This is a great trade for LA. They got Kobe a legitimate low post talent in Gasol (who should work out great in the triangle). They didn't trade anyone from their core rotation other than Kwame Brown and they held on to Jordan Famar.
I'm not sure if this catapults the Lakers into the front runners for the title, but this does give them a pretty badass starting 5 when healthy with Fisher, Kobe, Odom, Gasol and Bynum. That's pretty solid (especially with guys like Famar and Walton coming off the bench).
The main thing I'm looking for is the domino effect. The Gasol trade could spur other teams into making some moves. Dallas or Denver may make a stronger push for Jason Kidd (who's sweepstakes the Lakers are now out of). The Kings may move either Mike Bibby or Ron Artest (I wouldn't mind taking a 3 month flier on Artest- IF thats what it takes to get Bibby AND if Artest declines his player option, as he's expected to do).
As for the Cavs, I still don't see them landing Kidd (or Bibby, if the Kings still want to unload Kenny Thomas). Even with the Lakers out of the picture, the Cavs simply don't have a lot of pieces that are attractive at this time. Plus, I think next year/summer is the time where you'll start seeing crappy teams full of nice players being paid like great players, to look to dump salary (like Michael Redd or Joe Johnson).
5 comments:
I actually doubt this will put the Lakers over the top, though it obviously will help quite a bit. I do however think Memphis got a pretty good deal. Two first round picks and Kwame comes off the books. Not bad at all, esp. when they weren't going anywhere with Gasol.
Have to wonder if the Cavs might go after one of Memphis's young PGs. No way they hold onto to Conley, Lowry, Crittenden, and JCN.
I think this will put the Lakers over the top. They've got the strongest starting five in the NBA now.
Kobe Bryant, Lamar Odom, Andrew Bynum, Derek Fisher and now Pau Gasol. This team is for real.
The Spurs, Suns and Mavs should be looking over their shoulder.
Nice job on the blog. I enjoy it!
NBArotoman
www.nbaroto.com
lakers get pau gasol, huh??? haven't we heard this story many, many times before???: boston gets kevin garnett. boston gets ray allen. denver gets alan iverson. and in baseball: mets get johan santana. detroit gets miguel cabrera and dontrelle willis. d-backs get dan haren. mariners get erik beddard. how come cleveland never gets any of these guys??? i'm just sick of it. sick, sick, sick, i say. when is one of our gm's finally going to have the balls to pull off a big deal in which our team comes out on the winning side and goes on to win a title for once instead of always saying "at least we tried" and end up with bupkiss??? i really don't buy it anymore. i don't want them to just "try". i want them to get a deal done and actually get "thee guy" who can put them over the top. for the cavs, "thee guy" would have to be jason kidd. lbj said it best when asked if they were to get kidd, would the cavs win the championship and he smiled and said "oh yeah". we can only hope.
The Celtics had young talent and Theo Ratliff's expiring contract. The Lakers gave up young talent and Kwame Brown's expiring contract.
The Cavs don't have those kind of expiring contracts... right now.
This offseason? That's a different story. But right now they just don't have the pieces to pull off a big trade like this.
The Cavs can look into a trade of this magnitude this summer when Gooden, Jones, Snow, Marshall and Varejao will all be tradeable.
The question is, can they move Hughes?
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