Gasol to Lakers for Kwame. Scam collusion trade pulled off

[Derek Bodner]

I like Crittenton.  I was hoping he would fall to the Sixers pick at 20.  but getting a 28 year old Gasol is a great trade for the Lakers.  Helps keep them afloat while Bynum's out, and if Bynum comes back this year, that's a great front line.

[Laker Fan]

Who is the GM in Memphis?  West is gone correct?  Did the the owner just walk into a rib joint and hire the busboy? What the?!?!

Touche' JN, this deal make no sense from any angle, Memphis made one of the all time stupid trades in history, KWAME BROWN FOR PAU GASOL?!?!?!?!?! This is simply too good to be true!

I will miss Crittendon though.

[WayOutWest]

I like Crittenton.  I was hoping he would fall to the Sixers pick at 20.  but getting a 28 year old Gasol is a great trade for the Lakers.  Helps keep them afloat while Bynum's out, and if Bynum comes back this year, that's a great front line.

Crittenton has that mental toughness that you sometimes see in players like him.  The kind of attitude Raja Bell had when the Sixers met the Lakers in the finals, Raja has 1/20th the talent of Kobe but no way Raja was backing down from anyone.  Crittenton on the plus has the raw talent to back up his attitude.  Kinda a street balla game that can hang in the NBA.

[jn]

LF,

Plus it's hard to imagine the Lakers falling so low that the Grizz end up with any real high picks out the deal.  

[Laker Fan]

With the youth in LA you're right, JN, if this team meshes and stays together (a pretty if in LA LA Land), than they are front running contenders well past 2010 and Memphis just stuck it to themselves even worse than we realize now.

I just hope he can learn the triangle quickly enough for them to make a push this season.

[Laker Fan]

Now watch, Gasol will go down with a season ending injury the day after he arrives in LA

[msc]

^^Dude!!!  SShhhhhhh ...

[Ted]

I don't agree. I don't think a player like Odom should have the ball run through him.

[ziggy]

Pau is due
                  2007-08          2008-09           2009-10           2010-11
Pau Gasol   13,735,000   15,106,000   16,452,000   17,823,000

Memphis will have $45,000,000 committed next with 2 draft picks, so they have no available cap space to sign any FA (after figuring the Swift for Collins trade as well)

Congrats to the Lakers this is the single most lopsided deal in NBA history.  More power to you if you can pull it off.  Memphis is saving about $10,000,000 next year.  That is the sole reason they did this deal, because they won't have much of any cap space after the 09-10 season either. 

I figured they were going to try to go after someone like Jamison or Brand after this season since they will have the space to do so.

This might not be fully lopsided tho...those draft picks could turn out to be some quality players so Im personally not going to label it a robbery.

With the players under contract + about $5 million for the draft picks they are looking at a $50 million payroll.  I am not sure exactly where the cap is, but they have to be close if not already over it.  No way they have the space to sign a star.

[Laker Fan]

Ted, Odom tends to take games off, and by that I mean he doesn't play to his strength, which is a great post game, when he penetrates he can be as deadly as anyone, but for some reason he gets timid in games, that is where his being a facilitator will make him more effective, he now has an outside scorer beyond just Kobe to take the pressure off, and he is more effective when the traffic in the paint is light, you add bookend outside scorers to Odom's post game and wow, this team has the potential to be scary good, I'm not saying run the ball through him, just give him the option of passing out to someone other than a double teamed Bryant.

[Derek Bodner]

With the players under contract + about $5 million for the draft picks they are looking at a $50 million payroll.  I am not sure exactly where the cap is, but they have to be close if not already over it.  No way they have the space to sign a star.

5 million for draft picks would be quite a stretch.  If they get the 5th pick (2.37 million) and the 20th pick (957k), they'd be around $3 million.

They're currently sitting at about 48 million in committed salary.  The cap's projected at about 58 million.  They're essentially tied with the Sixers as having the most cap space, both having roughly 10 million in cap space next offseason.

[westkoast]

I don't agree. I don't think a player like Odom should have the ball run through him.

With the triangle it doesn't really run through him.  I think on a rebound and fast break opp. that it should be ran through him or Fisher though.  Other then that I don't know if you can force Odom into one thing every night aside from rebounding.

[WayOutWest]

I don't agree. I don't think a player like Odom should have the ball run through him.

 

You don't know squat Ted, the Lakers are something like +15 in towel waving when the offense runs through Odom! 

[ziggy]

With the players under contract + about $5 million for the draft picks they are looking at a $50 million payroll.  I am not sure exactly where the cap is, but they have to be close if not already over it.  No way they have the space to sign a star.

5 million for draft picks would be quite a stretch.  If they get the 5th pick (2.37 million) and the 20th pick (957k), they'd be around $3 million.

They're currently sitting at about 48 million in committed salary.  The cap's projected at about 58 million.  They're essentially tied with the Sixers as having the most cap space, both having roughly 10 million in cap space next offseason.

I figured they would get the 3rd pick +/-, and considering that the lost Gasol and added Kwame then dropping from the #5 pick to the #3 pick is about right.  Horford was the 3rd pick last year and he is getting paid $3.75 million.  I figured the 23rd pick, which was Wilson Chandler at $1.1 million.  That adds up to $4.85 million, so I rounded up to $5 million, assuming a little salary inflation.

According to http://www.storytellerscontracts.info/resources/07-08salaries.htm
They had $58,588,594 committed before the deal.  Take away Gasol and add Crittendon, and that is a net reduction of $13,724,440, so that is $44,864,154, add in only $4.5 million and they are at $49,364,154.  The Collins for Swift deal was a equal $ wash.

So they have as much cap space as the mid-level exemption, without getting to use the mid-level, because they are under the cap.  So they have no space to sign anyone beyond what they could have done before the deal.

[Randy]

It takes something like this for me to come back to this board -- this is a FANTASTIC deal for the Lakers!  Just thinking about how Reality is worshipping the porcelain god right now is simply thick rich icing on the purple and gold cake.  The Lakers already had a strong bench and had teams very uncomfortable with facing them in the playoffs (esp. Suns and Mavs) but now the Spurs have reason to be very concerned.  As long as this team can become healthy by playoff time, this trade makes the Lakers even favorites with the Spurs for an NBA title. 

Wow, can't believe this is true!  While this doesn't turn around the Lakers like McHale did the Celtics this year -- the Celts never had a chance this year at a title (other than being proclaimed the Eastern Conference Champions) -- with this Laker line-up healthy, it turns into a championship run!

Also, it seems like most aren't realizing that the Lakers traded Kwame Brown (just trading this guy makes the Lakers a better team!!!), Crittendom, two future 1st round draft picks and the rights to Pau's brother, Marc Gasol (who is doing VERY well in Spain right now -- if you look at Reality's translation from Euro ball to the NBA -- this guy is a 30/15 player in the NBA next year).

It's a GREAT day to be a Laker fan!