This is a good trade for Memphis

[BrokenLeftyJumper]

The easy reaction upon seeing "Gasol for Kwame" is to think "wow, Grizz got hosed." Now, I know a lot of people on this board are extremely reactionary so I'm gonna try to lay out it nice and simple.

1. Gasol actually has negative value to the Grizz

This is the Zach Randolph situation all over again. When a bad team shells out tons of money for a guy who you can't build a successful team around as your #1, then that team is royally screwed. First, the team is usually close to or over the cap because of this contract so they can't sign any good FA's to play alongside this guy. Secondly, this guy is just good enough so the team won't bottom out and get a high draft pick. In the end, when you overpay for guys like Gasol or Randolph, teams actually tie an albatross around their own necks preventing the team from ever getting any better.

2. This will guarantee the Grizz a top 5 draft pick in a pretty good draft

Beasley. Rose. Mayo. Gordon. DeAndre Jordan. Trading the pick. Take your pick. Either way the Grizz are gonna get a damn good prospect in this upcoming draft. The longer they kept Gasol around the less likely this was to happen.

3. They are already set at multiple positions.

The Grizz already have either young prospects or good players signed to reasonable deals throughout their lineup. Conley at PG. Miller at SG. Gay at SF. Darko at PF. Who else could the Grizz have got for Gasol that would really help them out in the future? Ty Thomas? Not available. The right to overpay Ben Gordon? No thanks. Luol Deng? Gay is younger, arguably better, and cheaper. While it's nice to get young assets, the Grizz already have a ton of those and inevitably many 'young assets' become 'overpaid veterans.'

4. Loads of cap space

Not only do they play an exciting brand of ball, but they also can dish out a max contract to someone. Add a rookie stud and some good free-agent signings and this team could be in the playoffs NEXT year. That wasn't happening if they kept Gasol.

Think of some of the squads the Grizz could hypothetically field next year:

PG: Conley
SG: Miller
SF: Gay
PF: Elton Brand (max him out)
C: Darko
6th: Mike Beasley

PG: Conley
SG: Miller
SF: Gay
PF: Jamison (pick and pop with Conley, very nice)
C: Darko
6th: OJ Mayo

PG: Conley
SG: Gay
SF: Artest
PF: Darko
C: DeAndre Jordan
6th: Mike Miller

I just love the options they have for next year. Even without using the FA money, they will be an exciting team next year with a ton assets and a ton of potential. And we've all seen how quickly young assets can turn into a title contender.

[Celts17Pride]

Miller will probably be moved as well for more cap space. Don't forget about Deng or Gordon as free agent possiblilties. This is a very bad day for the Bulls potentially.

[BrokenLeftyJumper]

Don't forget about Deng or Gordon as free agent possiblilties.

Forget those two. Mike Miller is a better fit than BG for the Grizz. Why overpay for BG when you already have a good shooting guard locked up in a reasonable deal? And I'd take Rudy Gay over Deng anyways. More potential and probably a better player right now anyways. Not to mention Gay is still on short dough for a while longer.

The Grizz need to spend this on a banger. If they were to grab Brand, I think they would be legit.

[Celts17Pride]

I think Deng & Gay would be great together.

[BillessuR6]

Cap space is overrated! Big expiring contracts are the most valuable thing!

Who will want to go to Memphis? Noone!

And you need to overpay a FA bigtime to get him to a new team.

This is a terrible deal for MEM basketball wise. It is only good for the owners!

The franchize will probably be sold in the near future this is just a move to make it financially more attractive for the new owners.

[Mahoney_jr]

That's an awful trade for the Grizzlies, because they couldn't get any assets besides cap space, two mediocre picks and couldn't even unload Brian Cardinal. If I had signed a rookie head coach who destroys the value of my franchise player I know that I really **** up.

Pau Gasol is indeed an All-Star. Wait until you see him with Odom and Bryant. Just wait... Lakers will be 1st seed in the west.

[chakdaddy]

You're out of your mind. If we had, instead of trading Al Jefferson, let his rookie contract expire, we would have accomplished all the things you said the Grizzlies accomplished:

1. Guaranteed ourselves a high draft pick.
2. Saved future cap room by not paying a good player.
3. Kept ourselves out of perpetual mediocrity by making the team worse; that's what happens when you have two good players and give one of them away. whee.

Anyway, you made legit arguments that it would be wise to trade Gasol. They are not legit arguments that Gasol should be traded for absolute garbage.

[UGA Hayes]

1. Oh come on, Zach Randolph, you're better than that.
2. Eh, I'm not loving what I have seen from this class so far. Also its a pretty small class size wise all things considered.
3. I do like conley a lot. Miller is getting up there in age. GAy has been better this year but I'm still lukewarm on him overall, Darko is a bust, and their bench is very unproductive it seems.
4. I'm skeptical that free agents are going to be eager to go to Memphis.

[chakdaddy]

I mean, if this were fantasy basketball, this should be overturned.

Freakin' Chris Wallace...

[UGA Hayes]

The franchize will probably be sold in the near future this is just a move to make it financially more attractive for the new owners.

I was sorting thinking this too. There really isn't any other reason to hurrry and make this deal.

[BrokenLeftyJumper]

Cap space is overrated! Big expiring contracts are the most valuable thing!

Big expiring contracts are nice, but Gasol's wasn't expiring til 2011. So while it might have been nice then, it's looking tremendously brutal for the Grizz right now. They did the right thing in getting rid of it.

Who will want to go to Memphis? Noone!

Why not? Money talks in the end.

And you need to overpay a FA bigtime to get him to a new team.

I'd rather be overpaying Elton Brand than Pau Gasol.

[Celts17Pride]

I'm skeptical that free agents are going to be eager to go to Memphis.

I guarantee you that Luol Deng is one very happy man right now. He is either going to get a max deal from Memphis or Chicago. He can't lose.

[UGA Hayes]

Whats crazy is if Wallace had taken this deal to every other team in the league and said I'm about to make this trade, almost every team, maybe including us! would have attempted to make a better offer. Are there no other expiring contracts out there?

[Mahoney_jr]

Who will want to go to Memphis? Noone!

Why not? Money talks in the end.

Wins talk in the end. There was no need to take such a big step back. Cap space doesn't do **** for you if anything you could get with it, is an overpaid player.

[BrokenLeftyJumper]

You're out of your mind. If we had, instead of trading Al Jefferson, let his rookie contract expire, we would have accomplished all the things you said the Grizzlies accomplished:

1. Guaranteed ourselves a high draft pick.
2. Saved future cap room by not paying a good player.
3. Kept ourselves out of perpetual mediocrity by making the team worse; that's what happens when you have two good players and give one of them away. whee.

Anyway, you made legit arguments that it would be wise to trade Gasol. They are not legit arguments that Gasol should be traded for absolute garbage.

But the C's still would have had considerable cap space tied up in two players Ray and Pierce. They wouldn't have been able to get under the cap the way the Grizz have. Nor would they have got a high draft pick because Pierce and Ray would have guaranteed mediocrity.

I don't really see what your argument is. They arent' comparable situations at all.

I want to know who the Grizz should have got instead. Deng or Gordon? So the Grizz can overpay guys who already play positions the Grizz got on lock? It would have been nice for them to get a good young player here or there, but they would already have in good number. The cap space is more valuable IMO.

[BrokenLeftyJumper]

Wins talk in the end. There was no need to take such a big step back. Cap space doesn't do **** for you if anything you could get with it, is an overpaid player.

Everyone seems to be bagging on the fact that cap space results in an overpaid player. Am I wrong or is Pau Gasol not an overpaid player by a wide margin?

So why not get rid of the overpaid player you already have, and get a re-do on the FA market this year? Frankly you can do a lot better than an overpaid Gasol. And if you can't replace him at least you aren't stuck in perpetual mediocrity over the cap, hoping for a lucky ping pong ball here or there.

[BrokenLeftyJumper]

1. Oh come on, Zach Randolph, you're better than that.

How is it dissimilar from the Zach Randolph situation? Guys who get paid to be your #1 option but aren't good enough to build a successful team around, it sticks a team to perpetual mediocrity. I think Gasol is better than Zach but not by too much. And that trade turned out looking pretty good for the Blazers.

[mr_sunshine]

This trade was HORRIBLE for Mem. The only decent talent they added was at PG, where they already have a logjam. The two draft picks will be crap, and cap space will not do **** for them. On the bright side at least it helps my oft-injured fantasy BB team.

[Mahoney_jr]

Ok... I see. This whole thread bases on the assumption that Gasol is an overpaid player and was hampering the Grizzlies building for the future. I disagree strongly and will back out of this thread now and let the upcoming season talk for itself. The Grizzlies btw won't do anything remarkable for the next half decade. I'm sure about that. You're backing a franchise which is valueing bucks over quality play. You really shouldn't.

Out.

[BrokenLeftyJumper]

This whole thread bases on the assumption that Gasol is an overpaid player and was hampering the Grizzlies building for the future.

How is he not overpaid? At 16mil a year or so up until 2011, you better be getting an all-star. Gasol has been an all-star once. So what does he do for them?

1. Costs them money and cap space.
2. Makes them just mediocre enough they won't get a high pick.
3. Takes away development time from guys like Warrick and Darko.

How was he not hampering their future? I think he's good player, but I think this one is addition by subtraction. I think roster flexibility for a bad team is key in the NBA. This gives Memphis tons of that heading into the offseason.