Both won. Lakers obviously won the championship, but they were a borderline contender before they got Pau. Judging who won or lost that trade by championships is moronic. That said, if the Grizz don't find some shooters, and fast, they're going to waste Marc Gasol.
the only way you value the grizz side at $50 is when the trade was made, not IN HINDSIGHT. again, this is just an elaborate way of saying that it was dumb luck that the grizzlies $50 turned into an even deal. just like it was dumb luck that howard would get so fed up with the lakers combined with sterns (for basketball reasons) veto a trade for pau gasol to houston, which indirectly allowed you to snipe howard out from under the lakers. lets not make morey out to be a genius, when in fact he did everything he could possibly do to shoot himself in the foot BEFORE howard fell into his lap.
They were nothing close to contenders before the trade. They were the worst the Lakers have been since the mid 90s. They were 7th seed and were getting beat by Phoenix year after year. Kobe was demanding a trade and aside from him, their starting lineup wasn't even good enough to be a second unit. The trade brought them back to life and brought them 2 championships. This isn't even close.
What most posters here don't understand is it doesn't matter if Marc Gasol turned out great, he could've been the next Hakeem Olajuwon with the Skyhook Dream Shaq Attack and they still got robbed. Nobody had any idea MG blow up as he did, if Grizz thought that they could have traded for him in the draft, he went in the 2nd round as a Euro stash. So he was still seen as a 2nd round pick at the time, and yet somehow him and Kwame Brown's (useless) 9M contract is suddenly worth Pau Gasol? They could have gotten waay more for a player of Gasol's caliber, a lot of people here are trashing the Harden trade but that got OKC a 15 pt scorer who has a larger expiring than Kwame Brown's and 2 lottery picks. 2 lottery picks vs 1 2nd round Euro stash....lol! As for the Lakeshow, it's no question they won the trade, 2 rings and a finals appearance, plus Gasol makes them relevant to this day instead of a cellar dweller. If it wasn't for that trade, Kobe would forever be known as Shaq's Pippen.
Grizz sucked big time after the trade. They had the top picks at #3,#2.......... Grizz won nothing in that trade.
Sadly, the Lakers are totally winning right now, unless Memphis get a title or two with Gasol... though fortunately for Memphis and the rest of NBA world outside of Laker land...the Lakers are about to be as bad as Memphis was before the trade.
This is wrong. Kobe was demanding a trade *before* the season. However they began playing much better that year, 2008, thanks largely to Andrew Bynum. He suffered an injury right before the Gasol trade happened. Before he went down they had won 17 of 20 games and were looking like potential contenders. Then they add Gasol, who is obviously better than Bynum, and they became the juggernaut that won two chips. It's not like they were .500 before Gasol. Not even close. Besides, my point wasn't that they were a "contender", it was that they were a borderline contender. Meaning they were a much better team than the Grizzlies before they gave the Lakers their best player for future players. Both teams won. Period.
Is this a serious question?? .... of course Lakers got the better deal, No Pau NO 3 straight finals, and definitely NO 2 championships.
I actually buy this argument. I fully believe that Memphis, in the end, made out pretty good. But they could have gotten more given what was known, or rather, not known, about Marc at the time. Fair point. What I don't buy is the "TWO IS GREATER THAN ZERO LULLLZZ" argument. That completely ignores the context of where those teams were at the time.
the lakers obviously won championships with pau, but the grizzlies got marc and used the cap space on zebo and the draft picks ended up being kufos and pondexter who are good role players. they saw more success this this bunch than they ever did with pau and ever would have if they kept him and didn't have all of those players they got for him. win win.
I'd say Memphis got the best of it, though there are valid points to be made for both sides. Marc will be at the top of his game for quite a few more years. Pau is nearing the end of the line.
All you have to do is look at the rings. The Lakers clearly won the deal, they ended up winning 2 rings. What have the Grizzlies won? A couple of playoff series, sure, but in big picture, they've done nothing
poor grizzlies.. the two players they could have had in the top 5 during the 2008 and 2009 drafts... 2008 - 5th overall pick - selected Kevin Love, but traded him to Minn for OJ Mayo 2009 - 2nd overall pick - selected Hasheem Thabeet (3rd overall pick James Harden to OKC) Maybe they don't have ZBo if they have kevin love already.. but their lineup could have been... C - M Gasol PF - K Love SF - R Gay SG - J Harden PG - M Conley and no, they wouldn't have been able to afford to keep this team together due to salary cap restrictions.. but maybe by then they could have made a deal to swing R Gay for a cheaper piece...
yup i completely agree with all your statements.. at the time i was also upset the lakers were able to get away with highway robbery like that.. Marc was a huge unknown and kwame was absolute crap. It's just by chance and luck that everything worked out for the Grizz and the trade doesnt look so lopsided today. A lot of people are also crying foul at the James Harden trade. A coworker of mine who is a huge laker home keeps saying that trade was more lopsided than the Pau Gasol trade.
They would've been a sub-.500 team. Once Andrew Bynum got injured, the 2008 Lakers team went from being a "borderline contender" team to a lottery team in terms of talent. At that point, their record was no longer indicative of the strength of their team. If they didn't acquire Gasol, Kwame Brown would've been their starting center for the rest of the year. Do you really think its fair to call that team a "borderline contender"? Absolutely not. They would've been lucky to make the playoffs.
Pau was pivotal for Laker's titles while Marc is key reason why Grizzlies have been relevant past few years. Pau would have wasted his prime years with a non-playoff team in Memphis while Marc's current emergence would be a waste in LA.
