I agree and think the lack of cohesion with Bynum is something people are ignoring. I wouldn't say Gasol is definitely a center, but he would certainly play better with someone who doesn't dominate the ball. Or someone who can space the floor while giving Gasol the low post. That said, I'd only want to trade for Gasol if there's also another major trade in the works. For example, if Gasol's price drops far enough, and Miami decides to trade Bosh, I'd give up all tradable assets for those two and build a team with them and Dragic/Lee(resign them). Something of that nature. Otherwise, it's still a funky team in terms of overall talent.
Alot of people criticized the triangle offense back in the day under Phil Jackson because it seemingly made Kobe Bryant pass the ball too often, and they weren't able to Iso Kobe on the perimeter and Bynum on the low block enough. Well, looks like Phil knew what was up all along. Alot of people say that Gasol is a PF exclusively, I say thats not true at all. Sure you need to play him alongside another banger in the post that can handle low post threats on the defensive end. We all know that Gasol isn't the greatest defensive Center in the league at all, but offensively there is not doubt that you want him in a system that allows alot of ball movement, and can get him open touches inside and outside. Look at what moving KG to the center position has done for him this season. Going to a more open offensive system with more spacing would be good for better utilizing Gasol's strengths. The triangle offense allowed the Lakers to play two 7 footers on the floor at the same time, and forced ball movement between their 3 main players. You look at Mike Brown's offense and it has made Gasol completely useless. He's a high post passer, and thats it. His man usually stays with him to keep him from hitting that open jump shot from 10 to 12 feet. Kobe is really more of jump shooter now and cannot penetrate enough to get open shots for Gasol. -Im not saying the Rockets should aquire Gasol, but all the people on this board need to realize that Gasol ,while he deserves some small blame for why the Lakers have struggled this postseason, is one of the most mis-used offensive players in the NBA right now. If anything, Mike Brown and the front office that hired him are the one that truely should be to blame for not integrating a system that utilizes their weapons effectively together.
If anything, Mike Brown and the front office that hired him are the one that truely should be to blame for not integrating a system that utilizes their weapons effectively together. When a team brings in anew guy to replace a successful guy the new guy (believes he) has to imprint his image upon the team. So, with the bathwater out goes the baby. Gasol, in this case. Brown has actually done a respectable job - - if 2nd round exit (presumed) is respectable. Look at Bobby V in Fenway. Or worse, look at the becursed KMart right here in ToyShopTown. Yeah, if DM the GM can get Gasol the elder without it being a rape job then I am so aboard. Or, if DM the GM could get a real, high quality NBA coach...
You have a point there. I do think Mike Brown has done an "ok" job all things considering. Defensively, they have actually improved. Offensively, they have their struggles at times, but thats part of the trade off. However, underutilizing a weapon as big as Gasol is at least worth noting on Mike Brown's part. Also Implementing a inside/outside "big man" game with Gasol without perimeter shooting is a head scratcher from their front office. To me, its a Gumbo mix with too much of some ingredients and not enough of others. You have a ton of talent on that team, but the pieces just dont seem to fit. You can blame whoever you want, its probably a combination of things like the coaching, players, front office, Phil Jackson for leaving.... But my point is Gasol isn't the only thing thats wrong about this Lakers team. The blame starts with the brass at the top that esembled this group of players without the right spices to bring it together and make it work. (sorry for the food analogies)
The shame (if one is a Lakes fan, so not a shame to me) is that the ingredients worked better with a different concoctor of said ingredients. Coach Brown and Owner Buss the Younger IMHO diverged from what made that team successful under the insufferable PJax because it had to be 'their way' and the team has suffered, and may continue to into the post-Kobe era (could they be complicit in its prematurity?).
The missing spices I was referring to is Phil Jackson. I think Mike Brown is a good quality coach, but just not the right coach to create the right balance between Kobe/Gasol/Bynum. Also, the front office did a poor job of selecting players to surround their "big 3." They need space, and shooting around Bynum if you are going to play off of him going into the future. If you replaced Gasol with a big who spreads the floor like a Matt Bullard or Robert Horry, you are looking at much, much more effective team built around Bynum as their centerpiece, and Kobe as a secondary scorer.
All I can say is "Who cares?" I say this all the way from the beginning, the Pau trade was bad one, we are so luck that deal did not complete. Now, Morey can get him at very low price, but I still do not want his contract. Let this die.
Was Phil Jackon under-utilizing Pau in last season's playoffs? Because the similarities between Pau in last year's playoffs and this year's playoffs are pretty striking. Sometimes we have discussions here where I can legitimately see the other side of the argument....I can't with this one. I just can't imagine watching Pau Gasol...seeing him called out for effort both of the last 2 years in the playoffs...and wanting to bring him to the Rockets @ $19million per year for two seasons.
As Bynum emerges, Pau has faded a bit. He was telling Kobe "you can get me the ball" at the end of the game, and Kobe did; but Gasol promptly passed it to the Thunder. He has great skills that we need, but $19,000,000 for a second star with no first star in place....
Scot van pelt speculated why nit a scola Lowry deal. His argument was they need a no nonsense player at 4 just play hard make open ****s not gasols emo play. No sure numbers work without adding buddinger
I am convinced the Scola/Lowry deal is there for the taking. I think there was a handshake agreement that we could do that deal after the current season provided we wanted to do it. I am convinced this was part of the deal to take on Fisher and a future pick. We saved the Lakers a lot of tax dollars. I'm pretty sure there's an agreement to consumate this trade after the season if we want to do it.
The question, to me, is whether the Rockets would want to or need to give up Lowry. Maybe a bit greedy, but perhaps they want to save him for a different trade? One can argue that Gasol's value has declined since the trade deadline.
Yep. Even the people on this thread that are high on Gasol would probably still all agree that a deal for Gasol isn't exactly a no-brainer by any stretch of the imagination. Even though I myself like Gasol and think he is a poor fit with the Lakers, Im not sure he's the answer for Houston, and worth giving up Lowry for if there are other potential deals on the table. If Toronto is high on Lowry, Im targeting their #8 pick for Lowry on draft day if its available. Who knows, maybe you can get Ed Davis back in the deal as well. Just using an example of a better deal that might be out there for Lowry rather than just Gasol. Again, we have no idea is Morey & Co. are even still interested in him and at what price.
Not sure trade kicker will apply since... http://www.cbafaq.com/salarycap.htm#Q96 Due to the annual increaes built into Gasol's contract, his upcoming salary already exceed $18,091,071 each year, the maximum for a player with 10+ years of service this season (the amount is unlikely to change for the upcoming year unless NBA's overall revenue outperforms expectation significantly).
I'm all for trading for Gasol, but I sure wouldn't give up Lowry. If we can believe the reports from the deadline the Rockets weren't willing to trade Lowry for Gasol at the time and Lowry was exactly the type of player the Lakers were looking for in return for Gasol. Why bail the Lakers out now? Gasol hasn't exactly done anything to up his trade value. If Dragic wouldn't have steped up after Lowry went down we wouldn't even have this discussion. (Actually I'm still not sure why we're having it ) This may be less realistic, but I'd rather sign&trade Dragic (packed with Scola) for Gasol than trade Lowry+fillers for Gasol, only to then have the right to overpay Dragic. I think Toronto would do Lowry for #8 in a heartbeat. Casey loves him and who's really there at #8, that you think is going to be really good? I just think trading Lowry for #8 would be getting 85 cents on the dollar.
Thats a valid point, but it just depends on A. Whose there at #8 and what potential the front office think that player has, and B. The overall direction of the team and C. What other moves they have planned after a Gasol trade. Im pretty sure the front office is smart enough to know that while Lowry has value at X amount, the market for him has to do with supply and demand. The demand for a borderline all-star calliber PG right now I would assume is pretty low unless that PG is on that next superstar level. So yes, getting a lottery pick outside the top 5 for Lowry is below his market value, but its a deal they might have to make if they view Dragic is their man going forward, that might be the best available deal out there for Lowry. In that case you take it, and try to get a sweetener like Ed Davis in the deal. At this point, who knows what they view as the better deal because we dont know who will fall in that #8 spot, other players that might come with in the deal, how high they are on that player's potential and how they weight that with aquiring Gasol along with letting go of Scola to get the deal done. There are alot of IF's here, but I just wanted to give another realistic example of other deals out there they might choose to go with instead. We just have no idea what direction they are going to go this Summer outside of targeting Dwight Howard #1 on their list.
I don't think the Rockets would ever include Lowry for Gasol. KMart and Scola yes, but they used Lowry to try to get Howard or Deron.
A few more Gasol trade thoughts, if the Rockets are not willing to part with Lowry: 1. I don't think Martin+Scola is enough to get Gasol. 2. In fact, given that Martin plays the same position as Kobe, I don't think the Lakers particularly want Martin. 3. So, I think the Rockets will (a) need to include some other pieces, like the 14th pick, the 16th pick, Budinger, Patterson, or Morris, (b) need to get a 3rd team involved to take Martin and send some assets to the Lakers.
