Flashback to the summer of 1999. The Phoenix Suns, recently ousted in the first round by the Spurs, were pulling out all the stops to sign promising forward Antonio McDyess to a contract extension. McDyess spurned Phoenix's offer and elected to take less money and more losing with the Denver Nuggets.

Stung by this unexpected turn of events and desperate to compensate for their obvious weakeness underneath, the Suns turned to their consolation free agent prize, Tom Gugliotta. "Googs" (as he was known), had proven to be capable of putting up All-Star numbers on a mediocre (at best) Timberwolves squad, averaging 20ppg and 8rpg in his last two seasons in Minnesota.

Heralded as the franchise's saving big man, Gugliotta proceeded to prove that putting up All-Star numbers on a playoff team was not as easy as being the primary and only offensive option on a bad club. Expectations, blown out of proportion, went unmet and unfulfilled.

Fast forward to today and take a slight detour to Los Angeles. The Lakers, after repeated attempts, were unable (or unwilling) to aquire Kevin Garnett from (go figure) the Minnesota Timberwolves. Kobe was angry, Bynum still an embryo of talent, and the rest of the Lakers a pitiful assembly of D-League talent.

The season commenced, and miraculously Bynum evolved into a 20-year-old man-child pillar of supernatural strength and potential. The supporting cast coelesced into a functional team that actually complemented Bryant, and the Lakers were suddenly contending for bragging rights in the Pacific division, where the Suns have remained virtually unchallenged for the last three years.

A mid-season knee injury to Bynum rang the alarm bells and threatened to derail the Lakers' season. Not knowing whether Bynum would be the force he was by the time the playoffs come around, the Lakers managed to swindle a curly-haired, one-time All-Star from a bad team (sound familiar yet?) in Pau Gasol.

While Gasol is certainly a capable big man, it will be interesting to see if he suffers the same drop in production that Gugliotta did after he joined Phoenix. Will Gasol's averages of 19ppg and 9rpg as Memphis' #1 option be similar on the same team as Kobe Bryant, Lamar Odom and (eventually) Andrew Bynum? If not, will he still be effective?

Remember, Gugliotta's averages dropped despite the only other star players on the team being the scoring-shy Jason Kidd and the offensively inconsistent Shawn Marion. He was the guy on the block for Phoenix. Gasol will have many more weapons around him, and his will be the challenge to produce in such surroundings.

Another concern for L.A. should be Gasol's health. Both he and Gugliotta are remarkably similar in their consistency to be injured fairly frequently, missing a few weeks here, or a month there. Gasol was unable to play Sunday because of back pain. Back issues are one of the few injuries that never quite go away, but always have a way of reappearing at inopportune times.

The guess here is that Gasol will be a nice pickup, but not the franchise savior everyone in Los Angeles envisions. Luckily for them, he doesn't have to be, not with Bryant, Odom and Bynum in tow. Assuming Bynum recovers completely, it may be enough that Gasol will turn out to be another "Googs."