Pau Gasol Traded to the LA Lakers

[Sauru]

What? How could Kwame get waived and re-sign with the Lakers? I thought that there was a new rule added in the last year or two that prevented the waived player from signing with the team that traded him away.

yeah i know there is rules against this but i think they have to prove there was an agreement in place prior to the trade? i remember the celtics doing this before with gary payton

[Chaser7]

What? How could Kwame get waived and re-sign with the Lakers? I thought that there was a new rule added in the last year or two that prevented the waived player from signing with the team that traded him away.

yeah i know there is rules against this but i think they have to prove there was an agreement in place prior to the trade? i remember the celtics doing this before with gary payton

Pretty sure the GP thing was before the rule and possibly why the rule was created..

EDIT: I just looked on espn.com, the rule is that a player who is traded and then waived, must wait 30 days to resign with his old team, without signing with anyone else. Thus, Kwame would have to wait a month until he could resign with the lakers, and he'd have to do it immediately ro else he wouldn't be elgible for the playoffs. Source: http://proxy.espn.go.com/nba/dailydime? ... -080202-03
--> side column, enjoy.

[[Q]]

no the Cs got Payton in a trade with Rick Fox for Chris Mihm & Chucky Atkins and some garbage player (as if those two weren't garbage enough)


i remember Elden Campbell doing that a couple years back w/ Detroit I think.

plus, why would the Lakers want Kwame back?



on a side note, i find it slightly entertaining that Marc Gasol got traded for his brother.

[Matt]

Seriously, Memphis could have gotten a better package somewhere else. Other teams have expirings and future prospects. Oh well, Lakers look pretty good now but I wouldn't be calling a Lakers Celtics final just yet.

[Chaser7]

no the Cs got Payton in a trade with Rick Fox for Chris Mihm & Chucky Atkins and some garbage player (as if those two weren't garbage enough)


i remember Elden Campbell doing that a couple years back w/ Elden Campbell I think..

We're talking about GP getting traded to the Hawks and then getting waived and resigning with the Celts...

[Andrew]

The real question now is if the Lakers will have the balls to play as a team.





I mean, this is nowhere near the 2004 team, with Malone and Payton trying to get the ring accepting a minor role. Now there's Kobe, Odom and Gasol. What will happen when the developing Bynum returns?

There could be a small period of adjustment but it's not quite the same situation as the 2004 team. Remember that there was some internal turmoil on that squad with Shaq and Kobe reportedly not always on the same page and Malone and Payton, while still effective players, were on the downside of the careers and Malone was out for more than half the season and was again hampered by injuries in the Finals.

On the current Lakers team, there's no doubt that Kobe's the top guy with Gasol logically the second fiddle and Odom should remain effective as the third player in the trio, so there probably isn't going to be an issue of power struggles or bitter feelings. That's not to say they'll succeed where the 2004 team failed but the fact they likely won't face squabbles over their respective roles reduces the risk of personnel issues sabotaging what appears to be an improved lineup on paper.

[Sauru]

fully agree andrew, i also think this trade honestly will make everyone happier. kobe now has a team, hell he had one before but now its better. gasol does not have to be the main focus and will probably have alot easier time playing the game now. odom really benefits as he wont have to hear anything anymore. if he fucks up? no big deal he is only the 3rd option, but if he comes up big them all praise be to odom.

really i think the situation works out great, as everyone gets something imo. now all that remains to be seen is if they will work well together. the celtics work well cause all 3 take less shots than they normally do and not a single one gives a rat shit about it, you think kobe will be very happy with less shots? maybe worse imo, he does not take less shots, and everyone else does.

[Andrew]

Exactly. The only possible question mark might be Gasol's willingness to be the number two guy but seeing as though he hasn't been grumbling about being behind the number two option behind Rudy Gay on a losing team I can't imagine he'd be against taking a similar role behind Kobe Bryant on a winning team that looks to be in good shape to challenge the more established top three in the West along with the other powers in the conference.

[Silas]

I think that there are very few players in the league today that could give a reasonable argument against being number two to Kobe, and I think Pau realizes that so I doubt it will be a problem. I'm just wondering how he'll react to a dominant guard on his team, something he's never had before.

[horry5]

He's a pro. That shouldn't affect his integration.
Wouldn't you rather say anybody in the league is number two behind Kobe?

But besides that Kobe has already shown that he's more of a facilitator this season who takes over when the team needs him. I assume he will be very very pleased to have Gasol in the lineup to get his total assists up a little - plus I guess he finally wants that MVP-title.

[CMJ3]

Will Gasol make his debut against the Wizards?? Wasn't he carrying an injury or was that just a hint that he would be traded sorta thing??

[GaZuN]

Yeah i read somewhere that it's 80% sure that he will be start tonight.. But if he don't start.. The debut will be Against Nets..

[shadowgrin]

Memphis got raped. Was the trade the coach's idea or the owner/GM's idea?

Lakers will get the best out of Gasol since Pau is now separated from distractions such as his showerfun buddy Navarro.
It's not like the man-friendship between Mobley and Francis when the two got spearated in Houston, and their game both started to decline.

[Sauru]

i am not concerned so much with pau being number 2 behind kobe. kobe will take his shots but he takes alot of them. the rest of the team now has to divide up the remaining touches. being number 2 for the griz still will bring more shots i am sure than being number 2 on the lakers.

the lakers are sure to want to continue to develop bynum and odom is still gonna want his shots. spreading out 2nd option shots between those 3 could spread all 3 thin

[benji]

EDIT: I just looked on espn.com, the rule is that a player who is traded and then waived, must wait 30 days to resign with his old team

It's 30 days from the trade, not the waiving.

This assumes there isn't a team out there that wants to claim Kwame off waivers.

[Chaser7]

I never said it was from the waiving, I was implying that the trade and then waiving happened immediately, but whatever. Yea, Benji's got it.

[chrisnu]

That's all I'm saying.

[GaZuN]

Bad Gasol didn't play tonight against Wizards..Bad.. I hope he can be ready for the Nets.. And BTW Lakers played great against WAS.. They were dominating.. And they win

[Drex]

i am not concerned so much with pau being number 2 behind kobe. kobe will take his shots but he takes alot of them. the rest of the team now has to divide up the remaining touches. being number 2 for the griz still will bring more shots i am sure than being number 2 on the lakers.

the lakers are sure to want to continue to develop bynum and odom is still gonna want his shots. spreading out 2nd option shots between those 3 could spread all 3 thin

Kobe will get his shots. We all know that. If Pau's number two, then Bynum is number 3? Or Odom?

[shadowgrin]

Bynum gets most his points scrapping for O rebounds and Odom has his invisible man act in most games. Or Odom will finally cherish the role of playmaker in the triangle.

[grusom]

Bynum gets most his points scrapping for O rebounds and Odom has his invisible man act in most games. Or Odom will finally cherish the role of playmaker in the triangle.

If Odom really steps up as a playmaker, I see the combination of Bynum, Gasol and Bryant as a very good fit. I think Bynum's numbers will stay the way they were before the injury, as he got his points with only a very few plays designed for him to score (like shadowgrin said) - Gasol and Bryant's mid range games will open things up for him in the key, where he is very hard to guard one-on-one. I see his fg% going up, even though it's already incredibly high. I hope to see Kobe used as a lock down defender now he's got Gasol to back him up as a go to scorer - in that case I see his ppg go down a little, as well as his rpg (especially when Bynumj comes back - Gasol, Bynum and Odom should dominate the boards).

[Andrew]

He's a pro. That shouldn't affect his integration.
Wouldn't you rather say anybody in the league is number two behind Kobe?

But besides that Kobe has already shown that he's more of a facilitator this season who takes over when the team needs him. I assume he will be very very pleased to have Gasol in the lineup to get his total assists up a little - plus I guess he finally wants that MVP-title.

Agreed, as I said if he's happy to defer to Rudy Gay (who is admittedly a star on the rise but nowhere near Kobe's level) on a losing team I can't see Gasol being unhappy deferring to Kobe Bryant. Of course, being a pro doesn't necessarily mean a smooth integration because professional athletes - particularly those who amongst the best in their sport - aren't without their egos and aren't necessarily selfless but I would agree that in Gasol's case it's unlikely.

[Bruce]

EDIT: I just looked on espn.com, the rule is that a player who is traded and then waived, must wait 30 days to resign with his old team

It's 30 days from the trade, not the waiving.

This assumes there isn't a team out there that wants to claim Kwame off waivers.

On the video interview of mitch kupchak on the lakers' nba website, he comments that the lakers are planning to sign kwame brown as a free agent during the summer. If kwame brown is simply waived, somebody would have to pick up of what remains of his 10mil salary, which I don't think is possible given the cap situations on all nba teams. And I don't think Memphis would buyout Kwame Brown, I think Memphis would rather let him sit on the bench than walk. All in all, If Lakers does get him back in the summer, the Lakers should somehow benefit from Kwame picking up some experience from another team. That is to say, he will still be a scrub, but a more experience scrub.

[Andrew]

If I'm Jerry Buss, Mitch Kupchak or Phil Jackson, I'm not that optimistic about Kwame coming back a more valuable player than when he was traded away.

[benji]

On the video interview of mitch kupchak on the lakers' nba website, he comments that the lakers are planning to sign kwame brown as a free agent during the summer. If kwame brown is simply waived, somebody would have to pick up of what remains of his 10mil salary, which I don't think is possible given the cap situations on all nba teams. And I don't think Memphis would buyout Kwame Brown, I think Memphis would rather let him sit on the bench than walk.

Well, it is certainly comforting to know that a NBA GM has zero clue about the CBA.

If no team claims a waived player, he is said to have "cleared waivers." The player may sign with a new team of his choice, and the player's prior team continues to pay the guaranteed portion of the terminated contract (see question number 90 for more information). The player's salary with his new team is a matter of negotiation. Few players are actually claimed while on waivers, since the team claiming a waived player inherits his entire contract. It is far more common for teams to wait for the player to clear waivers, and then sign him to a much smaller (even minimum salary) contract.

And yes, I trust the text of the CBA over Mitch Kupchack.