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The Los Angeles Lakers have acquired forward Pau Gasol from the Memphis Grizzlies.

The Actual Trade

Considering how talented Pau Gasol is, this trade has to be considered a blockbuster. Fortunately for the Los Angeles Lakers, they didn’t have to give up a blockbuster package to get him.

• To the Los Angeles Lakers: Pau Gasol and a 2nd round draft pick in 2010.
• To the Memphis Grizzlies: Javaris Crittenton, Aaron McKie, Marc Gasol, Kwame Brown, 1st round draft pick in 2008, and 1st round draft pick in 2010.

Basically, the Los Angeles Lakers are losing some valuable draft picks, an expiring contract (Kwame Brown’s contract expires after this season), a veteran guard signed today solely for salary cap purposes (Aaron McKie), and two young prospects in Javaris Crittenton and Marc Gasol.

The Memphis Grizzlies give up their star big man, but at the same time, it’s not much of a loss since it was publicly known that Pau Gasol did not want to play in Memphis any more.

Raised Expectations

The moment the word spread, the Los Angeles Lakers bandwagon increased in size. There’s a lot more cars this morning driving in the car pool lane in the land of Lakers fans than there were yesterday.

Pau Gasol gives the Los Angeles Lakers a lot of things.

For one, he’ll be able to give the team a post presence that should be good for 15 points and 10 rebounds a night. Defenses will have harder time focusing on Kobe Bryant because they can’t just leave the middle unattended to.

Pau Gasol also gives the team a pretty solid shot blocker. He’s not nearly as prolific as Ben Wallace or Dikembe Mutombo as a defender, but he does disrupt things out there.

Most importantly, though, Pau Gasol gives the team more hope. Kobe Bryant has been quite vocal in the past year about the team. Adding an all-star caliber big man should do much in helping to keep him satisfied.

Chemistry Issues

A lot of sports fans have this tendency to overreact to things. They foolishly assume that every trade that involves a big name player is going to automatically pay off. There’s this thing called chemistry that they’re unable to fathom.

All they see is the stats and the big name coming in. Their flawed logic assumes that the Lakers will be scoring 19 points more and grabbing 9 rebounds more a game.

That’s not how basketball works.

You can expect Pau Gasol’s averages to drop a bit, especially when center Andrew Bynum makes his return from injury.

You can also expect to see the big man tandem needing some time to develop chemistry on the court. Keep in mind that both players like to operate in the low post. Neither player is particularly great as a midrange shooter. Nor do they prefer playing on the perimeter as opposed to being in the paint.

Coach Phil Jackson is going to have to use some of that basketball genius that he possesses to modify the offense so that both players can thrive. The triangle offense (the watered down version that the team is running right now) doesn’t particular play to the strengths of two solid post scorers.

Oh, Brother!

Not a big deal deal breaker by any means, but it would have been nice to have seen Marc Gasol and Pau Gasol playing on the same team. The marketing potential that would have came with that set up would have been pretty big.

Closing Thoughts

On paper, this sounds like a great trade for the Los Angeles Lakers, but we’ll take the smart route and wait before handing them the NBA Championship trophy.

Portland Trail Blazers guard Brandon Roy headlines the Sophomore team that will play in the NBA All Star Rookie Challenge this year.

Looking At The Big Game

In his second season, Brandon Roy is averaging 19.3 points, 4.5 rebounds, and 5.6 assists a game. That’s an improvement from his rookie year.

If you compare those numbers to other superstars around the league, it doesn’t particularly stand out. There are other guys contending for all-star spots that are putting up more impressive numbers.

However, the most impressive thing about Brandon Roy this year are the things that aren’t showing up in the box scores. The 6′6″ guard out of the University of Washington has stepped up and taken over the Portland Trail Blazers. He’s provide leadership and a calming influences for his teammates.

Brandon Roy even led his team on an impressive winning 13 game winning streak in December.

While he appreciates being named to the Rookie Game, it’s no secret that Brandon Roy is hoping to be named to the All-Star game itself.

Sophomore Team

Here’s the rest of the 2nd year players that are going to be playing with Brandon Roy in the NBA All Star Rookie Challenge.

• LeMarcus Aldridge - The 6′11″ forward for the Portland Trail Blazers has made the Greg Oden hype even bigger. These two guys could potentially dominant the inside game for years to come. He’s currently leading the team in rebounding and is 2nd in points behind Brandon Roy.
• Rajon Rondo - The 6′1″ guard from the University of Kentucky has been in the spotlight this year. His job is to successfully distribute the ball to 3 of the biggest NBA stars (Ray Allen, Paul Pierce, and Kevin Garnett). He’s done a good job for the Boston Celtics thus far and deserves to be rewarded with this selection.
• Daniel Gibson - The 6′2″ guard for the Cleveland Cavaliers has the luxury of playing with LeBron James.
• Jordan Farmar - The 6′2″ guard for the Los Angeles Lakers is another guy that benefits from playing with a dominating superstar. He’s a year away from replacing veteran Derek Fisher as Kobe Bryant’s backcourt partner.
• Rudy Gay - The 6′8″forward has replaced Pau Gasol as the Memphis Grizzlies franchise player. He’s also made everyone second guess the Houston Rockets’ decision to trade him two years ago.
• Andrea Bargnani - Even though his numbers have gone down a bit, the 7′0″ forward for the Toronto Raptors is still showing enough to make the Sophomore team.
• Ronnie Brewer - The 6′7″ guard for the Utah Jazz has improved tremendously. He’s even earned a spot in Jerry Sloan’s rotation, which is pretty impressive.
• Paul Milsap - The 6′7″ forward has won over the fans in Utah. His relentless style has also earned him a spot in Jerry Sloan’s rotation as well.

Closing Thoughts

With great wing players like Brandon Roy and Rudy Gay, it’s going to be difficult for the Rookie Team to beat these guys. Plus, throw in a very good big man in LeMarcus Aldridge, and it becomes quite a task.

Damon Stoudamire wants what ever veteran in this league wants. Playing time on a championship contender.

When the San Antonio Spurs came calling with that offer, he was quick to jump on it.

Memphis Miscast

Damon Stoudamire was released by the Memphis Grizzlies earlier this week after it was widely accepted that it was a bad fit.

The Memphis Grizzlies are a rebuilding team. He’s a veteran player who didn’t want to spend the final fear years of his career in a losing situation.

While Damon Stoudamire did start in every game that he played this year for the team, he only logged a little more than 20 minutes a game. The team wants to get as much time as possible for young guards like Juan Carlos Navarro, Mike Conley, and Kyle Lowry.

Point of Interest

A lot of teams expressed interest in signing Damon Stoudamire after word spread that he was released.

The Boston Celtics, the Phoenix Suns, and the San Antonio Spurs were among the teams that wanted to sign the veteran from the University of Arizona.

Boston Celtics GM Danny Ainge decided to pass on signing Damon Stoudamire because he didn’t want to mess with his team’s chemistry. Phoenix Suns GM Steve Kerr had multiple discussions with Damon Stoudamire, but the offer just wasn’t good enough for the 5′10″ guard.

There were even rumors floating around about Damon Stoudamire returning to the franchise that drafted him, the Toronto Raptors.

The Spurs Savior

Well, he’s not quite a savior at this point in his career. Nor do the San Antonio Spurs need one.

They basically need a veteran guard to fill in while Tony Parker recovers from his ankle injury.

Even at 34 years of age, Damon Stoudamire still has some speed to him. He likes running the floor. The veteran isn’t as quick as Tony Parker, but he can keep the offense running at close to the same pace.

Closing Thoughts

“Minor” moves like these have the potential to cause a big impact once the playoffs begin.

The big rumor in the NBA right now has guard Jason Kidd being traded to the Dallas Mavericks.

It’s not going to happen.

Rumored Deal

The heavily rumored deal right now has the New Jersey Nets sending Jason Kidd to the Dallas Mavericks. In return, they would get guard Jason Terry, forward Devean George, and center DeSagana Diop.

If this trade were to go down, Jason Kidd would be guaranteed a starting spot in the backcourt for the Dallas Mavericks.

The New Jersey Nets would pick up two starters in Jason Terry and DeSagana Diop. Veteran Devean George would provide some depth and leadership off the bench.

We Want the Kid

The reason why this trade won’t happen is that both teams want guard Devin Harris.

Devin Harris is one of the fastest young guards in the league. He’s also a guard that focuses on defense. Many around the league believe that he’s not too far off from being one of the top defensive guards in the league. There’s plenty of reasons why team owner Mark Cuban refuses to include him in any trade talks.

The New Jersey Nets reported asked for Devin Harris in the trade. The Dallas Mavericks countered with Jason Terry instead.

JETtison

Nothing against Jason Terry. He’s a superb scoring guard and a hard working player. However, he’s just not what the New Jersey Nets are looking for.

In the summer of 2006, Jason Terry signed a new 6 year contract worth close to $60 million. Right now, he’s 30 years old. That doesn’t necessarily make him an attractive trading piece.

Also, the New Jersey Nets already have two players to be the primary scorer. Guard Vince Carter and forward Richard Jefferson need a starting point guard that prefers to pass than shoot. That’s not Jason Terry’s specialty. He’s better off when he’s allowed to find scoring opportunities for himself.

Looking Elsewhere

Reports claim that Jason Kidd has asked the New Jersey Nets to trade him. The team doesn’t have to rush. There’s no reason to. Management will simply sit back and listen to all of the offers that come to them.

Sources state that the Denver Nuggets, Golden State Warriors, Atlanta Hawks, Orlando Magic and the Cleveland Cavaliers have already expressed interest. Several other teams are interested as well, and chances are, they’ll at least call the New Jersey Nets to see if a trade can happen.

Closing Thoughts

While it would be nice to see Jason Kidd finishing his career in the city where he started, it’s not going to happen.

The Cleveland Cavaliers have been looking for a new player to run the offense, and trade rumors suggest that Sacramento Kings guard Mike Bibby is the man for the job.

Backcourt Upgrade

Even though the team made it all the way to the NBA Finals last year, they really do need an upgrade in the backcourt.

Guard Daniel Gibson has done a solid job this year when he was a starter. He averaged 12. 5 points and 3 assists a game. However, the Cleveland Cavaliers need more than solid. They need spectacular.

Spectacular was what guard Larry Hughes was supposed to bring. He’s a talented player, but he’s just not the right fit for LeBron James. He’s more of a slasher than a shooter, which is what the Cleveland Cavaliers need.

Mike Bibby just happens to be a spectacular guard who can shoot.

Time For A Change Mike Bibby has missed the 2007 season thus far because of a thumb injury. In the last few years, he’s shown a bit of a decline. That could simply be because of the team’s overall state and Mike Bibby’s motivation level. Trading Mike Bibby away now would allow the team to rebuild, and it could possibly give Mike Bibby a big boost in motivation. Sometimes, a change of scenery is all that a player needs to get his career back on the upswing. Mike Bibby won’t be the only player that will be shopped. Forward Ron Artest, forward, Kenny Thomas, forward Shareef Abdur Rahim, and center Brad Miller will all be shopped in an attempt to clear up some salary cap space.

Potential Trades

There’ a few potential trades possible between the two teams.

• Mike Bibby for Larry Hughes For those of you that are wondering, a straight up trade between Mike Bibby and Larry Hughes does work under salary cap rules.

  However, it’s hard to imagine that the Sacramento Kings would do that deal straight up because Larry Hughes has a few years left on his contract. Plus, he’s not really the type of player that teams will build around. He’s more of a secondary player. With the Cleveland Cavaliers expected to be a perennial playoff team, their draft picks aren’t as highly valued.

• Mike Bibby & Mikki Moore for Larry Hughes & Drew GoodenThis trade might be a bit more appealing for the Sacramento Kings.

  Larry Hughes and forward Drew Gooden are two guys that can help the Sacramento Kings out in the short term and long term. If the team can trade their other expensive contracts so they can acquire a superstar, then the team can use Larry Hughes and Drew Gooden as supporting players.

  Center Mikki Moore is a throw-in for salary cap purposes, but he could end up teaming up with forward Anderson Varejao in providing the Cleveland Cavaliers with energy on the frontline.

• Mike Bibby for Eric Snow & Drew GoodenGuard Eric Snow and Drew Gooden each have a year remaining on their contracts, which is about $7 milion each. That does provide the Sacramento Kings with some flexibility in the near future.

  Drew Gooden is a pretty good big man who is still young enough to be a building block for the Sacramento Kings. He’s not a superstar, but he’s a starter on most teams in the league.

  As for Eric Snow, he’s more valuable as a short term mentor for Beno Udrih than what he can actually contribute on the floor.

Closing Thoughts

A trade that sends Mike Bibby to the Cleveland Cavaliers would create quite a buzz for the league.

One of the big trade rumors floating around right now has the Denver Nuggets trading for New Jersey Nets guard Jason Kidd.

Let’s analyze that.

Possibilities

First of all, there are trades between the two teams that would work financially.

• Jason Kidd for JR Smith, Eduardo Najera & Marcus Camby
• Jason Kidd for Chucky Atkins, JR Smith, Eduardo Najera & Nene

The Denver Nuggets can package guard JR Smith, forward Eduardo Najera, and center Marcus Camby to the New Jersey Nets for Jason Kidd.

That might not be the most attractive package that the New Jersey Nets can get, but it’s not too shabby. JR Smith is a young versatile player that can score. Eduardo Najera and Marcus Camby would provide the team with a frontcourt upgrade.

The Denver Nuggets frontline would be a lot thinner, but you’re not going to get a great player like Jason Kidd without giving something back in return. The team would still have forward Kenyon Martin (if he ever gets healthy again) and center Nene to provide some muscles up front.
If the Denver Nuggets really wanted to keep Marcus Camby, then they can offer a package of guard Chucky Atkins, JR Smith, Eduardo Najera, and Nene.

That right there leads many to believe that they’d be able to sacrifice a big of their personal stats in exchange for a title.

Of course, if they sacrifice too much of their games, then there’d really be no point in making the trade. That means that Carmelo Anthony needs to sacrifice a little bit of his game.

Whether or not he’d be willing to do that is the big question.

When they both came into the league, there was a rivalry between Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony. Now that LeBron James has become widely recognized as the better player, that could be a good thing for the Denver Nuggets. Carmelo Anthony should know that the best way for him to beat LeBron James now is to win the NBA championship first.

Publicly, Carmelo Anthony won’t admit that the rivalry between the two is that big. However, as a competitor (which is what Carmelo Anthony is), he has to be feeling the heat deep down inside.

Closing Thoughts

This is one of those “high risk, high rewards” situation. With the Denver Nuggets ahead of their division right now, it’d be quite a risky move to do.

The New Jersey Nets have hired Kiki Vandeweghe as an executive.

Special Assistant

Kiki Vandeweghe’s new job title hasn’t been revealed yet. Right now, he’s basically a special assistant to team president Rod Thorn.

We’re taking a guess here, but the job will probably require Kiki Vandeweghe to do several general manager duties. After his fantastic work rebuilding the Denver Nuggets, Kiki Vandeweghe’s stock is still pretty high. We can’t imagine that he’d take a job that wasn’t of high importance.

Kiki Vandeweghe will be heavily involved in the upcoming NBA draft. First, though, he’ll be responsible for preparing the team for the upcoming trade deadline.

The position became available about a month ago when the former general manager Ed Stefanski left the team to take over the Philadelphia 76ers.

New York Knicks There were strong indications that Kiki Vandeweghe was the top candidate to replace Isiah Thomas in New York. He’s a former New York Knick, which should buy him a few weeks of clemency until the fans turn on him. Kiki Vandweghe also reportedly has the support of the league offices to take over the position. David Stern and his staff are fully about the problems with the New York Knicks, and they are more than willing to provide “suggestions” on how to fix things. Kiki Vandeweghe’s signing with the New Jersey Nets could mean that Isiah Thomas has his job secured for another year. Then again, the fact that he has yet to receive the official title of general manager could lead many to believe that his gig with the New Jersey Nets is only a temporary job until the New York Knicks come to their senses.

Credentials

From 2001 through 2006, Kiki Vandeweghe served as the general manager for the Denver Nuggets. He’s been credited with rebuilding the franchise.

Kiki Vandeweghe gave the team a nice foundation by signing free agent guard Andre Miller, drafting franchise player Carmelo Anthony, and traded for tremendous size in Nene and Marcus Camby. He was also able to provide the team quality depth by adding veteran guards like Earl Boykins, Voshon Lenard, and Jon Barry.

Of course, Kiki Vandeweghe made the biggest mistake of his career by trading three 1st round draft picks to acquire forward Kenyon Martin.

Ironically, Kenyon Martin was acquired from the New Jersey Nets. For helping the team get rid of the underachieving and disappointing forward, Kiki Vandeweghe should also be given 50% ownership of the franchise as well.

Closing Thoughts

Rod Thorn may have just hired the man who will take over for him so he can step aside.

The Utah Jazz have sent guard Gordan Giricek and a 1st round draft pick to the Philadelphia 76ers in exchange for sharpshooting forward Kyle Korver.

Expected

When head coach Jerry Sloan sent Gordan Giricek home, the writing was on the wall. The guard from Croatia had fallen out of favor with the coach after some harsh words were exchanged between the two during a game against the Charlotte Bobcats.

Gordan Giricek was brought back to the team, and everyone in the organization said the right things about moving forward and focusing on basketball. However, behind the scenes, the Utah Jazz were working the phones pretty hard to get a deal done.

For the Utah Jazz This trade accomplishes two things for the Utah Jazz. They get rid of a bad locker room influence in Gordan Giricek, who has been unhappy with the team since the beginning of the season. He had requested a trade to another team earlier in the season. His unhappiness made him a constant thorn in the side of the coaching staff. The Utah Jazz also acquired a sharpshooter in Kyle Korver. Kyle Korver is an excellent outside shooter who can free up the middle even more for Carlos Boozer. His range also makes it more difficult for defenses to collapse when Deron Williams penetrates. He is expected to take over the 6th man spot for the Utah Jazz.

For the Philadelphia 76ers

The Philadelphia 76ers basically picked up an expiring contract and a first round draft pick.

With the Utah Jazz currently sitting at 9th place in the Western Conference, there’s a chance that they could end up missing the playoffs. If they do, that draft pick becomes even more valuable to the Philadelphia 76ers.

Gordan Giricek’s expiring contract could end up being more valuable than what he can actually contribute on the basketball floor.

It’s no secret that the Philadelphia 76ers are rebuilding. They’d love to acquire as many expiring contracts as possible to have as much flexibility as possible. They’re still looking to trade guard Andre Miller for some expiring contracts as well.

For the time being, Gordan Giricek can provide the Philadelphia 76ers with some depth behind Willie Green and Andre Iguodala.

Closing Thoughts

Very good trade that should help out both teams. It’s another one of these minor trades that the casual sports fans are going to overlook.

Bulls bench Ben. Bulls bench Ben. Bulls bench Ben.

Pretty fun to say. Of course, Ben Gordon probably doesn’t think so.

Changes Chicago Bulls interim head coach Jim Boylan has decided to move Ben Gordon back to the bench. He will resume his former role as the team’s sixth man. Chris Duhon will start in his place. The team has been laying well below expectations. Changes needed to be made, and it started off with the firing of Scott Skiles as head coach. However, when Jim Boylan took over, he felt that more changes were needed. So, he decided to utilize Ben Gordon off the bench to provide an offensive spark to the second unit. It’s a role that Ben Gordon has excelled in previously. He won the 2004 NBA Sixth Man award. The transition will be a familiar one for Ben Gordon, but it will also be a difficult one. Jim Boylan has already stated that he’s fully aware of the difficulties for Ben Gordan. However, he hopes that Ben Gordan can embrace the role that he feels is best for the team.

Difficulties

They say that money is the root of all evil. Well, Ben Gordon’s financial concerns have hampered his play this year.

Over the summer, Ben Gordon turned down a $50 million offer from the Chicago Bulls. He obviously feels that he’s worth more money than that.

He also feels that being a sixth man is going to get in the way of his financial goals. Very few teams in the league pay their sixth men more than $50.

We’re assuming that Ben Gordon would be more willing to accept a bench position if he already had a long term contract like Manu Ginobili does. The San Antonio Spurs are currently thriving thanks to Manu Ginobili accepting a role as the team’s sixth man.

Trade

This is an ugly situation for the Chicago Bulls and Ben Gordon.Things are obviously not working out as well as they should be, and the best option for everyone involved might be to trade Ben Gordon.

We’re sure the thought has crossed the mind of Chicago Bulls general manager John Paxson. A further disgruntled Ben Gordon could expedite the process. If Ben Gordon continues to sulk and struggle on the court, then John Paxson would lose leverage in negotiations with other teams.

Closing Thoughts

Things are getting ugly. A trade needs to happen as soon as possible.