Pau Gasol traded?

[European NBA fan]

I could see the Lakers make a move for Smoove plus Hinrich. Would probably improve both teams.  

[Chris]

I could see the Lakers make a move for Smoove plus Hinrich. Would probably improve both teams.  

Yeah, this would be a great deal for Atlanta, and be good and potentially great for LA, especially since Smith is a good friend of Howards, and could help convince him that LA is where he wants to go.

[Marcus13]

Guarantee its to Atlanta for Smith.

The Lakers management gets things done, [dang] Im jealous of that front office

[theswitch]

If that's it, I'm not sure it makes LA better, at least this year. Hinrich is probably an improvement on whatever they have going on right now at the 1 and 2, but Gasol is superior to Smith both offensively and defensively (by a fair margin, for that matter). The Lakers are scary because of 1) Kobe and 2) the Gasol and Bynum towers. Without the llama, they are considerably less scary to me, at least this year. Yeah, it might make Dwight want to sign in LA a little bit more, but is that slight possibility improvement enough to make your team worse this year?

[Who]

I don't really see the point in trading Pau Gasol for Josh Smith and change.

For Josh Smith + some really valuable pieces, sure ... But without serious value added on? I don't see it for LA. What's the point?

[indeedproceed]

NEWS! I NEED NEWS!

[theswitch]

I don't really see the point in trading Pau Gasol for Josh Smith and change.

For Josh Smith + some really valuable pieces, sure ... But without serious value added on? I don't see it for LA. What's the point?

Yeah, unless they think it's guaranteed to get them Dwight, it seems like they'd just be getting a decent amount worse for one of Kobe's precious years.

[StartOrien]

Oof. I sure hope not. That'd turn Atlanta into a real contender - Gasol and Horford together would be a nightmare. Rare to get the size and skill combination together.

[LarBrd33]

If I'm picking between 26 year old Gasol and 26 year old Smith, I'm taking Gasol.  If I'm picking between 31 year old Gasol and 26 year old Smith... not so sure.   I hate the idea that the Lakers can remain relevant.  Bynum and Smith combined makes the Lakers a scary interior defensive team for many, many years.

[snively]

I will enjoy seeing Pau off the Lakers.  Such a great player; very underutilized this year with Bynum's emergence/Kobe's stranglehold on the ball.

[ejk3489]

Patrick Harrel‏@PatrickHarrelReply
One Rockets front office guy I know: "If Gasol's been traded, it isn't to us. At least not yet."

Eric Pincus‏@EricPincusReply
I have - in addition to a number of others reporting same - word from Rockets that they don't have deal in place for Gasol

Larry Coon‏@LarryCoonReply
Not hearing any confirmation of a Gasol deal. Still digging.

[snively]

I don't really see the point in trading Pau Gasol for Josh Smith and change.

For Josh Smith + some really valuable pieces, sure ... But without serious value added on? I don't see it for LA. What's the point?

I would imagine it would be for Smith, with Williams and Teague included.  An injection of athleticism and shooting ability at the 1 and 3 spots.

I don't think Atlanta would deal for Pau without dumping Williams anyway.  It would make them a taxpayer.

[indeedproceed]

Patrick Harrel‏@PatrickHarrelReply
One Rockets front office guy I know: "If Gasol's been traded, it isn't to us. At least not yet."

Ha, that kid from the bleacher report? He's awful

[ejk3489]

Patrick Harrel‏@PatrickHarrelReply
One Rockets front office guy I know: "If Gasol's been traded, it isn't to us. At least not yet."

Ha, that kid from the bleacher report? He's awful

lol he's from the bleacher report? Whoops.

[StartOrien]

If I'm picking between 26 year old Gasol and 26 year old Smith, I'm taking Gasol.  If I'm picking between 31 year old Gasol and 26 year old Smith... not so sure.   I hate the idea that the Lakers can remain relevant.  Bynum and Smith combined makes the Lakers a scary interior defensive team for many, many years.

Also consider that in 8 years in the league Josh Smith has been happy for about 4 days.  If I'm the LA front office - and I'm not, because I have some semblance of intelligence - I'd have some real concerns about how happy Josh Smith will be when he's crashing the boards after Kobe's 35th shot attempt