More effective as a 4 or 5 and is the diff big enough to warrant a move. If he did come here I assume he would be playing a 5 but if we trade scola would ppat be our pf. He said in an interview that he still thinks he's the post player in the league. If we use him right and with the attitude he has to prove himself I could possibly be down for this.
Not sure if anyone else brought this up or not but this cannot happen because Garnett will be a free agent this summer. Not to mention it makes no sense for any team. Boston can re-sign Garnett for a fraction of the cost, Houston cannot and should not build around Garnett or give up a piece like Scola when they could just sign him in free agency, and the Lakers would only be doing this strickly for lux tax reasons. They wont be able to sell that trade to their fanbase. You just downgraded your roster to save money and thats it.
It is difficult to winnow out Pau's time at center vs. PF because of Bynum being in and out the past 4 years with injuries. Certainly he played mostly PF this year because Bynum was healthy. So using the imperfect player metric of PER (I personally prefer metrics that evaluate win share but I won't go there) 08-09 22.31 PER 09-10 22.97 10-11 23.33 11-12 20.51 This data is available on ESPN. However the issue is much more complicated than that. Many knowledgeable and smart NBA people grade Gasol as the third or forth best center in the league. On the other hand he is getting older.
I thought of including Philly in a 3-way trade; certainly we have Philly players that the 76ers might want (Kyle, Marcus Morris) and others. I'm not saying to send Kyle and MM alone for Iggy, but something in the grand scale of things that might placate the three teams, with Gasol coming here. Anyway, back to our regularly scheduled program.
One player is very much on the upswing, while another player is more or less in decline with less desire to prove himself. One player actually gets upset, when he doesn't get the ball in his hands, while it seems like the other player does whatever Kobe says or what the defense dictates. Bynum is hungrier, about 7 years younger, much more aggressive, more willing to be a go-to player, not quite as meek, slightly better defender, more efficient scorer, and slightly more dominate presence in the post. Gasol is a versatile player who can do every thing well, but he's not a go-to player at this point in his career. I doubt he could even carry a team, very far or as far as Bynum could. Most of all, if he's a top 2-3 center, then his numbers in playoffs were absolutely pitiful for such a player. How did his numbers decrease across the board in scoring, rebounding, shooting percentage, and etc. Gasol also feeds alot more off of Kobe and Bynum, more so than those two players do him.
17.4/10.4/1.4/50%/31yo vs. 18.7/11.8/1.9/56%/24yo That's really all that needs to be said. And I like Gasol.
Don't be surprised if the Timberwolves trade for Pau Gasol Please steal him away RA, so we won't get stuck with him...
All you guys that think Bynum is so great, just wait until he secures his next 4 or 5 year max deal. He will turn into a total loaf. Heart? Spirit? Fight? We just witnessed Bynum less than a week ago on the grand stage, everything on the line, and he gets a case of the blahs. When their careers are over, there well be no question, Pau will have had the superior career. Bynum will be remembered like Benoit Benjamin.
Second third forth it really does not matter that much. They are possibly the most valuable commodities in today's NBA because there is almost no way a team get get their hands on a promising young center. Just not available unless they are complete head cases. And maybe not even then - Howard, Cousins, Bynum etc. come immediately to mind. Every team wants a center that can possibly give them 20/10/2 and offer rim protection. And there are just about 4 or so of them.
No, not exact same thing. BTW - - I believe the next 4 years +/- will be better overall Pau than 'drew.
Don't know about the Benoit Benjamin bit, but I agree wholeheartedly with the "total loaf". Bynum has a major attitude problem. Maybe someone'll slap him upside the head and bring him back down to Earth, but I'll quote Luis Scola (lip-reading his comment about Bynum when he was thrown out of the game for the 2nd twice against us this year): "He's so stupid!"
He's 24 years old. By the time his contract expires next season, he will be 25 years old and already earned $65 million. And he will be signing with some stupid team for another $65-80 million, possibly more. His attitude reaks of it. He don't care. "I'll go anywhere and play for anybody." That's a quote that says it all. He's gobbling up his dollars. Doesn't really ultimately care. Doesn't have that burn to be great or to win. He's just playing for the next contract and to stay healthy so he can get to the next contract. By the time he's 30, he'll have pocketed $130 million playing ball, not to mention the endorsements. He showed no fight, I mean no fight, against OKC. 7' 285 lbs going against a one-legged Kendrick Perkins and Perk knocking him off the block. No spirit. No animation. Zoned out sitting on the bench. And yes, Scola is dead-on. He's dumb as a box of rocks. He's a combination of Joe Barry Carroll, Benoit Benjamin, and Michael Olawakandi. He just doesn't care. Totally selfish person just playing for a check. Nobody is going to be able to slap him around at this point. The only "slap" that will sting him is if NO NBA TEAM IS WILLING TO PAY HIM A CHECK! That's the only slap that will wake him out of the lethargy of mediocrity. And it won't happen because some stupid NBA team is going to "take a chance" that he fulfills his talent potential and pay him more big bucks.
