With all this talk about Marc Gasol...

sure but memphis wouldn't take him, they already have randolph

quote:

---

would you trade david west to memphis for gasol?

---

In a heartbeat.

But you might as well ask if I would trade David West for Kevin Durant or Dwight Howard, because I think we have the same chance of making those trades as we do of Memphis trading Gasol for West.

quote:

---

would you trade david west to memphis for gasol?

---

Are you kidding? Who (other than the Grizzlies, with a huge laugh) would say no to this?

It is odd, because it would never happen. Gasol is 25 with his best years in front of him at a position that is much more coveted than PF, while West is 29 with his best ball behind him.

If I were Dell Demps and Chris Wallace called me to offer Gasol for West I'd think it was a prank and hang up.

he's a 7-foot banger who converts the frick out of baskets by the rim and is ok at FTs

He's a physical 7 footer, decent rebounder, decent post game and high basketball IQ.

Here's a pretty detailed breakdown of his game although it's a post rookie year analysis from last year. I'm not sure what improvements he made to his game this past season. LINK /

I think we talk so much about Gasol because he's one of the few center's that's a FA next season that would both leave his current team (Yao and Noah are staying put) and be an upgrade over Okafor. Gasol and Dalembert seem like the two guys to go after if we are able to get about $12 million under the cap. That doesn't seem very likely now though with the Ariza move so we probably need to find other ways to upgrade the center position.

No, you'd have to dump DWest and dump Okafor too.

Keep in mind these rules are about to change, but assuming you keep Beinelli and Gray, and you fill out the roster using the $3 million we're currently under the tax, Payroll without Peja, Songaila, Okafor, West and Thornton would be about $33 million. The hold for resigning Thornton is about $6 million, so we are up to $39 million, or $19 million under the current salary cap. The hold to use West's Bird Rights is $11.3 million That would put you at $50 - $51 million, only $7 or so million under the cap.

If you replace West with a $6 million player you'd have $12 million under the cap which I think would be enough to go after Gasol under the current rules, but again, there's no guarantee you'd get him because he's not a UFA, he's an RFA protected by the Arenas rule. Memphis could easily match our offer which wouldn't be expensive for them for 2 more years.

So you have no guarantee of getting Gasol, you dump Okafor for nothing leaving Gray as the only center on the roster and it's unlikely you got someone comparable to West for $6 million. Now that Ariza is in Posey's salary slot, getting Gasol requires too many significant set up moves with too iffy of a return. It's just pie in the sky message board musings.

quote:

---

the only big man we'd have in addition to Gasol would be Gray.

---

Not quite. Presumably the $6 million player you dump West for would be a big, I just doubt he'd have the same level of offensive skill. I also assume one of the filler players we sign this year will be a big. But as far as quality bigs go, Gasol would be it under this scenario.

quote:

---

But as far as quality bigs go, Gasol would be it under this scenario.

---

Hmmm . . . there may be better options for the money then.

quote:

---

If they decide to go to a hard cap it is gonna screw a lot of players and teams(LA, Boston, Heat for sure huh?)

---

Why does everyone think the Heat is in some horrible position? They signed their 6 most important player under a hard cap. The rest of their roster is filled with people signed for the minimum. The heat are probably in some of the best shape of teams in the league.

Teams that are fricked are like the Lakers who owe him like $25 million a year.

As far as the Arenas rule goes. Whatever the average salary Gasol sign is the cap hold the team he plays for will have in his first year. So if he signs a 5 year/$55 million then it will look like $11 million to the cap regardless of what he is actually making in salary. This is how another team can buy out an Arenas Rule restricted FA.

If the Hornets have $11 million in cap space and the Griz don't then we could technically steal him away if he chooses us.