Remember when Peter Vecsey was dropping Pau Gasol for Carmelo Anthony trade rumors, and people were treating them with all seriousness? Notice how these days, people aren't even sure if acquiring Pau Gasol is worth parting with Carlos Boozer, a player whose name often comes up as a potential amnesty target? That's how broken down Pau Gasol is now. That's how much his stock has fallen.
It would only take the combined salaries of Lin, Cook, and Smith. The Rockets are under the cap so they can absorb salary which is what the Lakers would want if they were to dump Pau.
Those 3 players are 10 mill, where will other 9 come from? Remember lin only counts 5 mill if traded with 15 mill in 3rd year. Poison pill for the loss
I get the whole LA-MIN-3rd team angle and I do think it's a realistic scenario, I just don't think your trade particular addresses L.A.'s needs (a floor spacing big, consistent 3-point shooting and non-ball dominant role players). Also as good a fit as Pau would be on the T-Wolves, they actually might be in more of a need of a half-decent SG, so I could very well see them just keeping Pekovic and trading Williams for a 2-guard instead. We'll see... Again, I think that from a Rockets POV it all depends on the price.
Lin's contract counts as 8.3 mil for tax and trade purposes. No poison pill as that is only for extensions. The Rockets have about 7.4 mil in cap room. So Lin, Cook, Smith = 12.2 mil + 7.4 mil cap room = 19.6 mil
Lin's salary should count as 8.3 mil. He'd count as 5 mil if NY matched that deal. Also, you need to come up with 14 mil (Gasol's salary -5 mil). The bigger issue is that LA has 15 guys, so they'd have to cut people / include them in trades. Which makes it complicated. Anyway, I don't think LA would want Lin's salary. I suspect they'd rather wait for offseason if that's the only offer available.
or this. i thought your cap room was ~5 mil before checking. Again, I don't think Lin (as the main assets) for Gasol would happen from the Lakers point of view, but there are certainly ways to do it, if they wanted to.
Then we're left with Machado and Toney Douglas at PG? (Unless they recall Livingston; is he playing somewhere?) If Gasol's knees are already hurtin for certain, then, just say no to Pau. Not worth giving up good young players just so we can fix the Lakers' chemistry and win them another championship.
Nope, Sampson didn't say that. He said that he preferred the matchups of TD with certain PGs, defensively. What he did say was that Lin is essentially a rookie, likely considering his total minutes played. He might not have said it out point blank but TD is a vet, so he could have more confidence in TD compared to Lin, depending on the situation. Anyway, back to the topic, Gasol will probably make the team better immediately, but so what? Even with Gasol, we are still not going to be a contender. And if we are rebuilding, he's not a perfect fit in the long run.
I don't think the Lakers are willing to blow up their chances at a championship this year to save a bit of salary. They're are loaded and want talent in return. If he does get moved for luxury tax purposes, it will probably be in the offseason when one of the many teams with cap space can absorb most of his salary outright.
I can't believe this is a discussion. The Rockets aren't in win-now mode and getting Gasol makes no sense. Gasol has probably 2 good seasons left(including this one, maybe 3). So just no.
If Lakers really think about trading Pau before the trade deadline, I strongly believe MDA will push for Lin+couple of stretch 4s that can shoot the 3s. Its only that whether Rockets will do it for Pau+Blake+Duhon.
that would be ideal for them. But it would limit their options quite a bit. Many of the "win now" teams won't have cap space this summer, but they might have expirings right now.
Gasol, if he was still good, would make this a win now win later team. I questionj whether he has any good left. It may be having Dwight is stealing his easy opportunities, but he is not playing well this season. I would be very leery about giving anything too valuable for Gasol right now without scouts thoroughly saying he is only sucking because of how he is used.
Further proof Gasol is on his way to Houston: According to Hoopsworld http://www.hoopsworld.com/nba-am-is-there-a-market-for-pau-gasol/
