Originally Posted by Rawse

I think we're in the same or at least similar boats regarding his attitude and the "When the going gets tough..." thing. I'm just not yet at the point where I want to cut bait on him. Long story short, we don't get top dollar on him if we trade him now. I'd rather have Pau Gasol play hard for three quarters a night than one or two worse players playing hard (maybe) for four quarters. Being honest with myself, I don't see us making major moves in free agency, so cap space is virtually worthless. Even if Jerry West had room to do something major, he'd either get cold feet or he'd F it up as per usual. Or he'd sign Brian Cardinal's little brother to a five-year, $30M deal.

Pau's a darn good basketball player, and there's just not many guys in the league with his skill set. I'd rather wait and see what draft pick we wind up with first. A guy like Greg Oden is the perfect complement for a guy like Pau Gasol. Kevin Durant is going to be a borderline All-Star in his first season - no matter the conference. A Pau Gasol team with Greg Oden results in a much, much better Pau Gasol. A Pau Gasol team with Kevin Durant and Rudy Gay, let alone Lowry and Miller, presents a huge matchup problem for the opponent. I like the idea of having the other team having to figure us out for a change instead of the other way around.

My stance is that by trading Pau, we get back a lesser talent, who doesn't create nearly as interesting potential starting lineups next season. Pau does need to cinch up his sack until that happens though, no doubt.