Lakers get Gasol

I'm not going to base GM skills on one trade.

P.S. It dosn't take a genius to say "Yeah sure, I'll give you Kwame for Gasol". But I'll give him kudos for the trade. I think Buss should get some credit as well because he's the one that'll be paying the 40-whatever mil to Gasol.

 

Well, if you'll remember, Kupchak was the one who didn't trade Bynum for Jason Kidd, even with Kobe throwing yet another petulant shit fit.

 

Obviously you are a Laker homer. But, the new Lakers lineup as is, can't hang with the Suns. It may give the Spurs fits, but the Lakers aren't built to score. Gasol helps them, but other than Kobe, they don't have a true scorer.

 

Kobe threw a fit because he was manipulated by Buss. Which is why Kobe and Shaq are good friends now. They figured out that Buss lied to both of them.

 

You accusing someone else of homerism ... classic.

 

There's a story that quotes Shaq and Kobe saying they are friendly because they realized Buss lied to them?

More to the point, that doesn't answer my question. I believe you and others were ripping Kupchak for not trading Bynum for JKidd and not adding talent to support Kobe in the offseason. Now, he robbed the Grizzlies without having to give up anything of value.

 

Am I the only one who thinks Rumple is missing the point? Once the playoffs roll around, teams play half court basketball. Isn't a Lakers team with Kobe, Gasol and Bynum better suited for those games than the fast-breaking Suns?

 

NO, not even close. Bogut averages nearly 14 pts and over 9 boards per game, and he's improved every year in every category. Maybe he has been a bit disappointing, but he's nowhere close to where Larue Martin/Kwame Brown/Michael Olowakandi are on the scale of No. 1 pick-turned-busts.

 

To your first point:
Kobe wasn't only pissed about the Bynum thing. He was also mad because he knew he wasn't the real reason why Shaq got traded. Why? Because Buss told him that he was going to trade Shaq whether Kobe stayed or not. And when the whole world blamed Kobe, Buss didnt even budge to defend him. When Shaq was asked about this he said:

"I believe Kobe 100 percent," O'Neal said when reached in Los Angeles. "Absolutely. There's no doubt in my mind Kobe is telling the truth. I believe him a thousand percent.

"I would have respected Dr. Buss more as a man if he would have told me that himself, because I know he said it. But he didn't [tell me]. He never said a damn word to me."


To your second point:
Yes, I busted him for it. And so did everyone who was watching Bynum because he looked like crap last year.

 

If I'm not mistaken, last season was Bynum's rookie year. Considering he came to the league straight from high school, shouldn't he have been graded on a learning curve? He wasn't going to be Shaq as a rookie. Bynum was learning how to play the NBA game.

 

Nope. That's why the Suns have won so many titles under Nash ... oh, wait ...

 

When Bynum gets healthy, they will still be working Gasol into their system and making sure he fits with them. By the time the playoffs roll around, LA will be playing good basketball, but I doubt they can get past the Suns, Spurs or even Mavericks in a seven game series. The only way they can get to the Western Conference Finals is with favorable draws against the Nuggets or Trailblazers, if they keep it up.