARE WE ING GOING TO BE DONE TALKING ABOUT THIS.
It was a good trade for Memphis. They were able to free their entire franchise to rebuild around a great SG and PG. You have to give to get. They basically moved this guy for whoever it is that they pick up in FA this year or next so you don't really truely know what the full value of the trade is.
You people have this unbelievable ability to not see the forrest from the trees.
Seriously, did he really say center?
why am i not a owner/gm or such??? and making 6-7 figures?
Scola, who hadn't done anything in the league vs. Gasol, franchise player.
???????
You fail Heisley.
Scola is actually a PF-C.
he can play both positions without any problem.
BTW,Scola's numbers will be better tham his roockie season next year,not worse, maybe his RPG will stay the same with Yao playing C most of the time, but his PPG and APG will defenetly go up now that his teammates trust him and know what He's capable to do.
Only because Yao spent so much time out of the lineup.
I think it will hard for him to average what he was averaging post Yao injury (14 PPG) since Yao will get a lot of the shots he had in the second half of the year. Not to mention Landry will get time as well.
Scola is 6'8" and is at a disadvantage defensively at that height. That's all. He may have played the 5 spot some last year, but the PF / 4 is a more natural position.
Long time no see. Did you watch the Spurs in the playoffs?
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