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OT: Grizzlies owner speaks out on Gasol trade
Posted: Sun Feb 3, 2008 5:58 pm
by Komodo
Found this on the Bulls board, interesting read.
Mods, lock if already posted.
http://www.realgm.com/boards/viewtopic.php?topic=757662
Posted: Sun Feb 3, 2008 6:14 pm
by 6ixSideSniper
Nice find, interesting, all the arm-chair GMs should read this article and see all the crap that was offered for Gasol.
Posted: Sun Feb 3, 2008 6:15 pm
by saham
I wonder if Rasho, Dixon, Baston and 09 pick would have got us Gasol ?
Posted: Sun Feb 3, 2008 6:21 pm
by omeloon
Vt_Mc wrote:Nice find, interesting, all the arm-chair GMs should read this article and see all the crap that was offered for Gasol.
A lot of Bulls fans are probably going to wish they had an arm-chair GM if LA does as well as some think they might. Chicago's inability to make a decent deal could have really hurt them. Gasol and Randolph both got traded for peanuts, and both would have gave the Bulls a quite a bit of what they've been missing. They're probably not too dissapointed that they missed out on Randolph though

Posted: Sun Feb 3, 2008 6:25 pm
by 6ixSideSniper
omeloon wrote:-= original quote snipped =-
A lot of Bulls fans are probably going to wish they had an arm-chair GM if LA does as well as some think they might. Chicago's inability to make a decent deal could have really hurt them. Gasol and Randolph both got traded for peanuts, and both would have gave the Bulls a quite a bit of what they've been missing. They're probably not too dissapointed that they missed out on Randolph though

What i meant was all the faboys that kept screaming how Memphis could of done better. The owner pretty much told us of all the offers that were on the table.
The Cleveland offer was horrible, and although the Chicago offer was decent, they have no use for Nocioni and his contract at this point if they were getting rid of Gasol.
Posted: Sun Feb 3, 2008 6:27 pm
by Pipedream
omeloon wrote:-= original quote snipped =-
A lot of Bulls fans are probably going to wish they had an arm-chair GM if LA does as well as some think they might. Chicago's inability to make a decent deal could have really hurt them. Gasol and Randolph both got traded for peanuts, and both would have gave the Bulls a quite a bit of what they've been missing. They're probably not too dissapointed that they missed out on Randolph though

I think it is a combination of their owner and their GM.
If their owner was willing to go above the luxury tax, a deal could've been made with Chicago, even without someone from their core group.
But they didn't wanna go above the luxury tax and the Grizz made the deal with the lakers.
Posted: Sun Feb 3, 2008 6:30 pm
by mini
I read the article in the link and it mentions that people wouldn't buy tickets if Pau was on the team. What did the public have against Pau? Did he say something about Memphis? I don't remember anything other than asking for a trade a while ago.
Posted: Sun Feb 3, 2008 6:35 pm
by Pipedream
mini wrote:I read the article in the link and it mentions that people wouldn't buy tickets if Pau was on the team. What did the public have against Pau? Did he say something about Memphis? I don't remember anything other than asking for a trade a while ago.
Pau symbolized everything that was wrong with the team. Soft, defensively inept, not clutch.
It often seemed like he cost us games because of his weak boxing out or matador defense.
In a way, he deserved some hate, but the main problem was that he wasn't capable of being the number one guy, franchise player.
We could've kept him around, but the team and the city really needed a culture change after the 0-12 playoff run and last years horrible season where we ended up with the 4th pick instead of Oden or Durant.
So basically, we moved Pau because we have enough potential in our young guys to build something special, rather than an average team which never really competes for a championship.
Posted: Sun Feb 3, 2008 6:37 pm
by mini
Thanks for the background info!
Posted: Sun Feb 3, 2008 6:46 pm
by Tommy Udo 6
Pipedream wrote:-= original quote snipped =-
I think it is a combination of their owner and their GM.
If their owner was willing to go above the luxury tax, a deal could've been made with Chicago, even without someone from their core group.
But they didn't wanna go above the luxury tax and the Grizz made the deal with the lakers.
You hit nail right on head!!!!
The Ben Wallace signing was a major blunder & it is keeping the Bulls from acquiring decent players.
Actually the BW signing shouldnt - but since the owner absolutely positively will not pay Lux Tax (despite a $55 million profit last sesaon), the team cant improve itself.
Bulls must jettison Wallace before it can think of improving.
Bulls fans are upset because the money is there - the owner just doesnt want to spend.
Posted: Sun Feb 3, 2008 6:55 pm
by Pipedream
Well, if it wasn't for us, maybe you guys would've moved Wallace for Kwame Brown and Radmanovic, like what Mike Heisley was talking about.
Grizzlies made the deal now instead of later because of that fear.
Paxson is looking to deal him, but it will be more difficult now that the biggest expiring contract is off the market.
Posted: Sun Feb 3, 2008 7:12 pm
by Rooster
Unless the Bulls offered both Joakim Noah and Tyrus Thomas for Gasol, and it doesn't look like they did, they have no one to blame here but themselves. Great articles.
Posted: Sun Feb 3, 2008 7:17 pm
by GIZMO
[quote="bulls6"][/quote]
Whats your feeling on this Bulls6? do you think you should have made a better offer and got PaU? I thought he would be ideal for your team.
Posted: Sun Feb 3, 2008 7:56 pm
by The_Hater
Vt_Mc wrote:Nice find, interesting, all the arm-chair GMs should read this article and see all the crap that was offered for Gasol.
Unless somebody was holding a gun to his head, doing nothing is usually a better move than taking the worst crappy deal available wouldn't you agree?
Posted: Sun Feb 3, 2008 8:09 pm
by Rooster
Usually I'd agree but the articles made it seem like he just had to go. Besides, unlike with our fiasco, Gasol's contract is completely cleared.
Posted: Sun Feb 3, 2008 8:15 pm
by inrapscity
interesting read.
we all knew that this was done for financial reasons.
this just says that at least they knew they were getting pennies for the dollar.
Posted: Sun Feb 3, 2008 8:18 pm
by Fenris-77
I'll be even more impressed if the Swift for Collins deal turns out to be just a rumor. The amount of cap space available to Memphis should they have kept, and then renounced Swift would have made them the player this coming off-season. That and Jason Collins is teh suck.
As it is clearing Pau's contract might just be a move to make the team more salable, but even if that's the prime motivator the team is still in great shape.
I'm still not sure why people don't get how happy Memphis has to be with the position their in after the trade either.
Posted: Sun Feb 3, 2008 8:24 pm
by Rooster
^Swift has another year after this one, yo.
Posted: Sun Feb 3, 2008 8:36 pm
by Pipedream
inrapscity wrote:interesting read.
we all knew that this was done for financial reasons.
this just says that at least they knew they were getting pennies for the dollar.
I really don't believe that. At least not anymore.
This move was done because Gasol was booed regularly.
This move was done because Gasol wasn't a big enough draw to get people to come to the games, while still being the highest paid player and the supposed face of the franchise. People just didn't relate to him and viewed him with tons of negativity.
This move was done because we weren't getting any quality players back for Gasol so we moved him for picks, prospects, and cap space, which allows us to be a major player in free agency and to replace Pau in another way.
You can fall for all the conspiracy theories about the owner making the team more suitable for buyers, but I just don't think that's why this trade was made, judging from following the Grizz regularly and what Mike Heisley has been saying.
But I could be wrong. We won't find out until this team utilizes that cap space which may not be this offseason.
Posted: Sun Feb 3, 2008 8:39 pm
by Fenris-77
Rooster wrote:^Swift has another year after this one, yo.
Hah! Oh wait... oops.
It's an option year yes? In fact it is. However, now that I take a closer look at the salary page I was checking I see that my monitor's poor color has fooled me into mistaking a player option for a team option. Hah. That'll teach me to go to HH just because it's faster. The blue and green looked almost identical, and Sham has no such issues.
Adding Sham Sports to my bookmarks ...
Thanks R!