I’m really struggling to comprehend why Grizzlies owner Michael Heisley would even make these comments. What happened when his GM approached him for final approval of the Gasol trade? “Hey boss, I got these suckers on the line, I’ve convinced them to send me a former #1 pick and two more 1st rounders, and all those dummies want in exchange is Pau.” “Sounds good to me, let’s make it happen!” Seriously, what I wouldn’t do to hear what really went on behind the scenes for that deal. Anyway, I was meaning to address this since reading it on Tuesday. Check out the comments Grizzlies owner Heisley made to Yahoo! Sports regarding the trade that had Gregg Popovich oh so peeved:
“I don’t know if I got the most value,” Heisley confessed. “Maybe our people should’ve shopped (Gasol) more and maybe we would’ve gotten more, done a better deal. Maybe Chris did call every team in the league. I don’t think he did, but maybe he should’ve…”
…
“I don’t know if I got the most value,” he said.
Well, maybe, just maybe, GM Chris Wallace knows something we don’t know. Maybe the Lakers will have a poor 2010 season and the Grizzlies will wind up with a top 5 lottery pick and land a superstar. I dunno. I still don’t get that trade on multiple fronts, and neither do most people. Wallace must have been hammered that day. Had to have been. Maybe he decided, “What the eff, I’m in the trading mood today. First person who calls about Pau has themselves a deal.” And credit Kupchak for picking up the phone and being the lucky winner — least he made it happen. As for questions about the deal being fixed, if that were the case, I doubt Heisley would publicly be questioning it. He’d be standing by his GM all the way.
