Would you like to tell me who the LA Lakers traded to get Pau Gasol? I'm also curious as to who the Lakers received from Miami in exchange for Shaq in 2004.
I don't like our path any more than you or other fans, but i try to enjoy the team for what it is because owners aren't going to suddenly stop making decisions based on finances. As fans, we're focused on basketball and talent, but owners are going to look at the basketball and the money side. Even Cuban, who likes to spend, made money decisions this summer that didn't translate to more winning. The NBA isnt any different from any other business. Unfortunately it's not always about putting out the best quality product. If they can continue to make money off a cheaper product, they will. As for Morey continuing to go along with tmac/yao, what else could he do? What happens at a job if one doesn't follow their boss' orders? It's not really Morey's call to make. I think we've all worked doing something we didnt quite understand or agreed with, yet we kept doing it, because that's the job. Why do teachers teach how to pass standardized tests, rather than teaching the subject outright? What happens if they keep following along, even though they may believe it's the wrong approach? Not their call to make either. If they speak up it's almost like putting a target on their backs. It's not a wise move to contradict the boss, unless you have bomplete job security, but i'm not sure Morey has that. It feels like Morey has the ultimate power because he's the one talking, but he's still an employee that works for Les. They have only been loading up on talent for just under 2 years. I know it feels like a long time, but it hasn't been. Yao just hung it up last season. Although trading several B level players for an A level player isn't new, I guess it's different to pretty much admit that's the plan, but can we really say it can't work when it's only been in a play for under 2 seasons? Technically we did get that upgrade through these assets, but Stern stepped in. If that deal goes through, then Morey would have made this approach work in just over a year. That's not bad at all. If you take the traditional approach, its going to take about 3 years to sign guys and gather some picks, then it's likely they'll be too young and need another 2-3 years to gain experience and continue to add smaller pieces. You're looking at 6 years to rebuild, assuming you're good and don't make many mistakes. To get back to .500: -philly took 7 years. -Hawks 9 years -Celtics 8 years -bulls 6 years -cavs 6 years -mavs 10 yrs -denver 8 years -GS 12 yrs -pacers 5 years -clippers 12 years, then 5 years -heat 5 years -knicks 9 years and so on...Houston hasn't gone more than 1 yr with a losing record since Les arrived (actually goes back to Dream's arrival) and it's only happened in 3 of 18 seasons Les has been owner. I get that we want to win rings and not just be competitive, but competitive teams still bring in cash and Les knows it. I'm sure he'd rather have a contender, which means even more money, but this is the next best thing.
On February 1, 2008, Gasol was traded to the Los Angeles Lakers along with a 2010 second round draft pick for Kwame Brown, Javaris Crittenton, Aaron McKie, the rights to Marc Gasol (Pau's younger brother), and 2008 and 2010 first round draft picks. On July 14, 2004, O'Neal was traded to the Miami Heat for Caron Butler, Lamar Odom, Brian Grant and a future first-round draft choice.
It wouldn't matter much to McHale whether he had Dragic or Lin as his backup PG. But Morey should be kicking himself about this miss. Many people here is still stuck in the Lin vs Flynn discussion. I have pointed out early at the Lin breakout that it's not about "Lin and Flynn" but "Lin and Dragic." On hindsight, we know that Lin is at least as good as Dragic as a backup. If Morey knew this, he would have locked up Lin with a cheap contract for 2 or 3 years. That would let him trade Dragic for either an upgrade at another position or a decent draft pick. And Morey wouldn't have to worry about Dragic's FA price. Getting a cheap and competent young player is supposed to be Morey's signature move. Now he let it slip. And the Knicks pick is just insult on top of injury.
