If you're serious about that, I can name you a ton of GMs who'll be glad to give you Javaris Crittendon, Kwame Brown, and Marc Gasol for Kobe Bryant.
Let's keep in mind that this was when Kobe was an as-of-yet untested rookie. We saw exactly what Crittendon and Brown had done up until that time, and Gasol had been playing in Europe.
Any way you want to slice it, the Lakers got an absolute steal, and Memphis set themselves well on the road to re-establishing the tradition they hoped to leave behind in Vancouver. The deal was a joke, and Memphis is a joke.
If in two years Marc Gasol starts posting 20-10 will you take it back?
I am not trying to say the deal is great. I think it was a bad trade. Just don't feel it's as bad as everyone wants to make it out to be. The Lakers traded for the short term (to win now) and the Grizz traded for the long term (young big man and cap space to build).
No, I won't. If in two years, Marc Gasol starts posting 30-15, it's a bad deal, because it means your team gave up three years of 20-10 that is yours to get the right to bid against everyone else three years and a ton of losses later, at which point, they're better off to trade Marc Gasol, because they're losing tons of games and need to rebuild.
Any team that isn't about WINNING NOW isn't a team, but a corruption of the idea of being a team. Sports are pointless unless everyone is trying to win, and win now. Rebuilding is a convenient lie to tell the masses, with a real meaning of, "We're not playing to win right now, but we want your money as if we were."
Part of the problem can be seen by just looking at Stephon Marbury. Here's a talented player, on a bad team. What does he want to do? Get bought out, so he can go to make a good team even better. Ditto with Sam Cassell last year. It's about getting paid, and then getting bought out and joining a contender in hopes of winning a ring. It's not about making your own team as good as it can be anymore.
Heck, look at Kobe Bryant before the start of last pre-season. Everyone was saying, "Chicago is going to be good; Chicago's an awesome young team," and what does Kobe say? He wants to go to Chicago. Surprise, surprise.
So, no, I don't believe in "building for the future." The future is *NOW*. Ask Miami if they're unhappy with the title they won by trading Caron Butler, Lamar Odom, and Brian Grant for Shaq. Hey - Butler's an All-Star now....
The bottom line is that it's about winning NOW, and establishing a winning tradition, which will attract good players that lead to WINNING LATER. If you're a joke of a team, you lose Elton Brand when you get Baron Davis. That doesn't happen if you're a team with a legacy of winning.
