Pau Gasol Powers Runaway Lakers: How One Trade Changed the Title Race

Thanks a lot, Memphis.

Thanks a lot, Chris Wallace and Michael Heisley.

Or better yet, no thanks to John Paxson and Jerry Reinsdorf.

It was the deal that could have been but strangely wasn't.

Instead, 13 other teams were made to watch the Kwame Brown-for-Pau Gasol donation—er, trade. Sure, the Grizzlies received Marc Gasol's rights, Javaris Crittenton and some draft picks, but this still looks like the biggest non-clothing fleece of the decade.

There have been moments this season when Memphis showed enough promise that the deal looked respectable. Pau's brother, Marc Gasol, threw up a sensational 27-point, 11-rebound performance in a Grizzlies' win in November. O.J. Mayo also strung together several 30-point games. 

Then, the Grizzlies lost 11 games in a row—twice. Management scapegoated head coach Marc Iavaroni for the sorry roster it had assembled. Mayo looks nice, but Rudy Gay is still an immature shot-jacker, Marc Gasol is a promising but unspectacular flatfoot and the jury is out on everyone else.

The Los Angeles Lakers have breezed to a ridiculous 42-10 mark with the All-Star Break days away, and Pau Gasol's presence is the reason. Kobe Bryant scored better than 30 points in the Lakers' Tuesday and Wednesday games.

Lamar Odom, who grabbed 18 rebounds against the Cavaliers and 19 against the Jazz, even looks like the second-coming of Scottie Pippen now.

Nothing Bryant or Odom has done since Andrew Bynum limped off the court in Memphis would matter without Gasol. Whether he grabs four rebounds or 13, scores 30 or 12, the other team's defense must respect his versatile skill set. They have to play him as a passer and gifted low-post scorer.

Critics who bemoan his finesse game are plentiful. He is not a dominant shot blocker or a noted bruiser. Yet, nine teams out of 30 have beaten the Lakers, and five of those losses have come by less than nine points.

Where might the Lakers be had Mitch Kupchak not pulled off this heist?

At the outset of the 2007-08 season, Bryant wanted out, and Jerry Buss seemed to show interest in granting his star's request. The Lakers looked like as much of a playoff team as the woeful Clippers did.

Bynum injured his knee near this same point last season in Memphis, and the Lakers lost two straight in embarrassing fashion before Kupchak had seen enough.

Let's be clear: Wallace and Heisley are league villians because of where they sent Gasol. Had the Spaniard headed to Chicago, Minnesota, Washington or even New York, there would be far less grumbling.

The Grizzlies brass sent an All-Star forward to a hated powerhouse already loaded with talent, and the game's best player, and agreed to take on the expiring contract of the Lakers' loser who fans booed at nearly every home game.

The Lakers' worst player for a guy whose skill set fits the triangle offense perfectly?

It looks even worse now because the Grizzlies, crappy as they are, will have to mark off four losses each year to the championship-level team their management solidified.

Boston and Los Angeles have won 31 of the NBA's 62 championships. Even Laker and Celtic fans should understand that followers of every other team think the two powers have won enough.

Much of the backlash both sides have faced from the Gasol deal has been unfair. Some called the move a conspiracy, while others took it as another sign that David Stern only cares about two of his 30 teams.

Stern hasn't done much to disprove that last claim, but still, give Kupchak credit for boasting the cajones to cook up such a trade request and pull it off.

It is also unfair to bamboozle Memphis for giving away such a talented player to cut costs. As David Aldridge and so many other NBA writers have reported, a lot of teams are looking to slash salary these days, even if it leads to a losing product.

That might be the real reason Amare Stoudemire and Tyson Chandler are frequent targets of trade rumors.

This cost cutting move, however, turned a good team into a nearly unbeatable one. In the weeks before his second freak knee injury in as many years, Bynum posted a 42-point, 15-rebound effort, and it appeared he had adjusted to life alongside Gasol.

Good news for the Lakers, but bad news for everybody else.

Then, Bynum crashed to the FedEx Forum floor again, and the look on Kobe's face said all you needed to know about his anger and frustration.

L.A. Times columnist Bill Plaschke urged the Lakers to foster a recovery strategy, and offered that fans could scream as Bynum had to alleviate the anxiety and disillusionment.

Just when basketball experts figured the Lakers vulnerability would be exposed, Kobe's bunch amassed a perfect 6-0 road trip, including a 111-110 overtime victory in Boston to seal a season sweep of the Celtics. L.A. also picked up a 101-91 victory over the Cavaliers to ruin the franchise's perfect 23-0 home start.

Gasol's line in the Lakers' 10th loss Wednesday night was pedestrian—16 points, three rebounds and five fouls. Yet, it was obvious, watching the Jazz send waves of defenders his way, how much him just being there changes things for the role players.

If Bynum was healthy, assuming Odom could put up  consistent numbers, that would give the Lakers four players who can command double teams. How many squads have four players who command double teams?

Bryant scored 37 points on 14-for-33 shooting in the Utah loss. He buried another clutch trey to give the Lakers a 105-104 lead and did the Sam Cassell, "I've got balls" dance again.

This wasn't a statement game for either squad. Utah played without Andrei Kirilenko and Carlos Boozer, and the Jazz missed nine free throws in the final quarter—three of them from Deron Williams. The Lakers were playing the second night of a back-to-back in Salt Lake City, and few can win there on the second night of a back-to-back.

Still, Bryant gave his team a chance to win the game.

He was doing this years ago when the Lakers didn't make the playoffs and when they barely did in 2006-07.

Odom had a monstrous 20-points, nine rebounds and nine assists against the Golden State Warriors in that campaign, and Bryant managed a furious scoring tear. He scored 65 points, a string of them to lead his team back from a 12-point deficit with four minutes to go in a road game against the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Bryant recorded the second-longest streak of 50-point games behind Wilt Chamberlain. He poured in 53 in a loss to the Houston Rockets.

The point?

Elite teams could handle the Lakers when Bryant had to score that many just to give them a chance at victory. They could also survive occasional brilliant showings from Odom.

But few can keep up with the Lakers now that Gasol occupies the lane.

Here's a look at the records of prospective Western Conference playoff teams against the Lakers since the Gasol acquisition:

San Antonio: 2-6, including last year's Western Conference Finals

Dallas: 0-4

Utah (before Wednesday's game): 2-7, including the playoffs.

Portland: 1-4

New Orleans: 1-3

Houston: 1-2

Phoenix: 0-4

Denver: 0-8, including the playoffs

Cynics will say all that matters is what happened in the NBA Finals. 4-2 Celtics, 131-92 in game six.

If there was such a thing as a six-game sweep, the Celtics accomplished it in June 2008. Boston out-toughed, out-muscled and out-defended the new-look Lakers. Most critics admonished Gasol and Odom for the embarrassment, since both were routinely beaten off the dribble by anyone in a Celtics uniform who attacked the hoop.

Consider Gasol's numbers in that series. He shot better than 55 percent in all six games, including 4-for-7 in the abysmal Laker finish.

Gasol has hit more than 61 percent of his looks in two Lakers wins over the Celtics this season.

Translation: When the Lakers have made the effort to get Gasol the ball, the Celtics have not stopped him.

In Game Two of the 2008 Finals, Gasol was 5-for-7 at the half, and didn't touch the ball once in the third quarter. He finished 8-for-12 from the field, with 10 rebounds.

Perhaps a better indicator of Gasol's impact is what the Lakers did during key games last season before he arrived. Bynum played in all of these losses, except the second at San Antonio, second vs. Cleveland and at Dallas.

Nov. 18 loss at San Antonio Spurs, 107-92

• Lamar Odom -12 points, six rebounds, one block
• Kobe Bryant - 18 points, nine rebounds, five assists
• Andrew Bynum - 11 points, 12 rebounds, one block
• Jordan Farmar - 16 points on 10-16 shooting

The game was not as close as the score would indicate, and Duncan finished 2-for-13 from the field, with five points and five rebounds. Is what Bynum did in this game much different from what he managed a few weeks ago on Duncan in Los Angeles? Bynum was 4-11 from the field in that 99-85 win with several turnovers.

Jan. 23 loss at San Antonio Spurs, 103-91

• Kobe Bryant - 29 points, 12 rebounds
• Lamar Odom - 11 points, 12 rebounds

Tim Duncan dominated in this outing, scoring 28 points and pulling down 17 rebounds as the Spurs erased a six-point halftime deficit with easy buckets to route the Lakers.

Again, the game in the fourth quarter wasn't as close as the score might suggest.

Both teams sported identical 27-13 records after the contest.

Also, the Lakers beat the Spurs 102-97 with Tony Parker and Tim Duncan in street clothes. Bruce Bowen scored 22 and Brent Barry 17 to keep the Spurs in striking distance the entire game. Bynum clanged six of nine attempts and grabbed 11 rebounds.

Dec. 30 loss vs. Boston Celtics, 110-91

Bynum fouled out, and Bryant was 6-for-25 from the floor. Odom nabbed 10 rebounds and scored 14 points on 6-for-17 shooting.

Nov. 23 loss at Boston Celtics, 107-94

Bynum pulled down nine rebounds and clanged 5-of-7. Farmar was effective with 13 points on 5-8 shooting, 3-6 from behind the arc.

I won't post any statistics from these games. Look up the box scores if you like.

Dec. 20 loss at Cleveland Cavaliers, 94-90

Jan. 27 loss vs. Cleveland Cavaliers, 98-95

Jan. 25 loss at Dallas Mavericks, 112-105

Bynum did not play, but Bryant scored 40 points.

Nov. 20 loss vs. Utah Jazz, 120-96

Why revisit all of these scores?

The conclusion should be obvious. The Mavericks and Jazz already had a losing record to the Lakers before Gasol showed up, but the rest of these teams handled a productive Bynum and Bryant's lethal scoring. Even Odom produced several nice outings.

Had Kupchak not fleeced Memphis, we wouldn't be talking about the Lakers as the best team in the NBA, the Western Conference race wouldn't be a joke and Boston would likely have played a much tighter series with a dominant San Antonio back in June.

Kupchak deserves credit for assembling a terrific supporting cast that includes ball thief Trevor Ariza, feisty shooter Sasha Vujacic and Josh Powell. Give him credit for resigning Derek Fisher and selecting Bynum a few years ago despite rampant criticism of the pick.

What saved the season though, and what makes the Lakers favorites this year is Gasol.

No bull: Chicago fails to land its low post threat

Just one season removed from its best campaign since the Michael Jordan era, Bulls owner Jerry Reinsdorf and GM John Paxson had chances to get both Kevin Garnett and Pau Gasol before the 2007-2008 season began.

The Bulls clearly lacked an inside presence to compliment the wealth of streaky jump-shooters.

In some contests Ben Gordon would go off for 32 points and the Bulls would win by a hair. In others that year, the team would miss 20 treys, most of them bad looks, and lose by a bunch.

Would Gasol or Garnett have transformed Chicago into a title favorite as each forward did for Los Angeles or Boston? No.

Still, the Bulls would be favored to reach the conference finals, and would take their opponent six or seven games in the series.

Kevin McHale helped his old teammate Danny Ainge with the seven-for-one Garnett deal, but that deal was a lesser screw job.

McHale's Timberwolves received five players oozing with talent and two draft picks.

The key to the Gasol deal was Brown's expiring contract and draft picks that may produce busts. Plus, no one in Memphis knew when, or if, Marc Gasol would play in the NBA.

Javaris Crittenton, the talented point guard thrown in the deal? He plays for the atrocious Washington Wizards.

When the Bulls failed to land Garnett, why didn't they pursue Gasol?

Even if the team had finished in the lottery, don't you think their record would have improved with such a skilled 7-footer in the mix? Might they have overtaken Philadelphia and Atlanta for one of those final two playoff spots?

Who knows? The deal that should have happened never did.

Chicago had plenty of talent that could help the Grizzlies win more games now, and the deal with the Lakers might improve Memphis in two years.

Now, two of the players who could have been packaged with a draft pick or two, Ben Gordon and Luol Deng, are seemingly on the market again. The Bulls would prefer not to part with the athletic and lanky Deng, but to build a winning team around Derrick Rose, management might have to consider it.

Deng and Gordon failed to sign contract extensions and the aftermath poisoned their play and the Bulls 2007-08 season.

Had Memphis dealt Gasol to Chicago, it would not have helped a conference competitor. Why send an All-Star to a team you might face in a first round series in a few years?

Why not send him packing East? You only play the Bulls twice a year.

Gasol changes everything

It seems silly to make such a bold declaration that a not-so-physical forward with steady numbers has changed the title race. But, everything I could dig up supports the statement.

There was Gasol, in the final minutes of the Christmas Day rematch with Boston, scoring seven clutch points. There was Gasol clogging the lane in Cleveland last Sunday, allowing Odom to go to work.

Bynum is still 21, with ample room to grow. His numbers in context of before and with Gasol show his production to be manageable.

Couldn't the Spurs easily dispatch the Lakers if all they had to deal with was Bynum?

Wouldn't they prefer to face a 21-year-old still trying to find a consistent game over playing against an All-Star veteran who fits Phil Jackson's proven system?

If you substituted Bynum for Gasol in that game in Boston last week, do the Lakers still win overtime 111-110?

There are so many what-ifs, entertaining all of them is a frivolous exercise.

There is one absolution. Applaud Kupchak for making the deal that has left everyone nauseated—especially Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich. He playfully suggested the NBA form a trade committee that could veto such heists.

After that 101-91 win over the Cavs on Sunday, Jackson told his players, "The only team that can beat us is oursevles." With Gasol in tow, they have every right and reason to believe it.