Steven A. Smith: On Lakers stealing Pau Gasol for a bag of doughnuts

[HoulihansTX]

Easily my favorite Steven A. Smith Tirade.

[yisman]

Marc Gasol, an expiring contract, and two first rounders. Trade worked for Memphis as well as LA.

Screaming A. Smith of course couldn't see that, because he doesn't have many functioning brain cells.

[HoulihansTX]

Marc Gasol, an expiring contract, and two first rounders. Trade worked for Memphis as well as LA. Screaming A. Smith of course couldn't see that, because he doesn't have many functioning brain cell.

Lakers won 2 championship out of that deal.

The whole league was angry that Chris Wallace gave up Pau Gasol for free...

Enough said.

All those trade pieces Lakers gave to Memphis, and they have still failed to have a winning season since.


I would say Lakers got the better end of the deal.

[yisman]

Houlihans, the trade made Memphis better.

Everyone was pissed at the time, claiming the Lakers got Gasol for nothing, but it turned out to be a good deal for both teams. Look at how Memphis improved after the deal. They shed salary, got two first rounders, and Marc Gasol, who's one of the best young centers in the game.

It helped the Lakers win two titles and it also improved Memphis.

Regardless, the point is that Screaming A. Smith is stupid and loves to yell and complain about things. I'm just glad he's no longer on the New York airwaves.

[HoulihansTX]

understood.

But its hard to say that Memphis will continue to become any better with draft picks like Hasheem Thabeet. Total stiff. I saw him in Summer League here in Vegas. His team would not even pass him the ball, and his defense is apparently overrated b/c he was making scub Centers look like Tim Duncan.

[peeiempee]

That was hilarious. I never watched it until now. But on with the debate. His whole point is not if it worked out for Memphis or not. It was about what HoulihanTx said, Memphis gave up Pau Gasol for a bag of doughnuts. Sure it benefited Memphis in terms of salary and selling the fanchise, but Gasol took the Lakers to 2 champions. Hands down game 7 of this year belonged to Artest and Gasol. Smiths whole point is that Lakers gave up a scrub and LOW future draft picks for an ALL-STAR.

[nbarlotta3]

Lol they really did steal Pau. They traded nothng and got one of the best big men in all of basketball.

[yisman]

understood.

But its hard to say that Memphis will continue to become any better with draft picks like Hasheem Thabeet. Total stiff. I saw him in Summer League here in Vegas. His team would not even pass him the ball, and his defense is apparently overrated b/c he was making scub Centers look like Tim Duncan.

Thabeet was a disastrous draft pick.

But I think it's indisputable that Memphis got better as a result of that trade, and people who want to keep claiming that it was highway robbery should consider that.

I guess Marc Gasol is still underrated, because he's a damn fine young center and I hear him being referred to as a "bag of doughnuts" and "nothing." It must be hard to get noticed playing in Memphis.

[TGHMak]

At the same time they could have gotten more for Pau Gasol and Marc turned out better then most people expected. Since we are on the topic, trading Caron Butler for Kwame was a pretty bad move on the Lakers part.

[kobefanatic]

gotta believe in the magic of MITCH CUPCAKE

[GroundnPound]

Hloulihans thx for that find gotta be funniest thing I watched in a while. Just the way he says Kwame Brown and how he describes him

[tsn101]

The Olympics were coming up. Cant have Bryant being a laughing stock going into those games.

Same reason Wayne Gretzky got traded.

[Powderguy]

Love him

[million2one]

Pau one of the best centers in the game and Lakers give up Kwame Brown.
Gimme a break, the league wanted the Lakers to win.

[domz248]

marc gasol will end up better then is big bro ... people didn't look at the trade ... he was a big reason the trade happened

[yisman]

Pau one of the best centers in the game and Lakers give up Kwame Brown.
Gimme a break, the league wanted the Lakers to win.

Kwame Brown was an EXPIRING CONTRACT.

People who don't know anything about the NBA claiming it was Kwame Brown for Pau, as if anyone wanted Kwame Brown.

He was in the deal to match salaries. It was the final year of his deal.

He was there solely so Memphis could dump salary.


So, let's see:

A)They dump salary and go below the luxury tax threshold.
B)They get two first round picks.
C)They get Marc Gasol, a promising young big man who has developed into a big time center.

So it was a good deal for them, and it was borne out by the fact that they got better after the deal, with a lower total payroll.

[redrum]

that was the dumbest trade by memphis unless marc continues to devedlop

[yisman]

it's already a very good trade for Memphis and if Marc gets better, the trade will look even better from their POV.

[ThisGuy]

Not a mention of Javaris Crittenton ITT


Houlihans SAS as ur avatar is great because when just scrolling thru a thread it just looks like ur ranting and arguing with everyone with that face next to your words

[texhooper]

i don't like steven a smith too much but you have to admire his foresight and conviction in it. pau proved to be the piece to the championship puzzle.

i love the grizz with all my heart but they are a fukking stupid low-rent franchise. the only reason why they're in a better position now is because they allowed the team to crumble around gasol in the first place.

[Congruency]

love it

HE CANT PLAY!!! NO DISRESPECT WHATSOEVER

lolololol

good clip but as far as media soundbites go, dan lebatard's 3 kings soundbite is still the top one for me

[Jmoiz888]

Hahahaha stephen A smith is great

[ReiNNNN]

Marc Gasol, an expiring contract, and two first rounders. Trade worked for Memphis as well as LA.

Screaming A. Smith of course couldn't see that, because he doesn't have many functioning brain cell.

haha funny shit.

[nastradamus]

Kwame Brown he can´t play...small hands, can´t catch the ball, bad feets ......he can´t play same thing 2 times in the row

[HoulihansTX]

Thabeet was a disastrous draft pick. But I think it's indisputable that Memphis got better as a result of that trade, and people who want to keep claiming that it was highway robbery should consider that. I guess Marc Gasol is still underrated, because he's a damn fine young center and I hear him being referred to as a "bag of doughnuts" and "nothing." It must be hard to get noticed playing in Memphis.

You were right about improving the Grizzlies. They are winning games they didnt 3 years ago. Actually they are one of my favorite teams, along with the Clippers.

[Pauulzcappin]

"This man was a bonefied scrub!"

[yisman]

You were right about improving the Grizzlies. They are winning games they didnt 3 years ago. Actually they are one of my favorite teams, along with the Clippers.

They definitely got better as a result of that trade (not to mention they shed salary), and this is something that consistently gets overlooked when people repeatedly talk about how the Lakers stole Gasol, NBA is rigged, etc.

Both teams got better as a result of that trade.

I can assure you that Memphis is happy they made the deal.

[yisman]

i don't like steven a smith too much but you have to admire his foresight and conviction in it.

Foresight?

Screaming A. Smith is a moron.

He was dead wrong about what Memphis got in return.

People to this day refuse to actually see the trade for what it was, and claim it was "Pau Gasol for Kwame Brown. LOL WHAT A RIPOFF"

[HoulihansTX]

The Haseem Thabeet pick, though not related to the trade, was a fireable offense.

[HoulihansTX]

Come on man Kwame Brown was trash.

But My favorite part was Steven A Smith contradicting himself in one sentence.

"He was a Bonafide Scrub, he cant play, no disrespect."

[yisman]

Yeah, Memphis, with Chris Wallace in charge, have made a lot of bad decisions. Thabeet is one of the worst draft picks in history. They had to give up a 1st rounder just to get rid of him.

I just find it funny how this trade worked out well for them and everyone continues to claim it didn't.

[yisman]

Foresight?

Screaming A. Smith is a moron.

He was dead wrong about what Memphis got in return.

People to this day refuse to actually see the trade for what it was, and claim it was "Pau Gasol for Kwame Brown. LOL WHAT A RIPOFF"

Come on man Kwame Brown was trash.

Do you see me saying otherwise? Of course he is and was trash.

He wasn't really part of the trade, though. He had to be in it as an expiring contract, because that's really the only way to get rid of salaries under the current CBA. If you have a guy making big money for several seasons, you make a deal for a guy with a similar salary whose contract is expiring.

Kwame Brown was that expiring guy. Memphis had no interest in him as a player. The only reason he had value that year was because of the contract.

The deal was Pau for two firsts and the rights to Marc.

[RJ89]

Lol at this thread..

Yisman is giving facts on why Stephen A. Smith is completely wrong and no one else is responding to those facts.. Personally I wouldn't have done that trade because it set them a few years back, but Marc Gasol, and two 1st rounders aint a bag of donuts.. The trade wasn't a total ripoff like everyone thinks it was.

[yubarut]

what happened to stephen a, haven't seen him for a while

[HoulihansTX]

what happened to stephen a, haven't seen him for a while

Just re-uped his contract with ESPN. He does a Radio show for ESPN, in New York also.

Guy is a polarizing figure. Having him along with Skip Bayless, would prove to be more annoying than informative.