Pau Thread: Surgery a success; now rehab & rest for 12 weeks

Center Court wrote:Bargnani... ugh. People are so worried about shooting they are forgetting D. Andrea makes Pau look like Mike Tyson. No thanks.

IMO when Pau's knees heal up and bit and nash comes back, he'll fit much better. Not dominant, but much better.

^^ I agree. It seems like most of the names that are being seriously thrown around here Bargnani, Stoudemire . . . are a lot worse than a healthy Pau on the defensive end.

I'm waaaay in the minority here, but I totally agree with Mitch on this one. I don't want us doing any more moves until we see what we have in action. I want to see all four HOF players on the court healthy together and see what D' Antoni can do with them. In the meantime, I like what's been going on with our bench guys under D' Antoni (except Hill who is being a little underutilized, but he's still playing well).

Especially as Nash apparently voiced his opinion in the summer that he wanted to play with Pau, and also because Kobe loves Pau (even if he's berating him a little with the big boy pants - that's just to light a fuse under him). I think this lineup could be real contender. I have my concerns about D' Antoni's system taking them over the hump (lack of defensive focus, running and gunning leading to poor transition D against younger teams), but I want him to have a chance and I want this personnel to have a chance. The best way to do that is to be patient and let these two guys heal up.

Hopefully we get both Pau and Nash back and healthy within the next few weeks. That will give us some time before the deadline to see how they all play together. I'm looking forward to that.

The FO at least knows that there are some interested trading partners if it comes down to trading Pau. But again, I think he will have more value next season anyway.

I personally think Pau will carry more value as an expiring contract next season than he will this season. On top of that, the offers for him are mediocre. An injured Stoudemire? Derrick Williams? Bargnani? I think Mitch is right. Hold on to him for now and for later when his market value improves with an expiring contract.

revgen wrote:I personally think Pau will carry more value as an expiring contract next season than he will this season. On top of that, the offers for him are mediocre. An injured Stoudemire? Derrick Williams? Bargnani? I think Mitch is right. Hold on to him for now and for later when his market value improves with an expiring contract.

^^ Agreed 100%.

John3:16 wrote:

revgen wrote:I personally think Pau will carry more value as an expiring contract next season than he will this season. On top of that, the offers for him are mediocre. An injured Stoudemire? Derrick Williams? Bargnani? I think Mitch is right. Hold on to him for now and for later when his market value improves with an expiring contract.

Agree. Next year it won't be "Gasol" being traded. It will be teams seeking to trade for a $20 million "expiring contract".

While I believe this is true also, we can't really afford to waste a year or Kobe and Nash's career waiting to make a trade to better the team. We also can't afford to lose in the 2nd round again and expect to automatically keep Dwight. The offers for Pau that have been reported aren't great, but if we even get a good one we should probably take it if it helps save this season.

Weezy wrote:

John3:16 wrote:

revgen wrote:I personally think Pau will carry more value as an expiring contract next season than he will this season. On top of that, the offers for him are mediocre. An injured Stoudemire? Derrick Williams? Bargnani? I think Mitch is right. Hold on to him for now and for later when his market value improves with an expiring contract.

Agree. Next year it won't be "Gasol" being traded. It will be teams seeking to trade for a $20 million "expiring contract".

While I believe this is true also, we can't really afford to waste a year or Kobe and Nash's career waiting to make a trade to better the team. We also can't afford to lose in the 2nd round again and expect to automatically keep Dwight. The offers for Pau that have been reported aren't great, but if we even get a good one we should probably take it if it helps save this season.

Weezy - I get being down on Pau, I have been disappointed in him for the past two years, but I don't think Kobe and Nash believe they are wasting this year playing alongside Pau. In fact I think it's entirely the opposite. Kobe's always had his back and Nash purportedly told Mitch that he wanted to play with Pau this year and didn't want to see him traded. So I think we need to be patient and see how it all plays out. Sounds like they aren't going to make a move before seeing this team play together, and I agree with that.

If they aren't playing well by the deadline, that'll be a different story.

Lakerjones wrote:

Weezy wrote:

John3:16 wrote:

revgen wrote:I personally think Pau will carry more value as an expiring contract next season than he will this season. On top of that, the offers for him are mediocre. An injured Stoudemire? Derrick Williams? Bargnani? I think Mitch is right. Hold on to him for now and for later when his market value improves with an expiring contract.

Agree. Next year it won't be "Gasol" being traded. It will be teams seeking to trade for a $20 million "expiring contract".

While I believe this is true also, we can't really afford to waste a year or Kobe and Nash's career waiting to make a trade to better the team. We also can't afford to lose in the 2nd round again and expect to automatically keep Dwight. The offers for Pau that have been reported aren't great, but if we even get a good one we should probably take it if it helps save this season.

Weezy - I get being down on Pau, I have been disappointed in him for the past two years, but I don't think Kobe and Nash believe they are wasting this year playing alongside Pau. In fact I think it's entirely the opposite. Kobe's always had his back and Nash purportedly told Mitch that he wanted to play with Pau this year and didn't want to see him traded. So I think we need to be patient and see how it all plays out. Sounds like they aren't going to make a move before seeing this team play together, and I agree with that.

If they aren't playing well by the deadline, that'll be a different story.

I get what you're saying, but like you said you've been disappointed in Pau for 2 years. I've been patient with him since the 2011 playoffs, waiting for the old Pau to return, and it's not happening, I'm pretty much done with him. That said, I don't love the trade offers out there already, so no rush to trade him as long as he's sitting out. Is it too soon to call Derrick Williams a bust, for example? He sure looks like one to me so far.