POP: gasol deal incomprehensible

[nowagimp]

Pop just can't wrap his head around it because every trade his own organization has made was to try to make the team more competitive.

Once you realize that the Gasol deal was never meant to be an equitable trade, but a cash dump intended to make the Grizzlies easier to sell, then it all starts making a lot more sense.

So if cleveland wants to do a cash dump by letting lebron go for 3 tootsie rolls and 2 packs of cigars, the suns must be ready to take advantage. It all sounds a little creepy, 2 late 1st round picks(like sergio rodriquez or shannon brown)Kwame and McKie for Gasol. Oh yeah, the Griz also get the rights to Gasols "pastry loving" brother Marc.

 

[Chief]

Purely business move plain and simple. The grizz days are numbered in Memphis. Poor Pops just hates competition. Now he has his hands full. Just like everyone else. Learn to deal with it. Look what the suns had to do just to get rid of K.T. Its done all the time. It wouldnt be such an uproar if he went to the Bobcats or Clips.

 

[jbeecham]

Purely business move plain and simple. The grizz days are numbered in Memphis. Poor Pops just hates competition. Now he has his hands full. Just like everyone else. Learn to deal with it. Look what the suns had to do just to get rid of K.T. Its done all the time. It wouldnt be such an uproar if he went to the Bobcats or Clips.

There would be an uproar even if Gasol went to a bad team for that kind of a crappy deal. It becomes a bigger deal when you send him to a playoff team that could've potentially been in the top 4 in the west without this trade. So then the issue becomes......why did the Grizzlies owner want to help the Lakers so much? Other teams could've offered expiring deals and better young talent & lower draft picks, but they ignored those teams and didn't even give them the chance to make an offer........that's where the deal gets shady.

What if the Suns traded Amare Stoudemire to the Spurs for Brent Barry, Robert Horry & Francisco Elson (all expiring deals) and two 1st rd draft picks? Actually that's probably too much talent because the Lakers gave up less for Gasol. Anyways, the rest of the league would be in an uproar over the steal the Spurs had gotten and Phil Jackson would probably be making the same comments Popvich did.

* note to Spurs fans.....I am not advocating this deal by any means.....it is merely there as a ridiculous comparison to the gasol trade....

 

[Bufalay]

There would be an uproar even if Gasol went to a bad team for that kind of a crappy deal. It becomes a bigger deal when you send him to a playoff team that could've potentially been in the top 4 in the west without this trade. So then the issue becomes......why did the Grizzlies owner want to help the Lakers so much? Other teams could've offered expiring deals and better young talent & lower draft picks, but they ignored those teams and didn't even give them the chance to make an offer........that's where the deal gets shady.

What if the Suns traded Amare Stoudemire to the Spurs for Brent Barry, Robert Horry & Francisco Elson (all expiring deals) and two 1st rd draft picks? Actually that's probably too much talent because the Lakers gave up less for Gasol. Anyways, the rest of the league would be in an uproar over the steal the Spurs had gotten and Phil Jackson would probably be making the same comments Popvich did.

* note to Spurs fans.....I am not advocating this deal by any means.....it is merely there as a ridiculous comparison to the gasol trade....

If this trade happens, I will be headed to Chandler to find you!!!

 

[jbeecham]

If this trade happens, I will be headed to Chandler to find you!!!

Haha....if that deal went down I'd probably kick my own ass.....

 

[The Man In Black]

Pop is the biggest hypocrite ever. They have Michael Finley and Damon Stoudemire; how the hell can they complain about bad trades? Teams simply RELEASED these guys so they could sign with the Spurs; talk about dirty pool....

Umm...Finley and Soutdamire were Free Agent Pickups. They chose to come here and could've signed with anyone and for more than what the Spurs gave them. But they wanted to be a part of a winning tradition and before last year, Mike Finley would tell you that he made the right choice.


That has nothing to do with trading what is normally talent for talent type deals. The Lakers got Gasol for essentially a large cup of coffee named Kwame Brown along with 2 LATE 1st round picks(depends on where the Lakers finish in the standings so really late is a possibility) and the rights to Marc Gasol(Ironic) but he ain't the best post player in the ACB Spanish leagues. Try Tiaggo Splitter who the Spurs drafted because they knew they were going to give up on Scola.

 

[jbeecham]

I think his point about Popovich being a hypocrite is that the Spurs essentially got something for nothing by being able to sign Finley & Stoudamire. I don't think Damon Stoudamire was that much of a steal, but Dallas buying out Finley so that the Spurs could pick him up was definitely a steal. Spurs fans would feel the same way if he had signed with the Suns like we wanted him to.

 

[da_suns_fan]

Yeah...everyone knows the only way youre suppose to get something for nothing is to tank a season and get the number one pick!!!

 

[Covert Rain]

Interesting quote from the same man who tanked a season for a shot at the Tim Duncan lottery...

 

[Renz]

Yeah...everyone knows the only way youre suppose to get something for nothing is to tank a season and get the number one pick!!!

Unless you are Rick Pitino.

 

[Mainstreet]

Yeah...everyone knows the only way youre suppose to get something for nothing is to tank a season and get the number one pick!!!

Twice. David Robinson and Tim Duncan.

 

[nowagimp]

I think his point about Popovich being a hypocrite is that the Spurs essentially got something for nothing by being able to sign Finley & Stoudamire. I don't think Damon Stoudamire was that much of a steal, but Dallas buying out Finley so that the Spurs could pick him up was definitely a steal. Spurs fans would feel the same way if he had signed with the Suns like we wanted him to.

True but gasol>>>> Finley. Finley was/is just a bit bench player, gasol an all star. Most professional sports protect the integrity of the league by reviewing moves to determine whether the move threatens the "health of the sport". The Memphis owner has a right to sell his team, but there must be some limitations on the behavior. I cant remember a recent trade that was so obviously one sided. Again, my problem is the tanking for the pick strategy, dont like that at all. Tanking is an NBA fact, but if you trade your talent away, its automatic tanking, with no criticism. Perhaps a team that does a big salary dump should not be elibible for the draft lottery that year.

Because the "tank race" is such a big thing in the NBA, even regular season records of good teams are circumspect.

 

[abomb]

Twice. David Robinson and Tim Duncan.

Thrice. Greg Oden/Kevin Durant.

 

[ArizonaSportsFan]

Thrice. Greg Oden/Kevin Durant.

I think he was only referring to SA, but the point is well-taken. And LeBron before that.

 

[Mainstreet]

I think he was only referring to SA, but the point is well-taken. And LeBron before that.

Yes, I was only referring to SA.

 

[Maligzar]

Umm...Finley and Soutdamire were Free Agent Pickups. They chose to come here and could've signed with anyone and for more than what the Spurs gave them. But they wanted to be a part of a winning tradition and before last year, Mike Finley would tell you that he made the right choice.


That has nothing to do with trading what is normally talent for talent type deals. The Lakers got Gasol for essentially a large cup of coffee named Kwame Brown along with 2 LATE 1st round picks(depends on where the Lakers finish in the standings so really late is a possibility) and the rights to Marc Gasol(Ironic) but he ain't the best post player in the ACB Spanish leagues. Try Tiaggo Splitter who the Spurs drafted because they knew they were going to give up on Scola.

It has everything to do with it.

Pop is a hypocrite. He's complaining about the rules because they aren't benefiting his team.

The rules also allow for players to get paid by one team but play for another. Even though those said rules should force teams to also shoulder that player's salary; the rules don't. And the Spurs have benefited GREATLY from this little loop hole. The Suns have also benefited from it, but you don't see us crying when another loop hole was used by another team for their advantage.

The Laker's trade for Gasol is just as "unfair" as players like Mike Finely and Damon Stoudemire signing with the Spurs while other teams take hits for their salary.

 

[The Man In Black]

I love how you guys say that it was a tank job. A tank job means that you quit early so that way you can lock up the #1 pick.

Let's see lose your franchise player to a broken foot for 90% of the season in David Robinson-CHECK
Lose your designated outside shooter for 100% of the season in Chuck Person-CHECK
Lose your designated wing for 50% of the season in Sean Elliott-CHECK
Lose your starting PF for 80% of the season in Charles Smith-CHECK

Bring old scorer Dominique Wilkins to lead your team in scoring-CHECK
Start Vernon Maxwell, Vinnie Del Negro, Carl Herrera, Dominique Wilkins and Avery Johnson...Tell me...how many games were they expected to win with a lineup like that?

If you tell me that's a tankjob then I'd say you suffer from Valley Fever.

 

[Maligzar]

Oh, and don't forget the Spurs tanking their season to aquire Duncan.

 

[Maligzar]

I love how you guys say that it was a tank job. A tank job means that you quit early so that way you can lock up the #1 pick.

Let's see lose your franchise player to a broken foot for 90% of the season in David Robinson-CHECK
Lose your designated outside shooter for 100% of the season in Chuck Person-CHECK
Lose your designated wing for 50% of the season in Sean Elliott-CHECK
Lose your starting PF for 80% of the season in Charles Smith-CHECK

Bring old scorer Dominique Wilkins to lead your team in scoring-CHECK
Start Vernon Maxwell, Vinnie Del Negro, Carl Herrera, Dominique Wilkins and Avery Johnson...Tell me...how many games were they expected to win with a lineup like that?

If you tell me that's a tankjob then I'd say you suffer from Valley Fever.

Did you really just write this? Come on, please say someone hacked your account.


Start Vernon Maxwell, Vinnie Del Negro, Carl Herrera, Dominique Wilkins and Avery Johnson...Tell me...how many games were they expected to win with a lineup like that?

Yes.. that's called TANKING YOUR SEASON. Thank you for illustrating the point so well.

Oh and nice smoke screen with the broken foot. If I remember correctly it was more about him not playing early on with his "back injury" than the broken foot.

 

[Darth Llama]

I love it, I'm glad Popovich is so angry.

I'm no Spurs fan, in fact, I hate them, but I used to respect Popovich till he goes and opens his big fat mouth for no apparent reason. I'm just going to say this, to the people that think there is some conspiracy that allowed the Lakers to get Gasol, you have to be ********. If there is any team that the league has shown a favoritism toward it's the Spurs, not the Lakers. I guess you would have to be a Laker fan to understand, but we don't get jack from the league, never have. The Lakers have built their teams on one thing and one thing only, good management. Pop knows it and so does everyone else, so all the conspiracy theorists can just suck it.

The bottom line is the Spurs are looking at a Western Conference where the Lakers just got Gasol, the Suns just got Shaq, the Mavericks are involved in just about every trade talk going, and the Spurs are sitting with their thumbs up their asses doing nothing. I guess it's never to early to start making excuses, that must be Pop's philosophy. He's just setting the stage so that he has a reason to cry foul this off season when one of these teams beat them out of the playoffs. Popovich is an ass clown.

 

[dodie53]

pops is scared

 

[Chaz]

Hmmm, lets see. How would Spurs fans respond if Jackson or D'Antoni was doing the complaining?

Oh yea, they would tell him to not be a baby and quit his whining.

 

[Covert Rain]

I love how you guys say that it was a tank job. A tank job means that you quit early so that way you can lock up the #1 pick.

Let's see lose your franchise player to a broken foot for 90% of the season in David Robinson-CHECK
Lose your designated outside shooter for 100% of the season in Chuck Person-CHECK
Lose your designated wing for 50% of the season in Sean Elliott-CHECK
Lose your starting PF for 80% of the season in Charles Smith-CHECK

Bring old scorer Dominique Wilkins to lead your team in scoring-CHECK
Start Vernon Maxwell, Vinnie Del Negro, Carl Herrera, Dominique Wilkins and Avery Johnson...Tell me...how many games were they expected to win with a lineup like that?

If you tell me that's a tankjob then I'd say you suffer from Valley Fever.

Wow....just wow. I hope you were not serious about this post. It was obvious to everybody in the NBA that the Spurs were tanking the season. I never seen a coach sit starters during games more then POP that season. He even sat starters for nearly the entire 2nd half in games. Come on. Don't even go there.

 

[The Man In Black]

Obvious huh...BS and you know it. If you are going to tank and you desperately need the #1 pick...then answer this question braniac steel dog...then why do you settle for a 20% chance knowing full well that Vancouver & Boston have WAY MORE CHANCES than you?

Which starters were sitting? You mean the guys in all the suits with injuries? Yeah...sure. Medically speaking, the Spurs should've lost more games than they did.

So what's your body temp at? Is it 107? I'd go to the St. Luke's Hospital right now. Valley Fever can be a pain and recovery is easier if caught early.

OBVIOUS or does it just soothe hurt feelings like blaming a rule that has been in existence for 10 seasons?

 

[elindholm]

The Spurs' tank job was just like everything else they do -- technically within the letter of the rules, but clearly in violation of the spirit of the game. Given that Spurs fans embrace everything else this underhanded franchise does, I don't know why they aren't proud of the tank.

The Spurs will never get respect from true fans of the league, because the cynicism that defines them is a constant affront to the values we should all share. On the other hand, it works. So let's just be honest, Spurs fans: You stretch the rules better than anyone, in every phase of the game. Cloak your cowardice in your banners and stand tall.