Getting Over Gasol

I don't think I really comprehend the Gasol trade yet. It's huge, with ramifications that send tremors through the league, just like the KG deal. I mean there is so much that can be talked about in terms of this trade. It is amazing that hardly anybody was even discussing Gasol being traded, and then wham! all of sudden there he is in LA. In retrospect it is hard to believe that there was not more speculation surrounding Pau. It now seems obvious that he was the best big-name player available (yes, better than Kidd.) And yeah, the Lakers are scary. Talk about a dynamic team, particularly offensively. Kobe has no excuses now; the next few years will show us if he truly is the best player in the league, as so many (foolishly?) still claim. And the scary thing about this trade is that the Lakers should just get better as time elapses - Kobe and Gasol will still be in their primes as Bynum improves.

Once again we have seen the stunning value of expiring contracts. Apparently there is always a team that is in such desperate straits that they have no choice but to dump its star with getting only questionable value in return (Philly, Minnesota and Memphis all within the course of 13 months.) Who cares about free agency when you can just poach from these desperate teams and get such quality? The NBA is a wild place. And just like in Philadelphia and Minnesota, it is far too early to say that Memphis got swindled - we may not know that for five years. But when you look at the immediacy of the last two blockbusters you cannot help but feel as if the Celtics and Lakers were both amazingly fortuitous. Desperation is an interesting thing in NBA circles, especially in front offices. And last year's villains (Ainge, Kupchak) can all of a sudden be hailed as the most innovative of architects. But we should not be so remiss - sometimes luck plays a larger role than any of us would like to acknowledge.