That doesn't really matter though. Some of you guys must realize that you won't be able to fix the franchise in one trade. Gasol is just another piece to the puzzle. Not only would he help us win more games, but he'd also be another valuable asset. There's no downside in buying low on a player who without question would do better on your team than he does now. It's much easier to build a team with a B piece already in place than with a couple of C pieces. It's also easier to trade two B pieces for an A piece than trading a B and two C pieces for an A piece.
What do you mean buying low on a B piece. The B piece is getting paid 19 million a year and thats how much he's gonna count against your cap. Many of you are under the impression that Morey will somehow find a Batman or that Gasol is going to attract other players and that is baloney. A 32 year old Gasol isn't going to attract anybody and as has already been demonstrated during his time with the Lakers, you need a crap ton more than just Gasol to get it done. So please, do tell me two players that the rockets can obtain that are better than Bryant and Bynum that will lift this franchise to title contender before Gasol turns Charmin Ultrasoft?
Like I said, just because you trade for Gasol doesn't mean you will keep him around for long. Gasol, at this point is a B piece, that's playing like a B-/C+ piece, because he's playing next to to A pieces. On the Rockets Gasol would probably put up A-/B+ piece numbers, which is much better than what your current C pieces (Martin, Scola) would ever be able to produce. You're getting a player that's better than the players you (most likely would) give up. That's what it all about in a trade, isn't it? Trading for Gasol is short-sighted, if you plan to build around him. The Rockets know this better than anybody else. But trading for Gasol is not the end-all be-all plan. Gasol may be paid a lot, but guys with his skill-set and versatility are hard to come by. I think you'd be mistaken if you think Gasol isn't valued a great deal around the league.
His skill set is good, but Gasol/Lowry etc is not likely to get Howard. Looks good on paper, but it will only be of short term help, and will hamper us in the long term.
Good luck trying to trade an aging, ultra-soft $20 million dollar B piece for "A pieces". You don't think the Lakers haven't already attempted trading Gasol for supposed "A pieces"? Good value players are what GMs love and treasure as assets. Kyle Lowry's contract, that's an asset. Gasol's contract is what you would call an albatross of a contract. Gasol is what you would call a depreciating asset and the only teams that would be desperate enough to touch Gasol are the teams that are missing that single piece and are built to win now.
The difference is that we'd have another B piece in Lowry. The Lakers have Gasol and a pile of crap. Again trading for Gasol can't be the end-all, be all-plan, but I'd rather have Gasol than two of Martin, Scola & Dalembert + needed fillers.
Please name me a team that is going to trade us a 26 million dollar A piece (Gasol and Lowry) or explain to me how you are going to get multiple A pieces for Lowry and Gasol? In this history of the NBA only Kobe, Shaq, Garnett have surpassed the 24 million dollar mark as players (soon to be joined by the definition of albatross contract, Joe Johnson). This isn't NBA Live with the salary cap disabled. Gasol is not going to net you an "A Piece" as there aren't any teams dumb enough to give us multiple top shelf talents to match Gasol's massive contract. If it could be done, the lakers would have done it already which is why they attempted to trade him to us for multiple "B pieces". Think about that for a second. A trade for Gasol would be a lateral move at best and would hinder our opportunities for growth and development going forward.
The aim should be long term championship,something which Les has failed to understand. Gasol/Lowry/Dragic etc,won't get us there. (I want to clarify that I like Lowry/Dragic). Sure it will be better than what we have now, but not by much. Gasol may be better utilized than in LA, but it's a big drop from not having even a declining Kobe around.
You have a latitude of $5M to work with it's not like can't be fillers in play. Lowry, Gasol & our two picks for Howard for Howard, Wafer and Clark would work for example. Would the Magic do this? I don't know. I do know it's a lot better than anything we can offer the Magic right now and apparently we came pretty close to a deal with them at the deadline.
Even if this trade were to go down you are left with Howard and garbage and how do you intend on building from there? And to answer your question, the magic would be dumb to make that trade with the rockets as the doesn't give them a piece to build their franchise upon. When it comes to trading Howard, not only does he hold value on the basketball court, but from a business perspective he is a hot sell. People will pay to watch Howard play even if his team sucks. If the rockets can pull that off, more power to them. However, we wouldn't be any better as a basketball team but we would be able to sell some tickets. The Howard trade has 0% chance of going down.
Lol at haters still hating after Pau carried the Lakers into victory last night. You people are soft in the brains.
Totally agree. I love how they all assume that a trade for Gasol would mean the front office really thinks he can single handily win a title on his own. However, this guy can do some amazing things for this team if he's matchup with the right people in the right system.
Nobody is hating on Gasol, but again, here are the reasons NOT to pick him up: Gasol is a talented player but I think some people are missing the bigger picture when it comes to how he would effect the Rockets. Nobody is denying that Gasol is a solid player and one of the more talented finesse big men in the league, however, the Rockets do not need a 32 year PF/C that decides when or when not to show up. The Rockets had already tried trading for Gasol earlier in the season and it was pretty much meant mortgaging the future of the Rockets for supposed short-term success. Here are a couple of reasons why bring Gasol to the Rockets is bad idea: Reason #1: Gasol is on the wrong side of 30 and making approximately $19 million this season with a contract that continues til 2014. Sure, he is one of the more talented big men in the league, but he sure as hell isn't getting any better given his age. Reason #2: The Rockets would have to give up more than an arm and a leg just to get him so what exactly are you going to do with Gasol and a bunch of scrubs? Look, the Lakers were having trouble getting past an undersized Nuggets team with a team that includes THREE, count'em, THREE of arguably the top 20 players in the league. If you think a team of Gasol, Parsons, and Budinger is going to take you to the finals anytime soon, I want to know what the hell you are smoking and get some of that ish too because it must be some good *****. Reason #3: We have decent support players, but what we really need is a legitimate superstar. Pau Gasol has proven time and time again that his is better playing the Robin to somebody else's Batman or even Robin's Robin to somebody else's Batman. Simply put, he isn't a legitimate 1st option and he sure as hell isn't a player you build your franchise around when you are many, many years away from contention. The only benefit to signing Gasol would be to wait for his salary to wash away from the books. Signing Gasol would be an extremely shortsighted move on the Rockets part. I'm not exactly sure what Morey was thinking when he went after him the first time to be quite honest. Look, if BYNUM & GASOL (plus a guy named Kobe)are having trouble establishing themselves as legit contenders, did you honestly believe the oft-injured NENE and GASOL was going to take us to the promise land? With the majority of your salary cap tied to 2 players at or on the wrong side of 30, the Rockets would still be running around in circles without any chips to build towards the future. There are too many teams out there with far more talented rosters and honestly, the Rockets should be focused on trying to build a team that will be able to compete in maybe 3-5 years. As far as I'm concerned, the Heat, OKC, Clippers, Bulls (depending on Rose), and to a lesser degree the Grizzlies and the Pacers are built to compete for a legitimate shot at the title in the upcoming years. There is no point in the Rockets chasing a pipe-dream that just isn't going to happen. The Rockets need to get young and build from the ground up and our best shot is by drafting potential star(s) as it will give us more flexibility going into the future. There is no point in going for a band-aid solution when you really need a makeover as it's been proven time and time again that a title isn't won overnight and it's simply going to take time.
I think you've posted this more than a few times, and I get where your coming from. Nobody on here that is educated enough is viewing Gasol as the ultimate answer alone. However, remember what Morey & Ainge were able to do with the Summer on 07 in Boston. They took three B level all-stars, matched them up perfectly in a great system that ended up building a contender. This is what I believe the Rockets front office is trying to build here. Gasol would just be the first domino, and he's a damn good domino to start with. If they pull off a Gasol deal this summer, its going to be interesting to see what moves come along with Gasol just as in the deal that they had in place last December. Given that a whole season has gone by since then, they might have new plans in place come this Summer, so we have no idea whether or not Gasol would be part of that equation. Its just an assumption given the Lakers poor showing so far this playoffs, and the major issues that their roster has in the ways that their three best players do not complement each other well enough, their basketball style of play, and their supporting cast that doesn't seem to fit with their stars.
I agree with your point of view, where are you going to find a better Batman and Superman combo than Kobe Bryant and Andrew Bynum. One of the best players in league with the 2nd best center barely got past a team that barely made the playoffs. An all-star power forward only averaging 12.9 and 9.7 rebounds on 42% FG shooting against an undersized team with no post threats. It's weird that the Rockets have been trying to go at everything with "WIN NOW" mindset, since 2006, yet the team has only been out of the first round once and only had 3 playoff appearances. It does not make sense to be a Win Now team, when you already are not really contender. Even with Yao and T-Mac, this team still needed to maximize it's talents. In fact, I hate the term "Win now," because you cannot win now, if you don't have the best team (or one of the best teams), which only reserved for like top 7 teams in the league. I'm sort of weary of a franchise that tried to sell Trevor Ariza as being anything more than a good role player. With Pau Gasol, considering what players maybe asked for in the deal, it may end up being lateral move or one that only slightly improves the team. Even with rumors speculating that Nene could come to Houston, such a team still would not have been a contender. I do not see how such a team would've gotten to 2nd round considering the top 4 teams in the West, right now. Thank you Fate, God, or David Stern for nixing that trade. Biggest question about this, would he want to play Houston or would rather to go to another contender to play?
Not as soft as you. Put him on the Rockets,and you will see the difference. There is no Kobe or Bynum here.
Do you realize how good those B-Level all-stars were in 07: Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, and Ray Allen. Even before the championship, you are look at probably at least two future hall of fame players out of that group. Pierce and Allen were both averaging over 25 ppg, before that trade. You think Kevin Garnett in Minnesota was a B-Level all-star. A player that was almost annually an MVP candidate, one of the greatest defensive players ever, one of the most versatile players ever, and 10 all-star game appearances. That deal was more like 3 bonafide franchise players, because all 3 could be the main guy on a really good team. Gasol in his career was never as valuable as any of those players in their prime, and your team would be doomed for first round failures, if he ever was the main guy.
Did anyone see the piece on Gason on HBO sports? There were good reasons why he doesn't want to leave LA. He goes to the opera with his good friend Placido Domingo. He is heavily involved with the medical community in LA; he used to plan on a career in medicine after basketball. I don't see how they are ever going to shed his contract.
