The Pau Gasol Pickle

[warren weel im]

LOL all this based on Shaq? Who got the extension anyway? What a way to put it into context.

Get your facts straight jman. Its not looking good.

Regardless, what the Lakers do, what Artest does eventually is what it is, but there absolutely no basis on you saying that the Lakers front office "lied" once before. Your like in grade school complaining about a pinkie swear. This is business, in real life we negotiate. We don't add this or that.

For whatever it may be worth, Shaq got his 5-yr 100M deal. So ask him again if he was lied to regarding the extension. It was a choice between Kobe and Shaq, the Lakers made their bed w/ Kobe. /story.

[jman2585]

Shaq didn't get an extension from the Lakers after getting Karl and GP, he got traded and got one from the Heat. Huh? And btw, Shaq ended up taking less than the full extension (something that was rumoured to have been pre-agreed between him and Riley), after originally signing it.

You don't think lying to players is something agents remember? Trust me, they do.

[kobe_vs_jordan]

Shaq didn't get an extension from the Lakers after getting Karl and GP, he got traded and got one from the Heat. Huh? And btw, Shaq ended up taking less than the full extension (something that was rumoured to have been pre-agreed between him and Riley), after originally signing it.

You don't think lying to players is something agents remember? Trust me, they do.

If MWP or Steve Nash agent was really worrying about Lakers "lying" I doubt they would of signed there in the first players. You're overplaying things based on loose rumours.

[jman2585]

Signing there doesn't rely on the Lakers good faith, because contracts are guaranteed. Asking a player to opt out of a guaranteed contract on the unenforceable "understanding" you will pay him more afterwards requires a lot of good faith. Maybe Metta feels that way about the Lakers, but it's far from certain.

[SCourGe OF GoD]

Gasol will be not be amnestied, but he will be traded. Earl Clark and Dwight Howard need to be re-signed so Gasol will be dealt for whatever the best offer is in terms of return/cap savings. I have no idea at the moment what that trade is, but he's an expiring contract so it's a potentially low risk, high reward type move for some team with the cap space and need for a center/power forward.

$20 million dollars, even for one season, is not a low risk move.

touche