Jim Reilly

Everybody Wins
The Lakers needed an infusion of All-Star caliber talent to compete with the Big Boys right now. The Grizzlies needed cap space, youth and draft picks to lay the foundation for a promising future. Enter the Pau Gasol Trade.

On Lakers.com the Details of the Deal are spelled out simply and clearly. The Spanish Acquisition "presents the potential of a four-headed offensive monster for the Lakers with Pau, Kobe, Andrew and Lamar." The happy recipients of the "best player in the trade," also acknowledged the wisdom of their trading partner. "The Grizzlies weren't going anywhere with Gasol and are already firmly in rebuilding mode."

On Grizzlies.com, GM/VP of Basketball Operations Chris Wallace matter-of-factly summed up the benefits for Memphis. “This deal provides us with a significant amount of assets – two first round picks, the draft rights to Pau’s brother Marc, who has emerged into the top big man in Spain, a talented young point guard in Crittenton and a sizeable amount of salary cap room over the next few years.”

Grizzlies.com also followed up with an interesting feature on the trade from Kwame Brown's perspective. "I didn’t get to play much out in L.A. A lot of the stuff I see us doing out here is more of a flow game in the open court, and it allows me to use my quickness a little bit," said the former top-pick in the NBA Draft. "I have to get my offensive rhythm down. I mostly played defense in L.A. -- I’m going to do that here too -- but hopefully I can get some nice moves in the paint also."

All in all, a nice move for both teams.