Was the Pau Gasol trade a good trade watching back?

dennis00 · Post #1 » by **dennis00** » Sat Feb 21, 2009 2:22 pm

Most stories I've heard: "If you have an all-star, but no chance of being a contender, then just dump him and rebuild".

Is that the reason why the Pau Gasol trade for tradepick+M.Gasol was a good trade for Memphis?

GrizzledGrizzFan · Post #2 » by **GrizzledGrizzFan** » Sat Feb 21, 2009 2:46 pm

The Grizzlies actually received Marc Gasol, two first round picks (2008(Darrell Arthur)/2010) and Javaris Crittendon - which they later traded for a first round pick (received back a pick they had sent to the Wizards). Additionally they received a crapton of cap space in the body of Kwame Brown's expiring contract.

So in reality they essence they received 4 first round picks (anyone with 1/2 a brain would consider Marc a first round caliber player).

Was it worth it? In my mind yes. Pau can now excel because he can thrive as the second fiddle to Kobe. He has lots of talent around him. For whatever reason, he just wasn't able to grow into the leadership role as the alpha dog with the Grizz.

Just my 2 cents.

bgassassin · Post #3 » by **bgassassin** » Sat Feb 21, 2009 3:58 pm

And it indirectly got us Mayo. I don't believe we draft Love with Pau here. Could be wrong, but I don't see that happening.

jefe · Post #4 » by **jefe** » Sat Feb 21, 2009 5:46 pm

dennis00 wrote:Most stories I've heard: "If you have an all-star, but no chance of being a contender, then just dump him and rebuild".

Is that the reason why the Pau Gasol trade for tradepick+M.Gasol was a good trade for Memphis?

The problem with Pau in Memphis was that he was/is a very very good player, but not a great player. Unfortunately, the Grizz - a small market team with "financial problems" to say the least - paid Pau as if he was a great player. In hindsight and at this point (knowing the picture hasn't fully developed yet), I think the deal was a good one - of course you can argue until you're blue in the face that the Grizz should/could have gotten more - but I think overall it's turned out well for the Grizz. Directly from the trade, we've acquired M. Gasol, Arthur, a 2010 first and reacquired a first we owed Washington - as well as, positioned ourselves to be players in the free agent market (whether or not we'll take advantage of that is another question for another day). Also, as BG said, indirectly from the trade, we acquired Love. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, there's a newfoud sense of hope for the future of this team - that simply wasn't here when the Grizz we're repeatedly rebuilding around Pau.

bobobolas1 · Post #5 » by **bobobolas1** » Sun Feb 22, 2009 3:49 pm

the 4 first round picks and the cap space.
Pictue josh smith sign in with memphis the last summer! a free agent is yet to come with the money of kwame's contract.

I think this trade was good. what is the difference? having pau we would have won 30 games anyway,

Post #6 » by **jman3134** » Mon Feb 23, 2009 1:31 am

GrizzledGrizzFan wrote:The Grizzlies actually received Marc Gasol, two first round picks (2008(Darrell Arthur)/2010) and Javaris Crittendon - which they later traded for a first round pick (received back a pick they had sent to the Wizards). Additionally they received a crapton of cap space in the body of Kwame Brown's expiring contract.

So in reality they essence they received 4 first round picks (anyone with 1/2 a brain would consider Marc a first round caliber player).

Was it worth it? In my mind yes. Pau can now excel because he can thrive as the second fiddle to Kobe. He has lots of talent around him. For whatever reason, he just wasn't able to grow into the leadership role as the alpha dog with the Grizz.

Just my 2 cents.

I still don't like it even looking back. Gasol is certainly worth a first rounder, but at the time he was a throw in to this deal. Looking back, he is a nice cog, but certainly not worth Pau. The first round picks are late in round 1, so I do not believe that they bring that much value. (although we certainly made out like bandits with Arthur imo) In hindsight, we traded Pau for no top level talent. Even with the expiring contract for Kwame, does anyone really think that we have a realistic chance at luring in a Wade or Lebron from any free agent market? The truth is that we have to harness the talent that we have, being from a small market. Or, we should trade for equivalent value imo. Moves like this that dumped salary tell players that this franchise is not commited to winning in the short term. (which taints their perception of the franchise and ultimately prevents the top free agents from signing) What's the use of all this cap space if we are going to overpay for players in the FA market? (which is what happens until we develop a tradition of winning)

Crittendon was a separate, but good move imo.