It's not news that the Lakers traded a bunch of spare parts and draft picks to the Grizzlies for Pau Gasol, which is a great trade for Phil Jackson and Company. What's news is that as part of the deal, Philadelphia 76ers' volunteer assistant coach Aaron McKie is now an active member of the Grizzlies at age 35.
How did this happen? Because McKie was last a Laker, because his salary was on the books of the Lakers, and because that made him tradeable and attractive in a trade. You have to remember that this is the league where teams don't always trade for players who can help them, they trade for expiring contracts that will then free up space on the NBA's salary cap and enable the team who does so, theoretically, to sign a good free agent. I'm not totally sure on the dynamics that got McKie back into the NBA, but why is the persistence on trading for expiring, big contracts good for basketball?
As for McKie, who knows if he'll last a week in Memphis. As for Memphis, who knows how good Kwame Brown can be (it's doubtful that he'll be more than a bit player), and who knows how good the draft picks will be if the Lakers improve vastly as a result of getting Gasol.
The trade: good for the Lakers, but typical of the strangeness of the NBA.
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1 comment:
C'mon Prof... You know how good Kwame Brown can be. The answer is "Not good at all".
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