Friday, February 01, 2008

What Happened to 'No Fire Sale for Gasol'?

Since my last post, I've been thinking more about the Gasol trade. I remember last year when Gasol demanded a trade, Jerry West and Michael Heisley said there'd be 'no fire sale'. They weren't giving Gasol away for nothing.

...

One year later...

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Hmmm

According to the rumors, they turned down Luol Deng, Ben Gordon, Andres Nocioni, Tyrus Thomas, Josh Smith, Amare Stoudemire, and others. Apparently there were multiple offers, including offers that included draft picks and standing offers from teams like Atlanta.

Instead they traded for one of the worst players in the league and a draft pick that's all but guaranteed to be in the range of 20 - 30.

Looks like a 'fire sale' to me. Looks like the Grizzlies gave Gasol away for nothing except salary cap flexibility.

My question is why accept that offer? Was there really no better offer? Minnesota was able to get a better deal even after Boston, their trade partner, had dumped players to get Ray Allen. We got no promising players or draft picks.

Were those other packages not available? Was there no young exciting player that could be packaged with expiring contract? Would love to hear more about the reasoning behind holding a fire sale for Gasol.

6 comments:

Mike said...

The grizz couldn't pass on the chance to match up Darko and Kwame in the same frontcourt. It's so crazy, it's got to work. Think about the upside!

David Jones said...

Yes, I am thinking about it right now.

I hope they add Stephon Marbury soon.

bkatz said...

haha, yes that is a brilliant strategy...

Melvin said...

are you serious? The Lakers got a bargain trade seriously... wow, i can't believe the grizz turned down great offers for this ugly one..

http://basketballnonsense.blogspot.com/2008/02/gasol-joined-lakers.html

Mike said...

Was Jerry West at all involved in this? McHale helped make his C's the league's best, now I'm wondering if West helped pull some strings to help his Lakers.

David Jones said...

The thought had crossed my mind. In the very least, I'd imagine that Heisley and the Lakers discussed the deal to get feedback from West.