In hindsight only: Would we have been better off trading for Gasol?

[Roy Hobbs]

First things first, I loved the KG trade, and wouldn't change a thing.  The trade has delivered us three seasons of outstanding basketball, and a title.  It's hard to ask for much more than that.

That said, for those of you who remember the summer of 2008, there seemed to be two big men who were available to the Celtics:  KG and Pau Gasol.  There was some speculation / rumor that we could have gotten Pau without giving up Al Jefferson; the trade would have been something like Theo + Gerald + Gomes + #1.

In hindsight only, would you do that trade instead of the KG deal?  With KG's injury, it appears that Pau has a lot more left on his tires than KG does.  In addition, we'd have another elite offensive big man on the roster.  Inversely, our defense would be worse, and with our payroll structure, it's unlikely that we'd be able to be players in free agency (or that we'd have been able to sign some of the free agents we've been able to.)

The other thing to keep in mind is that if Pau is on the Celtics, that means he's not on the Lakers.  Of course, that could have led to LA trading for KG, as well (although Minnesota didn't seem enamored by Bynum at the time.)

Even in hindsight, I don't think I'd reverse things.  It's been too much fun with the "big three", and a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush, as they say.  However, in an alternate universe somewhere, I wouldn't be shocked if the 2010 NBA champion Boston Celtics are hoisting a trophy with Pau Gasol as their playoff MVP.

[wdleehi]

No.



KG provided more then just his skill.  He provided leadership defensively. 



Gasol, for his talent, hasn't shown to be the leader KG is. 



The Celtics would not be the defensive team they are now if they did not have KG.  And it is that defense that won them the 2008 title. 

[Chris]

Nope.  KG changed the culture here, Pau is not that kind of player.  I think if they did the trade you suggest (I think it would have taken another 1st rounder, but still a steal), The C's lineup is then Rondo, Ray, Pierce, Al, and Pau, with Perk off the bench.

With that lineup, I don't think they make it to the finals, let alone win in 2008.  And while Pau would continue to improve a bit, they still have Pierce and Ray deteriorating, making it less likely that they win a championship with either of them around.  

And while Jefferson is a nice player, he is still injury prone, and doesn't play defense.  

Basically, I think that move would have made this team more interesting for a longer period of time, but I don't think it would have made them a champion.  

[Andy Jick]

Mixed feelings on this.  Gasol has more longevity, but KG is a unique player.  The wear-and-tear on his wheels is now showing up, and the three-year window (in my opinion) has closed.  But the Lakers still have a couple more years with that group.  So yeah, it's a complicated one that makes you wonder "what if?"...

[wdleehi]

Nope.  KG changed the culture here, Pau is not that kind of player.  I think if they did the trade you suggest (I think it would have taken another 1st rounder, but still a steal), The C's lineup is then Rondo, Ray, Pierce, Al, and Pau, with Perk off the bench.

With that lineup, I don't think they make it to the finals, let alone win in 2008.  And while Pau would continue to improve a bit, they still have Pierce and Ray deteriorating, making it less likely that they win a championship with either of them around.  

And while Jefferson is a nice player, he is still injury prone, and doesn't play defense.  

Basically, I think that move would have made this team more interesting for a longer period of time, but I don't think it would have made them a champion.  

There would be no Ray since the 1st went to get Gasol.

[wiley]

No for many similar reasons posted above.....plus, we were a KG knee problem and a Perk knee problem from a 3-peat.

KG was the one needed by Paul and Ray......

[Chris]

Nope.  KG changed the culture here, Pau is not that kind of player.  I think if they did the trade you suggest (I think it would have taken another 1st rounder, but still a steal), The C's lineup is then Rondo, Ray, Pierce, Al, and Pau, with Perk off the bench.

With that lineup, I don't think they make it to the finals, let alone win in 2008.  And while Pau would continue to improve a bit, they still have Pierce and Ray deteriorating, making it less likely that they win a championship with either of them around.  

And while Jefferson is a nice player, he is still injury prone, and doesn't play defense.  

Basically, I think that move would have made this team more interesting for a longer period of time, but I don't think it would have made them a champion.  

There would be no Ray since the 1st went to get Gasol.

Ah, right, that first, I thought this scenario was talking about a future first.

[Roy Hobbs]

Nope.  KG changed the culture here, Pau is not that kind of player.  I think if they did the trade you suggest (I think it would have taken another 1st rounder, but still a steal), The C's lineup is then Rondo, Ray, Pierce, Al, and Pau, with Perk off the bench.

With that lineup, I don't think they make it to the finals, let alone win in 2008.  And while Pau would continue to improve a bit, they still have Pierce and Ray deteriorating, making it less likely that they win a championship with either of them around.  

And while Jefferson is a nice player, he is still injury prone, and doesn't play defense.  

Basically, I think that move would have made this team more interesting for a longer period of time, but I don't think it would have made them a champion.  

There would be no Ray since the 1st went to get Gasol.

Ah, right, that first, I thought this scenario was talking about a future first.

Yeah, that's what I was anticipating.  I don't think we would have had to give up the lottery pick, and could have still traded for Ray.

At the time, I think that Gerald + Gomes + future #1 + huge cap relief (Theo's contract would have been covered by insurance) would have gotten it done.  Memphis' owner later admitted that the deal was mostly financial with LA; Marc Gasol wasn't the key piece that Chris Wallace makes him out to be in hindsight.

[PutBackDunk]

My immediate reaction would be no because like others have said KG was the catalyst for this team, and without some key injuries (mainly KG's) we could be talking about going for Banner #20 next year.

For the sake of conversation about what if's (it is the offseason afterall!), I actually thought that we were going to get someone like Gasol/Jermaine O'Neal at the trade deadline of the 07-08 season when we acquired Ray anyway.

IF we could have held onto Big Al, still acquired Ray through the same trade and then basically got Gasol at the deadline with Theo Ratliff's expire + young filler like Green/Gomes/Telfair instead of LA getting him for basically the same type of package then possibly yes, we may have been better off. But only because it extends our window by about 5 years and no team in the league has two good low post defenders to stop Gasol and Big Al.

However, if we acquired Gasol through the scenario that Roy Hobbs posted, or something similar to it where we do hold onto Big Al but we don't get Ray because the pick went to the Grizz I say no, I like what Danny did instead.

[pearljammer10]

Pau instead of KG = no banner in 2008

[bobdelt]

We could have still gotten the banner in 08. Remember the Lakers wouldnt have gasol then... what if they landed KG instead? Yeah we're better off with KG, because I would have rather faced Gasol in 08 than KG.

[Gemini]

If we could have recived Gasol without including Big Al then it sounds like we could have got Pau and KG. imagine that.

[moiso]

The culture wouldn't have changed as much, but we still would have challenged for a title in 08,09, and 10.  And probably for a few more years.  I'll be the first one to say I would have preferred Gasol.  We got only one great year from KG.  We could have gotten 6 or 7 very good years from Pau.

[Roy Hobbs]

If we could have recived Gasol without including Big Al then it sounds like we could have got Pau and KG. imagine that.

I don't know if that necessarily would have been possible, since we only had one expiring contract (Theo's).  That couldn't go to both Minnesota and Memphis, and they both required one.  (Remember, we needed to send Theo along with Big Al to make salaries work.)

[LB3533]

With Al Jefferson's injury history, it would feel like we wouldn't really have a Big Al to go along with Pau and Pierce.

We would be in the same situation as LA with Bynum.

Now obviously a core of healthy AL/Pau/Pierce/Ray (if we could still get him) seems a lot better on paper than just KG/PP/RA.

But KG/PP/RA is certainly better than PP/PA/hurt Jefferson.