Lakers rob Grizzlies

Were Memphis held at gun point during the negotiations for Pau Gasol? It seems like they were after handing over the best player to ever play for Memphis to the Los Angeles Lakers. Getting rid of Kwame Brown might actually help the Lakers even more than the arrival of Gasol.

Gasol will form one of the best front court duos in the league with Andrew Bynum when the youngster returns from injury. Gasol is also a great stop-gap until Bynum is cleared to return and is certainly much better than the departed Brown.

When a good player like Lamar Odom is your fourth option on the floor and you have a good tandem of point guards who can distribute the ball as well as score like Derek Fisher and Jordan Farmar, you can go far in the NBA, even if you're in the West. The only problem is how well Gasol will integrate into Phil Jackson's triangle offence, but then again, there's a good argument that maybe all Pau really needs is a change of scenery.

Sending Crittendon to Memphis makes no sense on any level as well. Why release your veteran presence third point guard (Damon Stoudemire) and then trade for another point guard when you already have a logjam at the position with young talent (Conley and Lowry)?

The only positives that Memphis can take from this deal is that they should settle into a better lottery slot, they'll have two more future first rounders — even though they be in the 20s range, and they'll have a lot of cap flexibility when the disaster named Kwame comes off the books this summer.

And if you think this deal doesn't actually help the New Jersey Nets, well you might be crazy. With Gasol and Kobe together and sure to reep some havoc on the West, don't think that a team like Dallas won't sweeten their offer for Jason Kidd's services.