Lakers have traded Kwame Brown and Javaris Crittenton and two first round draft picks to get Paul Gasol a 7-foot tall center/power forward from Memphis Grizzlies. He will be replacing Andrew Bynum until he recovers from his injury, then Gasol will be playing power forward for the Los Angeles Lakers.
More information here:
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=3226203 Lakers could be pretty tough once they get Bynum back as Gasol will slide to PF and Odom would move to SF. That's a pretty good frontcourt!! And then with Kobe and Fisher.....they could be TOUGH! Should be interesting as there are a bunch of good teams in the west with Dallas, SA, Phoenix, could be a tough playoffs!!
i honestly don't think that it's going to make that much of a difference in terms of the playoff run that they make. with the caliber of the teams in the west, i dont think that the addition of Gasol is going to make such an impact that suddenly the lakers are a force. maybe if the supporting cast improves, then we can have that discussion that they are on their way back to how they were a few years ago. but having just kobe and gasol as consistent players isn't going to be enough. You can only win so many games with a guy putting up 40+ a night and the supporting cast not doing much to help out.
teams in western is much more strong than the eastern team now.
| lastelement0 wrote: |
| i honestly don't think that it's going to make that much of a difference in terms of the playoff run that they make. with the caliber of the teams in the west, i dont think that the addition of Gasol is going to make such an impact that suddenly the lakers are a force. maybe if the supporting cast improves, then we can have that discussion that they are on their way back to how they were a few years ago. but having just kobe and gasol as consistent players isn't going to be enough. You can only win so many games with a guy putting up 40+ a night and the supporting cast not doing much to help out. |
You do realize that the Lakers were only 2.5 games out of having the best record in the west WITHOUT Gasol? It wasn't like they were sucking, in fact I'd go so far as to say they already were a force.....maybe not the favorite, but definitely someone to watch out for. As for the supporting cast improving, until his injury, Andrew Bynum was showing that he has improved greatly and was one of the better big guys in the league (not that there are that many of them anymore). Also the Lakers had the HIGHEST SCORING bench in the entire league. So it wasn't like they were only Kobe. THe last couple years they have been just about Kobe, but this year a lot of other guys are contributing. Of course, the Suns, seeing the Lakers make a move, just made a move of their own, trading Shawn Marion and Marcus Banks and some draft picks for Shaq....yet another big move!I think this is a great move, does help that I am a Laker fan. Gasol now doesn't need to be the main guy in L.A. because we have Kobe for that, and now he can just do his thing and be a great 2nd option. He'll be amazing in the triangle offense because he's a very good passer. I'm still a little iffy on how both Gasol and Bynum will play together, but I think Phil can make it work. Kobe now doesn't have to do everything because he has a guy like Pau he can dump it too in the post. This now leaves Odom to be a 3rd option, which I think he likes more than being a 2nd option, and can get his assists and still grab his rebounds, while scoring when needed. This trade will really help us in the playoffs for sure
Someone call the cops, the Lakers just robbed the Grizzlies!
What a ridiculous trade....Bynum, Gasol, Odom & Kobe?! Thats better than the big 3 in Boston...
Pistons still gunna win it all tho :p
Lakers are a force. For the last couple years they have been Kobe and sidekicks but now they are a team that while led by Kobe, doesn't need a 30 pt night to win every game. Watch out. I think the spurs are still the team to beat in the west though and the Pistons will pull out the East although the Celtics are really good. It'll be interesting to see how the "Big 3" hold up in Boston.
I agree, the top 4 seem to be the Celtics and Pistons in the East and the Lakers and Spurs in the West. But there's a couple other teams that could make some noise and pull an upset. I mean look at the Giants, most people gave them no chance against the Patriots (although I did...I actually thought the Patriots were a little overrated as I thought they were handed a couple games by the refs). So you just never know.
