Report: Lakers working hard to shop Pau Gasol

[Big Bid'Ness]

Fromrobasketballtalk

I would take this with a grain of salt, but the report from Mitch Lawrence of the New York Daily News confirms the long-standing rumors that Pau Gasol is on the block.

The Lakers are committed to moving Pau Gasol — the fall guy for their second-round ouster against the Thunder and previous playoff failures — even if they have to take back less talent.

Of course they will take back less talent. Say what you want about Gasol being soft — something I don’t buy, he wasn’t soft in the 2009 finals when he bodied up and outplayed Dwight Howard — the guy is the most skilled big man in the post in the game right now. He struggled this season because Mike Brown kicked him out of the post and gave that space to Andrew Bynum. And sometimes Kobe Bryant. And even occasionally Metta World Peace. Brown had Gasol as a facilitator at the elbow, then people are somehow shocked Gasol doesn’t score as much and wasn’t as efficient.

When you trade a guy like Gasol, you never get back equal talent.

In spite of that, I have said the Lakers need to move one of their bigs to make the necessary roster changes to compete for a title. It’s not ideal, but with Kobe alone making $27 million next season (and $30 million the year after that) it is the only way to get the missing pieces, or at least come close. This latest rumor seems to confirm it. Although Lawrence then suggests Gasol could go back to Memphis, that’s not happening. The Lakers don’t need Rudy Gay.

 

[Mexi]

Monetary reasons

 

[jonathanlambert33]

I don't think they'll move him.

 

[Pugz]

i dont think they can. they wont like what theyd get in return and his contract is too fat to just dump.

 

[Mexi]

they will 100% move him
all about money. this new CBA is a killer. eventually, they'll whatever package just to dump the money

remember, the chris paul trade actually saved the lakers money

once it was killed, they still had to move odom and obviously shopped pau too. they will continue to look to dump the contract. since it's the offseason, more teams could be in on Pau

the wolves make sense

 

[elcheato]

He's going to get traded and have a great year if he's made a second option again.

 

[Mexi]

i'd honestly be ok with trading bynum and keeping pau at center
that is of course, if we got deron for Andrew

 

[jonathanlambert33]

they will 100% move him
all about money. this new CBA is a killer. eventually, they'll whatever package just to dump the money

remember, the chris paul trade actually saved the lakers money

once it was killed, they still had to move odom and obviously shopped pau too. they will continue to look to dump the contract. since it's the offseason, more teams could be in on Pau

the wolves make sense

Need two teams to make a deal.

And your "they'll package whatever" statement doesn't make much sense. The Lakers don't really have any trade pieces.

 

[Pugz]

you will NOT get deron.

 

[Elite]

#amnestykobe

 

[Mexi]

Need two teams to make a deal.

And your "they'll package whatever" statement doesn't make much sense. The Lakers don't really have any trade pieces.

i meant take whatever package. some team will take pau

BC i would love to amnesty him, but you know what sucks? even if they lost his contract, they'd still be over the cap. fuuuuuuuu

 

[Mexi]

like, i know Charlotte wouldn't(i think), but i'd do Pau for the #2 pick

(i dont even know if this is a captain obvious statement. sorry if it is. remember, pau is still a great player)

 

[jonathanlambert33]

i meant take whatever package. some team will take pau

BC i would love to amnesty him, but you know what sucks? even if they lost his contract, they'd still be over the cap. fuuuuuuuu

Teams won't be lining up to take a guy that will be 32 next month, has 38 million plus left on the contract, and the Lakers will likely be wanting more than he's worth given his age and contract. Especially a team like Minny, doesn't make sense for them.

 

[Pugz]

i wouldnt trade pau for number 2...

 

[Mexi]

Teams won't be lining up to take a guy that will be 32 next month, has 38 million plus left on the contract, and the Lakers will likely be wanting more than he's worth given his age and contract. Especially a team like Minny, doesn't make sense for them.

minnesota wants him. im not making it up
houston would take him too

 

[Mexi]

there's also a memphis rumor, nola
from the NY Daily news

The Lakers are committed to moving Pau Gasol — the fall guy for their second-round ouster against the Thunder and previous playoff failures — even if they have to take back less talent. As long as Heisley retains the Grizzlies, Memphis will always have interest. Heisley has always wanted to bring Gasol back, pairing him with his brother, Marc.

idk how the hell this works. rudy gay is the only answer. i dont think the lakers would want ZBo, even though they'd need a PF. maybe Memphis would trade ZBo for anything or amnesty him. weird rumor

 

[jonathanlambert33]

Micheal Heisley doesn't own the Grizz anymore.

 

[Mexi]

yes he does
sale isn't official

Lawrence went on to suggest that Gasol could return to the Memphis Grizzlies, the team with which he spent the first six-plus seasons of his career, noting that "as long as [Michael] Heisley retains the Grizzlies," they will be interested.

weird rumor, but i didnt make it up

 

[jonathanlambert33]

Heisley isn't going to make a deal that large when he already agreed in principle to sell the team and received 10M from Pera.