With Pau Gasol we won 22 games.
Without Pau Gasol we won 22 games.
Pau wasn't and will never be the piece to build around, a piece sure but, not THE piece.
He HAD to go, the fans in Memphis hated the guy and would have traded him for a bag of chips, which the Grizz did,
We're now 10+ million under the cap, with that trade and it hasn't been used, so evaluating a trade that isn't complete is silly.
So far Pau has turned into his bigger little brother 7'1" 265lbs MVP of the Spanish league, Javaris Crittenton, and Darrell Arthur with their pick.
Not to mention with Gasol we MIGHT have won ONE more game in the last part of the season which would have put us in the position of New York in the draft and cost us Mayo, which we now have and we would still have Mike "there's no D in" MIller which was already past his time to go included in that deal we got rid of Brian Cardinal and Jason Collins in one big trade.
So far I'd say Memphis has come out on the better end of the Lakers trade, at this point.
Pau Gasol for 10+mil, OJ Mayo, J-Critt, Darrell Arthur, Marc Gasol, and gotten rid of Brian Cardinal, the vastly overrated Mike Miller, and Jason Collins.
None of that would have been possible if it wasn't for getting rid of Pau Gasol.
The tandem of leadership from Mike Miller and Pau Gasol made us the worst defensive team in the league the last two years, now the Lakers and the Wolves can enjoy that lack of "D" for the next few years and as an added bonus, the Lakers get to pay for it at MAX money, too. And they've locked themselves into it for the next few years, for better of worse. Meanwhile, Memphis will be sitting on a ton of cash waiting for the right piece to come along while watching a very young team in Gay, Mayo, Conley, Arthur, and Gasol grow.
Thank you God, for allowing the Lakers to take him from us. Thank you.
What's perceived from around the league as horrendous has turned out pretty damn sweet for the Grizz. Nobody from the Grizz anyway thinks we got the bad end of that deal, anyway.
And watching the Suns and Mavs (both teams that knocked out the Grizz in the 1st round) implode from the fallout of the Grizz/Lakers trade was bonus, too.
