When the Memhpis Grizzlies agreed to trade Pau Gasol back in 2008, many thought that the Los Angeles Lakers will benefit more from it as they only gave up two future first round picks and a trio of players not part of their rotation for the services of one of the better big men in the league during that time.

Eight years after the blockbuster deal, Grizzlies general manager Chris Wallace discussed the reason he pulled the trigger on that move and why it turned out to be the best scenario for his team.

“I think the deal that set us up for the future was the Pau Gasol trade. We didn’t really do anything dramatic in the (2007) offseason, we go into the season, and I could just tell with Pau Gasol that his candle had been doused. He really didn’t want to be with us anymore. His spirit wasn’t there, wasn’t in it. And we had a couple more years with him.”

Dealing Gasol paved the way for Wallace to build the core of Marc Gasol, Mike Conley, Tony Allen, and Zach Randolph. The Grizzlies have become a perennial playoff team with them and seems poised for a deep playoff run this season.

“I felt we set ourselves up for the future, and if the Lakers win a championship, so be it. Both teams are supposed to, in theory, profit in a trade. That’s not my problem what the Lakers got out of it or what issues it caused competitors of the Lakers. I’m working for the Grizzlies and trying to set our franchise up for the future, and I think as time has proven, nobody had a deal that put us in a position to chart a new course for the future like that deal did, and it worked out.”

“Not only did we pick up Marc, that salary cap room was later used to trade into with the Clippers for Zach Randolph. At one time when we first got into the playoffs, the 2010-11 season, we had seven to nine players on the team that, if you traced their roots how they got to Memphis, you could trace to that deal.”

It might not have appeared as a good deal for the franchise back then, but Wallace's decision proves that it's not always about improving on the present as it's equally as important to plan for the future as well.