PJ Brown, Nocioni, and the pick (1st overall protected). That's probably not enough, but it would be my opening offer.

I'm not hitting the panic button on Wallace just yet, though obviously he would benefit greatly from another legitimate low post player, while at the same time thinning this roster out a bit.

I could live with losing Gordon, but I'm not convinced Thabo is ready yet for big time minutes on a nightly basis. My preference would be to move Nocioni, but with them already having Rudy G@y (and to a lesser extent, Hakim Warrick), I don't think that would be Memphis' first choice.

I hope this is true, but I think the Bulls are coming up because of the Sam Smith article on Monday where he talked about Gasol, and I believe mentioned the Celtics as an interested team.

Smith said the Bulls should give Tyrus Thomas, the #1 pick this year, and I believe cap fodder.....

Do you guys really see the Bulls moving Tyrus Thomas ??? I say he's not going anywhere.

If Memphis is looking to unload, move the pick, sell Memphis that it's the Knicks pick, and that's going to be a top 5 pick in what should be a good draft - beyond that, would you include Ben Gordon or Nocioni ?

Another thought would be just to move the 1st round pick and PJ Brown's expiring contract - that has to be worth something - especailly to a team with a desire to have a low budget.

Yes, Sam Smith did write something along these lines, and yes, Sam Smith is a total fucking clown.

His package was PJ Brown, Tyrus Thomas, Chris Duhon, and the lottery pick. That's absolute horseshit.

Getting back to reality. BD, I'll grant you the cap relief point with PJ Brown, but only to a certain extent. This is Pau Gasol, a borderline NBA superstar, so it's not as though they're eager to move him. When you're trying to get a 15 million dollar Brian Grant contract off your books, that's salary cap relief. When you're talking about a guy that's 26 years old and an all-star, that's a different story entirely.

By the by, PJ and the pick wouldn't work. There's not enough $$ involved. Gasol makes about $4 mil more than PJ, and draft picks carry no monetary value in a trade. So it has to be PJ & fill-in-the-blank. Besides, if Gasol is truly on the block, another team would certainly outbid the Bulls' offer of an expiring contract and a draft pick, which should be relatively high but is no guarantee to be any higher than 7 or 8. I would give up Gordon or Nocioni if it meant Gasol were coming to town.

Good post - the only things I disagree about is your description of Gasol as a bordeline NBA Superstar - I like Gasol a lot, but I don't think he's been more than a 17 and 8 type player with good shot blocking.

I would love to have him - if you are saying Brown + a player, and the draft pick, of course, Nocioni or Gordon would be enough to get something done, but we've seen teams make trades (Detroit acquiring Rasheed Wallace a few seasons ago) not so much for talent, but because of the salary cap.

How long is the Grizzlies on the hook with Brian Grant's contract ? I wasn't aware of that.

Brian Grant isn't on their books. I was just using a mediocre player with a bad contract to illustrate a point. And actually, I think I'm being conservative when I say "borderline star". Gasol is a stud. He's worth Nocioni or Gordon plus a lottery pick.

There are 2 reasons why Rasheed was had so cheaply:

1. He had (and to some degree still has) a reputation as a total douchebag
2. His contract was about to expire and there was no chance of him resigning with the Blazers or the Hawks (where he had a cup of coffee and played 1 game before joining the Pistons)

Gasol has 5 years, at a fair market price, remaining on his contract. He is also 3 years younger than Rasheed was when the Pistons acquired him. It's an apples to oranges comparison.

I don't know if Paxson has the balls to unload one of his core four of Nocioni, Hinrich, Deng, or Gordon. If I had to move one of them, I would move Hinrich. I think Duhon's game is just a notch below Kirk's at a lot smaller price. I think it's tough to move a guy that was just extended, though...
Maybe they should have just used the #2 pick for Gasol instead of Chandler when they traded Brand...

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"Tubby? Oh yes, Tubby."

I think he likes to rock the headband on occasion, though. You have to be careful with those guys...

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"Tubby? Oh yes, Tubby."

He's going to have to unload one soon, better to do it too early than too late. Hinrich is going to stay so you'd have to choose between Gordon, Deng and Nocioni. I'd say trade Gordon first but the real logam is at forward so it would make more sense to trade Noce or Deng. I like what Nocioni brings to the table but with what Deng has been doing and the way he is progressing, I think it probably makes the most sense to move Nocioni. I hate to see him go but they'll get someone of value, Gasol would be a great fit I think.

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My Maserati does 186.

Here are Gasol's stats from last season.

05-06: 20.4 PPG, 8.9 RPG, 4.6 APG, 1.9 BPG, 2.9 TPG, 39.2 MPG, .503 FG%, .689 FT%

- He definitely stepped up his level of play from previous seasons where was a good player - last season, he was clearly an all-star performer.

I think Nocioni is the guy - he's going to be up for a contract soon. Can we really play 2 SF's pretty big money ?

Nocioni and the #1 pick for Gasol is the way I'd go.

I think you have to start with the assumption tha the Celts Package will be built around Pierce + picks. So to stay in the picture the Bulls would most likely have to give up Gordon + (Noc or Deng) + pick.
If Pax can swing this without moving the Knicks pick (Oden ??) than he should. It would open minutes for Tyrus and you can play Kirk & Duhon at the guards.

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“Mmmm. Move over, eggs. Bacon just got a new best friend - fudge.”

I look at it as Nocioni being in a similar situation as Crede (minus the questionable back). Neither player is someone you’d like to lose, but may fall victim to an executive having to make one of those “though choices” that come with running a business. Deng is going to get paid, and with Tyrus essentially being a hybrid SF/PF, the idea of paying Nocioni seems like overkill at the position. Not to mention the fact that you have Khryapa, another hybrid forward, for a few more years at a cheap rate. It wouldn’t break my heart if they moved Gordon, but in the big picture, Nocioni seems a better fit to be the odd man out.

And Mustang, I would say Gordon + Nocioni + the pick = way too much. And don’t leave out PJ. His bloated, expiring, veteran salary is the straw that would stir this drink in the first place…

I don't think the Celtics would trade Pierce - they've been denying this for years now, and I think Memphis won't have any interest in acquring him and his contract when they're going through a youth movement.

Boston has a lot of those younger plyaers, big on hype, but who never have done anything in the league - Ryan Gomes, Al Jefferson, Kendrick Perkins upfront, Delonte West, Sebaastian Telfair and Rajon Rambo at G.

I think they would offer up Ratliff's contract and then some combination of all that potential.

Heisley says Gasol's not being traded
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By Ronald Tillery
Contact
November 29, 2006
DENVER -- Grizzlies president Jerry West privately rolled his eyes at the notion.
His boss, the team's majority owner Michael Heisley, has a more difficult time sitting back and digesting frivolous trade rumors.

Three-day-old conjecture that All-Star Pau Gasol is available for a trade compelled Heisley to issue a public service announcement to the rest of the NBA.
From Heisley, with disdain: Don't bother calling.

"There's no damn way that anybody is going to trade Pau Gasol," Heisley said, his voice booming through the telephone. "I'm telling you that ain't going to happen. That's out the window."

Heisley reacted Tuesday to growing speculation generated first by a New York report that said the Boston Celtics had inquired about Gasol.

While that is true, the Celtics were rebuffed just like any team would be barring an offer that included one of the league's megastars (i.e. Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, etc).

Even that sounds nonsensical, which was Heisley's point.

But that didn't stop a Chicago columnist from proposing a swap with the Chicago Bulls.

"Here's a scoop," Heisley said. "I'm going to contact Cleveland to try and get LeBron James. So put in the paper that Cleveland's interested in getting rid of LeBron James.

"Why would we trade our franchise player? Just like why would the Lakers trade Kobe Bryant? Why would Cleveland trade LeBron James? That's not going to happen. We're not trading Pau."

Heisley said he's confident Gasol would remain a Grizzly for a long time, even with the team's pending sale.

Heisley is expected in Memphis on Friday -- the same day the local owners must decide whether they intend to match Brian Davis' offer to purchase Heisley's 70-percent share.

Heisley said he also plans to address several matters involving the team.

"We've got to do a better job of selling tickets," said Heisley, whose main purpose for visiting is to participate in the Grizzlies' involvement with Lift Up America.

Beginning Friday morning at 9 on the FedExForum Plaza, more than 30,000 pounds of Tyson products will be distributed to the Memphis Food Bank and other area social service agencies.

Grizzlies players Eddie Jones, Rudy Gay, Kyle Lowry, Alexander Johnson, Dahntay Jones, Mike Miller and Jake Tsakalidis will join initiative partners, fund providers and agency representatives to help distribute donated items.

-- Ronald Tillery: 529-2353
http://www.realgm.com/src_wiretap_archi ... be_traded/

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“Mmmm. Move over, eggs. Bacon just got a new best friend - fudge.”

That sucks. So much for that great idea.

Oh, and that Rudy Burrito is a great player.

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My Maserati does 186.

Not necessarily. Doesn’t seem probable he’ll get moved, but no player is untouchable if the right deal were to come along. And despite what Memphis ownership has to say, moving Gasol for a package of young players and/or draft picks along with cap relief isn’t an insane concept. As it stands, it’s more than likely they’ll have a high lottery pick. If they moved him, they’d likely acquire another high lottery pick. You throw in a young player with promise, abundant cap space, and mesh that with the youth they’ve already got (Rudy, Lowry, & Warrick), and what you’ve got now is the Bulls from 2-3 years ago (the Magic would be another good comparison). That’s not a bad place to be, especially considering Memphis has no chance in hell to take over the West anytime soon. I’m not saying that’s their only option, but it’s an option nonetheless. Otherwise, you simply build around Gasol and hope to get it right before he hits the tail end of his prime. And once Pau’s healthy, if Memphis continues to be just average, they’ll never get their hands on any future top prospects and will fritter away in NBA mediocrity.

I agree the move would make sense. That is why I was very interested because on paper it seems to be a very viable option. However, that was a pretty strongly worded denial. Not just your typical "we like our guy, we aren't interested".

Maybe you are right. I hope you are and they are just putting some good PR out there. But, it seems like, at least for now, this is a dead end.

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My Maserati does 186.

I think the only reason these rumors got started was because of the Sam Smith Monday Trade Rumors that I'm making up....It gets picked up elsewhere, and next thing you know, the owner is denying it.

That’s the way a lot of these rumors get started, BD, but this isn’t the first time Pau Gasol’s name has been mentioned, so I won’t accredit the entire ordeal to Sam Smith.

Sam makes a living authoring what is essentially message board chatter. The only difference is, as a writer for a major newspaper, he has a much louder voice.

And for as much as these executives like to blame the media for stories like these spinning out of control, oft times it’s their fellow NBA executives that cause it. A GM will tell his local beat writer that he made a play for so & so, knowing damned well it had no chance of materializing, just to keep the notion going that he’s attempting to improve his team.

I'm not sure this is a good idea. I like Gasol as a player, but I'm afraid that if he played for the Bull, I'd constantly have that damned "Pau Gasol" parody to the tune of that Huey Luis song in my head. Just reading this thread title now, I have the goddamn thing in my head, and likely will for the remainder of the night.

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