I hear ya, and I think the Lakers qualify as 'a certain team we should refrain from dealing with..' and I believe there are better options than a 31, 32 and then 33 year old Pau commanding a third of our capspace - at the additional cost of 2-3 starters and additional backup(s)... and not helping the Lakers is a bonus! lol
Agreed. If the Rockets can find a "big" comparable to Gasol in both quality and star power who's younger and more affordable to elevate the stature of the team, that's the route they should take. Apparently though, that option doesn't exist otherwise the interest level in Gasol would have subsided long before now and instead it has lingered since the start of the season. It would seem that the interest may have been fueled by the perception that Gasol was available to Houston on the cheap meaning that the Lakers would be perfectly willing to surrender him without receiving fair market value in return.
You are naive. IF....they trade him, they WILL trade him for the best package deal for their team. IF Morey is willing to give Orlando the best deal available, then he probably will trade for Dwight without a promise of an extension. What you don't seem to understand is WE ARE THE ONLY TEAM THAT IS WILLING TO TRADE SUBSTANTIAL ASSETS TO ORLANDO FOR DWIGHT WITHOUT A PROMISE OF AN EXTENSION!!!! WAKE UP!!!
The Nets will be trying hard. They will package Lopez, 1 or 2 other quality players and draft picks. We can't match a Lopez, or a Bogut (when healthy) for that matter.
The Magic wouldn't waste their time considering it. Too much trouble for the misfits you keep trying to pass off in every trade scenario as the aspirin that cures whatever the ailment is. (Scola, Martin, Dragic, give or take, blah, blah, blah). Now you've even taken to calling them "Substantial Assets". Good Lord you're such an incessant homer!
That kind of made me laugh, where will they find these quality players? Utah already took the farm when they traded D-will though, and Lopez really doesn't have that much value anymore, because of his god awful rebounding and defense, and then you add his foot injury to the mix. Centers are valuable commodities, but they need to like, do things that centers do and not have become a recent injury red flag.
Nothing new but whatever... Larry Coon @LarryCoon Rox still like Gasol. I don't see a 2-way deal that makes a lot of sense for both teams. They're not moving Lowry. RT @J_S1: Who do you think Rockets move for? Gasol?
Word. Of course. Pau has not been himself since last playoffs and Scola right now ain't much worse then Pau. But Lowry, at least IMO makes them contenders right away. Morey is not an idiot to give up Lowry for a 30-something year old Gasol.
Look, I'm on the pro-Lowry side too and would not trade him for Pau. But let's not get carried away. Gasol has still been a top-5 big man by any measure. Scola has been having his worst year and is frankly a well below average starter until such time as he returns to his offensive form of previous years. It would be a HUGE, huge upgrade.
Scola is playing in a different role with a different C. His FG% rank is pretty much the same as last season, while amongst forwards he has risen.
I agree on Gasol. Not so much on Scola. He hasn't been "shocking" this season. Has been far more 'perimeter oriented' than we might like, and still suffers from lack of a "buddy" to save him defensively (yes, with Dalembert things work reasonably well, but we might like to play Scola alongside someone else slightly more offensively minded from time to time). Scola would actually be a great fit for the Lakers. Can play pick'n'roll out high. Can shoot that 18' with consistency. Has a post game. Defensively will get covered better by Bynum than anyone we have (and they WOULD want to play Bynum all the time). I think they'd also fare well to take Dragic/Budinger from us. They get instant bench offense, and a point who can score both in transition (unlike Fisher/Blake) and in the half court set. Dragic already averages more PPG than either of Fisher/Blake, and he's doing it in far less minutes than either of them. Also, in less minutes, he is outperforming them in assists. He is an upgrade at the point position, not a star, but definitely a backcourt foil to open up space for Kobe. Which then brings Budinger into the equation: The guy can come off the bench and score. There are only 3 Lakers players scoring more than Bud this season (Bryant, Gasol, Bynum) - and a big weakness for them is bench scoring. What the Lakers team needs is DEPTH and a bench scorer. By trading Gasol for Scola, Dragic and Budinger, they get 3 guys who can score. They get a proven low post/ midrange scorer (Scola) who is far mroe 'cap friendly' than Gasol. They get a significant PG upgrade, and they get a bench scorer. They also make their cap position a lot 'friendlier' next summer, and have the options of moving Walton/Blake/MWP for a real star.
I can't really see how a 3rd team gets involved. Said 3rd team would have to at least have an above-average PG to help the Lakers win this year. Said team also need to either want some veterans like KMart and/or Scola+pieces, or they want to totally rebuild and just ask for a ton of Rockets young guys and picks. Either way I don't see anyone fitting the Bill. Perhaps the Celtics in a rebuilding scenario. Not likely to happen.
why don't the rockets trade for another potential low risk high reward, under the radar player that can potentially help the team instead?
Like Terrence Williams? That worked out real well for them. Should I name the rest of the 2009 busts as well? Hasheem Thabeet, Jonny Flynn, Jordan Hill, Terrence Williams, DeMarre Carroll, Jermaine Taylor, Chase Budinger. Hit real well on those guys acquired.
Despite the continual lobbying on the part of the Rocket faithful as to the merits of a trade inclusive of Scola or Dragic or Martin or Budinger in exchange for Gasol, the Lakers view on this hasn't changed since before Christmas - Not interested in those guys. They're no more interested in obtaining what appear to be spare parts of no particular consequence than Houston is in retaining them.
Yeah I'm familiar with several additional trade scenarios developing now involving other clubs and their point guards (Jrue Holiday from the Sixers, Felton from the Trail Blazers ae two examples) that are looking as if they are more promising and would be bring back value closer to what the Lakers are expecting to get from a player of Gasol's stature. I can't see the Rockets getting involved with the Celtics over this because if that route were chosen the Celtics would want to keep Gasol for themselves no doubt in exchange for Rondo.
Uh huh. The fact is the Lakers are struggling to be "where they want to be" - that is, sitting at an identical record to the Rockets (with an identical strength of schedule). A major part of their problem is lack of depth. They can solve part of their problem by hitting a 'home run' and trading Gasol for a point. Unfortunately nobody cares to give them an elite level point guard for almost $60million in return. The Rockets have made their position clear - and are unwilling to budge it to accommodate the Lakers either. Whether or not you like the moves that Morey makes, you'd have to admit that he doesn't make moves he doesn't want to make (ie, it's his way or not at all. Good in many cases, bad in some) The sad thing is that you're so negative about the team (as reflected in most posts) that you're missing the fun of cheering for the team to push towards a top 4 spot. I guess our 'parts of no consequence' might be a little more 'consequential' than you'd like to think. A bit unfortunate for your ridiculous position, however you'll ignore facts and keep pretending that everything is doom and gloom.
