Grizz Owner: Lakers Almost Went for Big Ben

Memphis owner Michael Heisley, whom most suspect sold off Pau Gasol to the Lakers in order to make selling the franchise easier this summer, relates an interesting-if-true rumor from the inside in this morning's Memphis Commercial-Appeal.

"We were worried that the Lakers might do the deal with Chicago," said Heisley, who had learned the Lakers were talking about sending Kwame Brown and Vlad Radmanovic to Chicago for Ben Wallace.

That would have taken Brown's expiring contract off the table; the Grizzlies decided they had to act. "Otherwise we'd be like Chicago is today," Heisley said, "and gotten nothing done."

It's becoming clear L.A. was a bit desperate before managing to sew up Pau. Ben Wallace? That would've resulted in a slightly less painful cap situation (thanks mostly to Vlad's exile) but nothing close in terms of excitement around the league... and probably less cosmic results on the court.

Heisley also passes on the offers for Pau which came from other teams: Drew Gooden and Larry Hughes from Cleveland (wow! oh boy!), Andres Nocioni and Tyrus Thomas from Chicago, and... Travis Outlaw and Raef LaFrentz from Portland. Outlaw's shown up in two separate rumors in the past week. Smoke, fire, etc.

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

2-03-2008 @ 6:08PM

MoneyMArl said...

First off, Tyrus Thomas is overrated and Andres Nocioni has a 6 yr contract(Grizz are looking to dump). Larry Hughes is overpaid by a mile, Drew Gooden is average(If he plays like that with Lebron, how much worse will he play when defenses key in on him?). I dont know man, Ur reasoning is stupid, Lakers had the biggest asset the wanted(expiring contract which is really valuable in this salary cap era). Was it a good trade for Memphis?No! but was it a necessacry trade? HELL YES!!!

2-04-2008 @ 12:11AM

Richard Weissfeld said...

Oh please, let's be honest, the Lakers stole your lunch. Actually, it was Jerry West. Don't you think he has had more than a few conversations with Mitch about this trade?

The point about sports, in case you haven't heard, is to win, not to spend less money than the other guys. Besides, the Clippers cornered the market and lottery picks and and penny pinching and, well, they are the worst team ever, in any sport, bar none.

I'm just glad this football thing is over with and we can now concentrate on the Lakers sweeping the Celtics in the NBA Finals.