Thread: Big Lakers Trade

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/200...ade/index.html

Bye Kwame

Sweet baby Jesus! Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!

Wow. This will be interesting. It makes you wonder what Memphis is doing here.

They took a chance on the draft bust Darko... and now Kwame.

As for Kwame, it makes you also wonder if he'll have any motivation to improve... since he got dealt.

Pau Gasol however... is the the PF we TRULY need! Finally!

Originally Posted by TooCool

Wow. This will be interesting. It makes you wonder what Memphis is doing here.

They took a chance on the draft bust Darko... and now Kwame.

As for Kwame, it makes you also wonder if he'll have any motivation to improve... since he got dealt.

Pau Gasol however... is the the PF we TRULY need! Finally!

I had a feeling today was gonna be a good day when I put on my Lakers cap and hoody. Can't wait to see this team healthy and in the playoffs. Not title contender yet but next year and/or the year after definitely.

I like this trade. Somebody with talent who has the balls to shoot the ball unlike Lamar. Now Lamar can go back to being the 3rd option. And the 4th option when Bynum comes back.

Hell ****ing yea

When Bynum and Ariza return...watch out

Wow... I have new respect for Kupchak.

Look what I got from ESPN.com:

The Memphis Grizzlies will send Pau Gasol and a future second-round pick to the Lakers for Kwame Brown, Javaris Crittenton, the unofficially retired Aaron McKie , the draft rights to Pau Gasol's brother Marc and future first-round picks in 2008 and 2010.

Weird! Didn't know a team can still own the rights to someone who hasn't officially retired. So what does McKie have to do now? Is he forced to play for Memphis if he signs a contract? First round picks in 08 and 10... I could care less about those, since this is the Lakers we're talking about.

Now that I've recovered from the shock and after taking a step back to look at this, I have a few thoughts.

Gasol will definitely help our offense - he's absoultely deadly in the low post, and will definitely take pressure off of Kobe. But did we really need more offense? We're 3rd in the league in points scored. The bigger question is how does this trade affect our defense? We're in the bottom 3rd of the NBA in team defense, and Gasol is one of the softest big men in the NBA. Given that some of the best bigs in the NBA (eg Duncan, Amare, Dirk) are in the West, this doesn't bode well for us. This likely means the youngster Bynum will be forced to guard these superstars, and they'll probably have huge games against us. I guess we're opting to use the outscore the opposition strategy? This is why I wish we had gotten a Kidd or Artest - someone who specialized in lockdown D.

Gasol is also injury prone. He's missed a good amount of action with foot injuries, and has missed a few games this year with back injuries. We also found out that Bynum has a condition in his knee that makes him prone to injuries similar to the one he suffered earlier this season. So for the next few years we have a pretty fragile front court. How's that going to hold out?

Finally, Gasol will really help our rebounding. So where does that leave Lamar? Perhaps Lamar's biggest contribution to this team has been his rebounding. Is he now expendable?

Don't get me wrong, I'm glad that the Lakers have gotten a player of Pau Gasol's caliber, but I'm not sure that he fills any of our biggest needs.