Lakers' MVP: Chris Wallace!

[Shooter]

Forget about Kobe Bryant: Chris Wallace, the GM of the Memphis Grizzlies, is the real "Most Valuable Player" of the Lakers' championship. He was the dufus who traded Pao Gasol to LA for pocket change and gave them their first championship since Shaq.

Thanks a lot, Chris! Your brilliance as a GM is now proven beyond a shadow of a doubt.

 

[alex42083]

Yep, I hope LA sizes him up for a ring. He did a much better job GMing the Lakers than Mitch Kupchak did.

 

[Uther TheGardener]

he has rosey eyes while he sings keroke: "cuz i got high....cuz i got high...."

 

[BasX]

Next, he'll select BJ Mullens as the #2 pick.

 

[¹²³]

This one was very good for the Lakers as well.

Cook/Evans Out, Ariza In

 

[Crimson the Cat]

Douche.

 

[RickyRubio]

LMFAO! Funny post!

 

[Mediocre Man]

He also took away a lot of cap space from us to compete with the L*kers.

 

[LittleAlex]

But dude, they now have cap space and Pau's brother! That's a totally fair trade.


At least, that is the company line. I don't think Wallace had a whole lot of choice in the matter. The Grizzlies owner is a tightwad fool.

 

[Ed O]

This one was very good for the Lakers as well.

Cook/Evans Out, Ariza In

It's easier to attribute blame than give credit, ¹²³...

Ed O.

 

[Shooter]

This one was very good for the Lakers as well.

Cook/Evans Out, Ariza In

Wow. I forgot that the Lakers got Ariza from Orlando. The Magic GM must have been dying when Ariza torched his old team in the finals.

 

[Ed O]

A question: would the Grizzles have been better off if they had NOT traded Gasol to LA?

They would have paid $12m more for the better Gasol, but they'd still be out of the playoffs and probably not picking as high as #2.

Looks to me, as an outsider, that Wallace improved the future of the Grizzlies by making that deal and saved his owner a boatload of cash.

Ed O.

 

[BTOWN_HUSTLA]

OJ Mayo, Pau Gasol and Rudy Gay?
that's a great base to build with. what a dolt. no wonder they're the worst franchise ever.

 

[Minstrel]

OJ Mayo, Pau Gasol and Rudy Gay?
that's a great base to build with.

With Pau Gasol, they'd have finished with a better record and probably not been able to draft Love, whom they swapped for Mayo. You can't just add Pau Gasol to a core including Mayo. Not having Pau is significant in them having Mayo.

 

[BTOWN_HUSTLA]

how were they prior to the Gasol trade?

 

[BTOWN_HUSTLA]

they're not going to be able to do anything with this cap money, they are a horrible franchise. they probably won't exist in 10 years.

 

[DaRizzle]

couldn't they have had better returns than the players they got from LA?

Absolutely not, LA traded for talent, MEM traded for Cap Space...

The people who claim conspiracy theory(not saying you) never want to address this obvious point.

MEM didnt want to pay for CHI garbage...they wanted more say in how they were gonna spend it...Kwame accomplished that better than any other expiring contract that was on the table.

 

[Shooter]

A question: would the Grizzles have been better off if they had NOT traded Gasol to LA?

They would have paid $12m more for the better Gasol, but they'd still be out of the playoffs and probably not picking as high as #2.

Looks to me, as an outsider, that Wallace improved the future of the Grizzlies by making that deal and saved his owner a boatload of cash.

No one ever said that Memphis shouldn't have traded Pau Gasol. The point is, they GAVE HIM AWAY. It was a lopsided trade that benefitted the Lakers, and everyone said so at the time.

 

[alex42083]

The thing was, Memphis traded Pau way before the trade deadline and seemingly didn't give any other teams a chance to give an offer. The only other team was Chicago. You'd think if you had an All-Star caliber player to give away, you'd wait for the best offer.

Even their owner admitted later that he could do it again, he thinks Memphis could've gotten a lot more for Pau than they did.
It was a lopsided trade, the Grizzlies got their cap space, Chris Wallace tried to sell it to their fans but no one is going to sign as a FA to play for their crappy franchise.

 

[Ed O]

No one ever said that Memphis shouldn't have traded Pau Gasol. The point is, they GAVE HIM AWAY. It was a lopsided trade that benefitted the Lakers, and everyone said so at the time.

It's not Wallace's job to not improve the Lakers. It's JUST his job to improve the Grizzlies.

The first level of inquiry, then, is to ask whether the Grizzlies would have been better served not to make that deal and keep Gasol.

The second one is, as others have noted, whether there were superior options.

Personally? I think that he did as well as he could, and that both reports at the time and his continued employment are evidence of that.

Ed O.

 

[DaRizzle]

It's not Wallace's job to not improve the Lakers. It's JUST his job to improve the Grizzlies.

You get it, I get it, why can so few others?

 

[Shooter]

It's not Wallace's job to not improve the Lakers. It's JUST his job to improve the Grizzlies.

And part of that job--a very big part--is getting fair value for the Memphis players in trades. If he gave away Gasol too easily, and could have gotten a much better deal by waiting awhile longer, then he shortchanged the Memphis franchise, and ended up hurting them.

 

[Shooter]

You get it, I get it, why can so few others?

Ha. Easy for a Laker fan to give Wallace the benefit of the doubt, since you guys took him to the cleaners.

 

[DaRizzle]

And part of that job--a very big part--is getting fair value for the Memphis players in trades. If he gave away Gasol too easily, and could have gotten a much better deal by waiting awhile longer, then he shortchanged the Memphis franchise, and ended up hurting them.

NAME IT!!!! NAME the trade they missed out on! Name the player that would have give them more cap space than Kwame! Name it!!!!!!!!!! Everybody who wants to hate throws out these same shallow arguments every time

Also: Nobody wants to mention that Marc Gasol is on his way to being an all-star

 

[oldmangrouch]

NAME IT!!!! NAME the trade they missed out on! Name the player that would have give them more cap space than Kwame! Name it!!!!!!!!!! Everybody who wants to hate throws out these same shallow arguments every time

Also: Nobody wants to mention that Marc Gasol is on his way to being an all-star

Marc Gasol an all-star? That claim right there pretty much undermines your credibility!

As for your other point: where is it written that saving money is the only criteria for judging a trade? Are you saying Wallace was required to take the best FINANCIAL deal, and ordered to disregard talent?

As a money saving move, the trade gets a passing grade. As a rebuilding move, it gets an "F".

 

[alex42083]

NAME IT!!!! NAME the trade they missed out on! Name the player that would have give them more cap space than Kwame! Name it!!!!!!!!!! Everybody who wants to hate throws out these same shallow arguments every time

Also: Nobody wants to mention that Marc Gasol is on his way to being an all-star

Just let it go, man.. there will always be people who think the Grizzlies were idiots (including me) and could've gotten more if they waited a little bit more and allowed other teams to make offers.
Michael Heisley admitted they may have gotten more if they waited. It's just hard to say what other offers could've been made since Memphis jumped the gun on the LA trade.

And Marc Gasol an All-Star? Um... no.

 

[LittleAlex]

NAME IT!!!! NAME the trade they missed out on! Name the player that would have give them more cap space than Kwame! Name it!!!!!!!!!! Everybody who wants to hate throws out these same shallow arguments every time

Also: Nobody wants to mention that Marc Gasol is on his way to being an all-star

And what the hell are they going to do with this cap space you believe is as valuable as one of the most skilled big men in the game?

Memphis is not a team that can get a good player in free agency. Everyone knows the team is crap, and will always be crap. The only guy they can get is a second tier player who would rather score 24 a night on a losing team then win.

Marc Gasol is a nice player. I think it is very unlikely he is ever the equal of his brother.

Worthless cap space and Pau Gasol Lite really doesn't get it done.

Oh, and the reason Wallace still has a job is that he is under contract and the Grizz owner isn't going to pay two guys to do that job.