This weekend, another all-time Los Angeles Lakers great will be enshrined in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as Pau Gasol is part of this year’s class. While Gasol had a ton of success everywhere he played, including internationally, he is most remembered for his time with the Lakers as the perfect partner for Kobe Bryant.
Back in 2008, the Lakers traded for Gasol in a deal that shocked many within the basketball world as some weren’t even aware that he was even available for trade. Former Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak recently spoke on the deal coming together with the Memphis Grizzlies and admitted that even he wasn’t sure whether or not Gasol was on the trade block, via Dave McMenamin of ESPN:
“I remember there was something written, or a rumor that he might be available, but it wasn’t the mainstream,” Mitch Kupchak, then the Lakers general manager and now the Charlotte Hornets GM, told ESPN. “So yeah, I called up [the Grizzlies] and you can kind of tell when there’s real interest or when there’s not real interest.”
And once it became clear that Gasol was available, the then-Lakers general manager offered the Grizzlies a couple of different paths they could go in terms of trade packages and Kupchak said they preferred the package involving salary cap relief:
“One of the things that we had heard was the guy, the owner, wanted to sell the team and they weren’t going anywhere,” Kupchak said. “They weren’t having a very good season. Maybe they would lose some money, I don’t know. So one of the first things we did was, with Chris, ‘We can go two ways: We could give you players that add up to Pau’s [salary] number, or if you prefer, we have a large expiring contract in Kwame Brown, right? And we can go that direction.’
“I didn’t ask him what they were trying to accomplish, I just gave them two options, and he called back and he said, ‘Hey, let’s work on the Kwame Brown option.’”
The final package the Lakers sent to Memphis wound up being Kwame Brown, Javaris Crittenton, the rights to Pau’s younger brother Marc Gasol, Aaron McKie and two first-round picks. At the time, the Grizzlies were blasted by the media for what looked like an awful deal, though as Kupchak pointed out, the emergence of the younger Gasol brother helped to even things out:
“At the time, it was viewed as a very lopsided deal, and it made me uncomfortable,” Kupchak explained. “I mean, obviously being on the side that got Pau, I was pleased, but you don’t want your colleagues to ever get crushed.
“There was a lot of negative pushback, but when a year or two later, all of a sudden, you have Marc Gasol who’s the starting center making the All-Star team, the deal didn’t look as lopsided then as it did maybe the first month or two.”
In the end, the deal ultimately worked out at least a little bit for both teams. The Lakers were able to win a pair of NBA Championships with Pau, who is now heading to the Hall of Fame after getting his jersey retired by the franchise. While the Grizzlies didn’t get that far, Marc would become a cornerstone of the franchise, being arguably the best player in franchise history during Memphis’ most successful era of basketball.
Jeanie Buss discusses what Pau Gasol means to the Lakers
Lakers owner Jeanie Buss recently discussed the impact Pau Gasol had when he arrived in L.A. as well, noting how quickly he picked up the triangle offense and how he was able to bounce back after the disappointment of losing the 2008 NBA Finals to win in 2009 and 2010.
Buss also added that Gasol’s international influence as one of the most successful European players to ever play in the NBA is something that should be acknowledged as well.
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