RealGM

semi-sentient wrote:Major props to our FO for making all the right moves since the Kobe-saga. Everyone from Mitch to Buss has stepped up to the challenge, and as a result have silenced once of the best SG's to ever play the game (in a good way).

As disappointed as I was that we didn't get Garnett, I'm glad Boston had the better package because in hindsight, we couldn't have possibly played our cards any better. I don't think a single Lakers fan seriously saw us signing Gasol (ever) without giving up Bynum and/or Odom, and I know that there are quite a few of us who had him #1 on our wish list.

Mitch deserves GM of the year, without question, but I will say that I think we just happened to be at the right place at the right time.

Now, if the team that our FO has put together can only stay healthy...

Another deal I loved: The Lakers fleecing Memphis for Pau Gasol in a horribly one-sided trade that would have caused complete chaos in any of my fantasy leagues. (Bare minimum: Three weeks of angry e-mails, phone calls and message-board posts, followed by the guy who traded Gasol deciding to "leave" the league.) There were a number of incredible things about the trade, including ...

Memphis GM Chris Wallace not waiting until the trade deadline to make the deal. What, were the Lakers going to pull that craptastic offer off the table? "Chris, you have 48 hours to accept 34 cents on the dollar for Gasol! Or else we're backing off!"


Everyone kept evaluating the deal for how it would affect L.A.'s title chances this season, but I'm much more interested in the long-term ramifications: The Lakers getting the 27-year-old Gasol for the next four years and possibly beyond. Now they're set up as a title contender for Kobe's entire prime and have the best pair of young big men in the league (Gasol and Andrew Bynum), as well as someone who can score with his back to the basket and command a double team. You shouldn't just be able to stumble into someone like that. I don't think the Lakers can win this season because of Bynum's knee injury. But next year? They're the favorites.

TommyTheCat wrote:-= original quote snipped =-



they had made a lot of right moves before the meltdown. the supporting cast just needed time to grow up.................bynum especially but farmar, ronny, sasha and vlad have all become productive players this year. looks like west hasn't lost his eye for talent because he was claiming the lakers as the team with the most young talent last season before the injuries set in.

i agree with your thoughts on the lakers not getting garnett. he would have been a big addition but getting a younger pf in gasol for scraps will make us contenders for much longer.

also agree that the lakers could use a good dose of health.........for once

semi-sentient wrote:-= original quote snipped =-



They've drafted well, but they've also made 3 significant moves since Kobe went on his tirade: Fisher, Ariza, and Gasol.

We've done a good job of drafting, true, but the signs/trades is what has made the difference between a good team and a contender, and I'm not sure those things would've happened without Kobe going nutty.

For Los Angeles: You could see a trade like this coming for a while. In a relatively short time, the Lakers went from having a horrid bench in the final year of Shaq and Kobe to having the best second unit in the league. Mitch Kupchak hasn't received nearly enough credit for this.

That put them in position to trade several young players and draft picks for one big-time star, and after passing on such a proposition a year ago in a potential Jason Kidd trade, they went for it this time around.

Amazingly, it didn't cost them any of their top 10 players (if you don't count Kwame Brown), which is a tribute to how deep L.A. has become. And now they're the favorites to win the title. Kudos here also must go to Dr. Buss, who agreed to pay the luxury tax to get Gasol.
Grade: A

Corvus Crow wrote:Mitcherino living up to the logo's early lofty praise. I chalk this up to West's eye for talent and indifferent gum chewing ex players.

Mitch has grown alot from the days of forgetting to use Vlade's expiring and Jone's trade exception.