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January 27, 2008
About three years ago over what I'm sure were several alcoholic beverages, a friend and I worked out a fantasy basketball blockbuster that changed the course of that particular season and is still being talked about today. I made the mistake of coveting a player too openly, and in my all-out attempt to pry Pau Gasol away from him I ended up making an absolutely brutal deal. Along with Pau, the centrepiece, I secured a Nazr Mohammed that was surprisingly productive up to that point and in exchange gave up Zydrunas Ilgauskus and Michael Redd. So, yeah. Pau had one monster game for me before an ankle injury ended his season, and Nazr Mohammed, well, he became Nazr Mohammed again. Michael Redd lit it up as can be expected, and I think Big Z was almost motivated by being dealt, choosing to stick it to me by routinely grabbing eight offensive rebounds a game. Sigh. Anyway the point, which I’ve taken far too long to arrive at, is that Pau Gasol is a valuable commodity, and while any trade proposals that involve him should be entered into cautiously, in the Raptors' case he could just be a must have. Here’s why: 1) Memphis is shopping him. Have been for a while. Everybody knows that. 2) The Raptors have a glut of swingmen and need a backup point guard, something the Griz could deal back. 3) Pau Gasol is Spanish, which fits right into Colangelo’s Euro plan but more importantly, gives Jose Calderon a good reason to stay in Toronto. 4) Assuming you hold on to Chris Bosh and Calderon, adding Gasol immediately makes the Raptors the third best team in the Eastern Conference. 5) He’s only 27 and his contract, while hefty, is locked in for three years after this one, meaning he’d be another piece of the puzzle that’s not going to budge. There are five good reasons. Now in terms of reasons why not, the best I can offer is, well, only one. To me, the only way to look at this deal as a bad one depends on your views regarding Andrea Bargnani’s ceiling, since he would almost certainly be included in any deal that brought Gasol to Toronto. Will Bargnani, just into his 20s, develop into a better NBA big man than Gasol during his time with the Raptors? Certainly Bryan Colangelo hoped so when he made him the No. 1 draft pick. Me, I’m not so sure. There’s obviously a world of potential there and odds are slim B.C. will be eager to flip his handpicked Italian Stallion given the investment he made in the 7 footer. But if he can get past all that, it strikes me as a small price to pay for another beast on the block that draws a double team with most, if not all touches. Consider an opposing front line trying to guard Bosh and Gasol in the post. Straight up on both of them at the same time is going to be a nightmare for most teams. The only way it becomes a nightmare for the Raptors is 1) Gasol gets injured and badly, or 2) Bargnani really does become the next Dirk Nowitzki. Past fantasy disasters aside, I like the Raptors’ chances in both cases.
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