Pau Gasol, Mike Brown and Mitch Kupchak comment on Pau's future. Seems they are looking to move him. http://sports.yahoo.com/news/nba--pau-gasol-wonders-if-he-s-played-his-last-game-for-lakers.html EL SEGUNDO, Calif. – Pau Gasol’s duties for the Los Angeles Lakers this season officially ended Wednesday afternoon after he met with general manager Mitch Kupchak and coach Mike Brown. Yet Gasol didn't seem to be in any rush to leave the Lakers' practice facility, knowing this could be his last visit there. “It’s still very much possible that this is one of my last days," Gasol said while standing outside the practice facility. "Every day could be my last day. It’s not sentimental, but it does cross your mind that there could be a change." Gasol still hopes to stay with the Lakers next season. He has two years and $38.2 million left on his contract but didn't discuss his future much with Kupchak in their meeting. "I wish I could have clarification right now," Gasol said. "They can’t give it to me." Said Kupchak on Gasol: “I have not met with ownership. I’m not sure what direction the team is going to go. No additional information to share with you right now." The Lakers agreed to trade Gasol to the Houston Rockets in a three-team deal that would have brought Chris Paul to Los Angeles from the New Orleans Hornets. The NBA, which then owned the Hornets, ended up nixing the trade. Gasol's name again surfaced in trade talks throughout the season, and it wasn't until the March 15 deadline passed that he was able to relax. [Related: Lakers' future uncertain after playoff KO] "It kind of wore me down at times," Gasol said. "You get exhausted at times. Once it was off the table, it was better for me. We could talk about something else. It was refreshing.” Kupchak said he was impressed with the way Gasol handled himself after the failed Paul trade but understood if Gasol now was leery of Lakers management. "I don’t expect he’ll ever be the same based on what took place,” Kupchak said. "He did the best anybody could do in being a professional. He’s the consummate teammate and the consummate professional. With what took place, I’m sure there’s some trust that’s not quite the same." Gasol was accustomed to being the Lakers' second scoring option behind Kobe Bryant, but that changed this season with the development of center Andrew Bynum. Brown gave Bynum a bigger share of the offense, and Gasol's scoring dropped from 18.8 points per game to 17.4. Gasol also wasn't selected for the All-Star team for the first time since 2008. “It’s been difficult to be pretty much the third option,” Gasol said. “I’ve never experienced that in my career. I still gave it my best. We’ll see how it looks next year. But it has been challenging at times.” Said Brown: “With Andrew Bynum excelling or having a bigger role, it made it a little tougher for Pau. It pushes a guy like Pau out, and you’ve got Metta [World Peace] trying to sneak in there once in a while.” Kupchak said he is open to exploring “all opportunities” to make the Lakers better. The Lakers are mindful of taking on too much additional salary because of the league's luxury tax, but they do plan to make a contract extension offer to Bynum, Kupchak said. So it’s easy to understand why Gasol believes he could be the odd man out. “If something does happen, it does,” Gasol said. “If it doesn’t, I’ll be happy to be back next training camp ready to go, and have a more peaceful year and focus on our goal to win a championship."
I would say less, at this point his value is a little bit lower, and his contract is a BIG negative in the amount for the next 2 years. That being said, give them Lowry and Scola and away we go. DD
Depends on what you give up for Gasol. If you are giving up limited value or role players, then the deal makes sense. Pau was in a front court with terrible spacing and often Bynum was roaming into where Pau plays. He still got 17/10 on 50% shooting. He is 32, but his game should age well. I don't consider Pau a real #1 alpha star, but is under utilized in LA and is a very good player.
Anyone who says Gasol has the same worth as Kevin Love though needs to be slapped. That should never be spoken again. Gasol is being traded because his worth is at its all time low. He is declining and his contract has about 20 million each year. So Scola and Lowry is pushing it. Some may say its too much. They have no starter at PG. Scola and Lowry would give them two solid starters at each position.
This article got me thinking about whether we could structure a trade with the Lakers to get a huge trade exception, and then use it as an additional asset to trade for Dwight: http://espn.go.com/los-angeles/nba/...h-kupchak-says-shake-store-los-angeles-lakers In the article, it states: They [the Lakers] also have an $8.9 million trade exception acquired in the Lamar Odom deal with Dallas that would allow them to absorb a player making anywhere up to $8.9 million without sending another player out in return. "That's one of the few assets we do have," Kupchak said. However, it is difficult to imagine the Lakers using the TE straight up to acquire a single player, given they are in luxury tax land already, and using the TE in this manner would mean a dollar for dollar penalty. Instead, a trade of Gasol to Houston involving Luis Scola might allow the Lakers to flip an even larger TE to Houston. For example, if we trade Scola and Dalembert, pre-draft, to LA for Gasol, the Lakers would be taking back salaries totaling $15.6 million, while sending out $18.7 million in salaries. Since Dalembert's salary is only guaranteed for $1.5 million next year, they could then cut him, and shave $8.1 million off their salary figure next year. This would give them room to resign Sessions, not have to amnesty a player, and/or get them below the tax threshold enough to use a full MLE to acquire another player. If they dump Dalembert to a team under the cap such as Sacramento for, say $2 million, they clear up another $1.5 million in space for next year. If traded prior to July 1st, Scola's $8.5 million salary fits neatly into the Laker's $8.9 million TE. After July 1st, I don't think the TE can be used, because Scola's salary for next year is $9.4 million. As such, on a Scola/Dalembert trade to LA for Gasol, if the TE is used, this would technically constitute two trades to LA. The first is Scola for the TE, and the second is Dalembert for Gasol. The second trade would create a larger TE for Houston of $11.7 million, the difference between Gasol and Dalembert's salaries. The beauty of the $11.7 TE is that would could then have it for up to one year to use it towards a trade with Orlando. This would give us a huge leg up over other teams in negotiations with Orlando, because we could absord Turkoglu's salary ($11.4 million after July 1st) using the TE. As such, a deal such as Lowry, Kmart and Morris (plus our first round picks, if the trade is around the time of the draft) for Dwight would allow us to absord Turkoglu's contract in a separate, simultaneous transaction using the TE exception. As such, Orlando gains huge salary cap flexibility by dumping their most toxic contract without taking back any salaries in return, as well as obtaining a trade exception in the amount of Turkoglu's salary. If we can do a deal with the Lakers netting a large trade exception, it is not out of the realm of possibility that we would could acquire BOTH Dwight and Gasol. That sounds a lot better than the Gasol/Nene combination we were reportedly trying to net last year. If we surround this newly acquired pair with a resigned Dragic, Lee, Parsons, DMo, Turkoglu and a MLE player, we become instant title contenders.
My feelings for Pau are the same as the beginning of the season. While he is no batman, if we can get another 7 footer with Pau (aka a Dwight, before it was Nene). Having 2 rebounding bigs who are fed the ball, is the surest way to a title outside of having superstars. Since we won't be able to beat OKC or Miami with sheer talent, beat them with size and rebounding. Dragic, Pau, + another 7 footer, with Morey fitting in pieces around them (likely Lee or Parsons would stay too), is a team that has a shot.
If the team is able to land Pau while retaining sufficient cap room, a player who would be worth pursuing in free agency is Kevin Garnett. Both players have great versatility on both ends of the floor and can beat the opponent inside and out (Pau being more inside oriented, Garnett likes the perimeter more and is better defensively). Not sure where KG's head is at after the season. It might depend on whether Boston wants to bring the "big 3" back for another run or not.
You are still operating on the assumption that the Rockets are over the cap. They are not. They are very far under it. The Rockets have all the salary flexibility any team can possibly hope for in any trade. So they don't need, nor would they get any type of TEs. The only problem, if there does happen to be a bidding war for the services of various players, is that many other teams are in the same situation. Other teams have also prepared for the new, more stringent CBA and has cut loose a lot of players. Indiana, for example, can keep most of its core intact while still retaining $10+ mil of capspace if they want to trade for someone. So the Rockets won't be the only team who can take on bad contracts. That said, the Rockets may be much more willing to take risks than a team like Indiana, given that we want change, and they may decide to let their core grow.
If this is possible, I like these moves! Dragic Lee/ Bud Parsons/ Hedo Pau/ Patterson/ Donuts D12/ Camby/ Smith Definitely one of the best in the west on paper. It would also be a good time to get new unis as well if this scenario happened.
I know what the headlines say for perrenial good teams who make the playoffs and do not get past the 2nd round. "Changes coming". They do not say lets keep our role players and see how it turns out. They do not say well lets stand still in the draft. Once a team like the Lakers falls past its goal? They dont care that fan favorite or Championship level Gasol or Shaq won them rings. They just reload and say time for a change. Your Houston Rockets need to reload too. We are not even talking about playoffs.
I genuinely hate KG, but I'd be ok with that (I don't think Boston is going to break it up, though, Ainge is going to ride out these big 3 + Rondo till 1 of them retires, or turns to dust). Pau would fit with another 7 footer. Pau can play inside or outside, he isn't the player he once was, but with the right coaching, being a 2nd option (not 3rd stand around and hope Kobe or Bynum passes to you), and not being chewed out constantly, I believe he can do well. The Lakers won a title because of the 7 footers. Don't get me wrong, Kobe was a good piece to have, but they would've lost to the Rockets that year had they not had that much of a size advantage (thus leading to a huge rebounding edge). I think keeping your talented centers happy (15-20 shots/game each), all high percentage shots, and having a guard(s) who can make 3s when it is necessary (Dragic/Lee), is really the best shot the Rockets have of winning anytime soon because I don't care who you get as a SG/SF, they aren't going to be better than Wade or Lebron, so we have to beat teams with size, rebounding, and 3s.
Don't get me wrong, though, idiot size does us no good. Having Kwame Brown and Deandre Jordan leading the charge will make us terrible. We need size with talent. Guys who are smart can get 20/10, and still be able to pass out of the post. There are only a few bigs in the league that can do that and Pau is 1 of them.
Whoever wrote this article got their teams messed up. If we traded Scola and Dally for Pau before July 1, then LA would walk away with the $11.7 million traded player exception, not the Rockets. Lakers would be trading for Scola using their $8.9 million TPE from the Odom trade. They would then be trading Pau for Dally straight up, which would leave them with an $11.7 million TPE.
You are correct, I got the TE recipients mixed around. Serves me right, trying to dream up trade scenarios when I should be asleep.
