Nice! Kwame Gwone, Pau Now.
Today the Lakers traded Kwame Brown, Javaris Crittenton, and two first-round draft picks for Memphis big man Pau Gasol! This is a great pickup and should help the Lakers front court fill in after injuries to Andrew Bynum, Trevor Ariza, and Luke Walton. Granted, Pau is not a domineering big man - he's got range and speed and plays suspect D at times - but his numbers are impressive - 18.9 ppg and 8.8 boards/game, 50.1% field goal average, 81.9% free throw shooting, and nearly 1.5 blocks/game so far this season. And best of all, they finally got rid of Kwame! So long.
I'm certain that it will take Gasol some time to integrate into the Lakers offense, but once he's worked into the system he will no doubt make important contributions. And just wait until Trevor and Andrew get healthy. I'd love to see Phil try out a "big & quick" lineup of Kobe and Lamar in the backcourt; Trevor or Luke as the shooting forward; and Bynum and Gasol in the front court. Speed and size. This lineup would cause mismatches with so many teams. Get Lamar or Kobe on the post on a small guard, and either back them down and score or pass to a cutter when the double team comes.
Go Lakers!