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Authored by Christopher Reina - 1st February, 2008 - 3:20 pm
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Perhaps no team in the Western Conference has improved more dramatically over the past 365 days than the L.A. Lakers , and they got even better on Friday when they completed a trade for Pau Gasol.
Unlike last year when they stressfully deliberated whether or not to deal Andrew Bynum, who has developed into a budding star this season, for Jason Kidd the price tag was just the expiring contract of Kwame Brown, Javaris Crittenton, and first round picks in 2008 and 2010. The price is clearly steep, but no players of true significance to their chances this season were lost, particularly Lamar Odom, Jordan Farmar, and most importantly Bynum.
When healthy and happy, Gasol is one of the truly great skilled big men in the NBA. Despite missing significant time last season, Gasol had his most efficient campaign to date, putting up a 19.3 per 40 FIC. He improved as a scorer, rebounder, and shotblocker in what was his sixth NBA season.
This year, he has regressed slightly while playing for a Memphis team going in a direction that everyone knew would sooner or later no longer include the 2002 Rookie of the Year.
Gasol is currently ranked 36th in the NBA in season FIC, but he does have a 16.3 per 40 FIC which is ahead of All-Stars like Caron Butler, Antawn Jamison, David West, and Allen Iverson.
Adding Gasol to a frontline that already includes Bynum and Odom will give the Lakers enough length and skill to match-up against any team in the NBA. Gasol will thrive in the triangle as a passer and as a secondary scoring option to Kobe Bryant, particularly because he’s so multi-talented and imaginative. It will be especially interesting to see how Gasol develops in Los Angeles as a shotblocker and rebounder now that he won’t be asked to carry such a substantial load offensively as he was with the Grizzlies.
Financially, Gasol is a huge commitment for the Lakers. He is signed for three more seasons at $15.1 million, $16.5 million, and $17.8 million. Odom will come off the books for the Lakers after next season which will be Bynum's final campaign under his rookie contract before his inevitably huge extension takes effect.
Plainly, the Lakers weren’t going to deal Bynum in any trade, but holding onto Farmar is really the key to this trade from my perspective. Only Brandon Roy (14.1 per 40 FIC) has been a better per minute player than Farmar (13.8 per 40 FIC) amongst NBA sophomores, and he’s been an efficient scorer, penetrating into the lane to create scoring opportunities for himself and others.
More than Kidd and certainly more than Jermaine O’Neal, Gasol is the All-Star player who will adequately complement Kobe and will give the Lakers’ title hopes (now extremely legitimate title hopes) more teeth.
Kudos to the Buss family and Mitch Kupchak for having the gall to dig in during Kobe's trade demands and for pulling off this bold move for Gasol.
Grade for Lakers: A-
First and foremost, this is a salary dump, but in Crittenton and the two future first round picks, the Grizzlies will be able to add even more young pieces to their core they are building around Rudy Gay and Mike Conley.
More trades are surely to follow since there is a huge logjam of point guards between Conley, Kyle Lowry, Juan Carlos Navarro, and now Crittenton.
Taking on Kwame’s expiring deal addresses their salary cap situation immediately while Crittenton has very promising talent; so, it is difficult to imagine a team like Chicago or New Jersey beating the Lakers’ offer.
Crittenton has largely been kept hidden, playing sparingly in just 22 games, but he does have an 8.5 per 40 FIC.
Grade for Grizzlies: B+
Christopher Reina is the executive editor of RealGM.com and the founder of the Reina Value |
