Gregg Popovich, head coach of the San Antonio Spurs, has recently expressed his concern of the legitimacy of the trade that sent Pau Gasol from the Memphis Grizzlies to the Los Angeles Lakers.

“What they did in Memphis,” said Popovich, “is beyond comprehension.”

Pop does have a point. The Grizzlies sent their best player to the Lakers in return for what essentially are four late draft picks. Sure, the Grizzlies got salary cap relief, but will they be able to sign a player better than Gasol with that cap relief?  Doubtful. First of all, Gasol is one of the better young talents in the league. Second of all, what star caliber player would want to go to Memphis?

Chances are that the trade was just a poor decision by Grizzlies’ general manager Chris Wallace. He probably liked the idea of getting draft picks and salary cap relief in a plan to start over and rebuild the Grizzlies from the ground up.

But perhaps there is more to this story than just meets the eye. Jerry West, the legendary Laker who became famous for his work on the court and his work as general manager in Los Angeles, has ties to the Grizzlies franchise. In fact, West reportedly played an important role in bringing Wallace to Memphis.

I seriously doubt that there was collusion between the Grizzlies and Lakers, however after the Tim Donaghy scandal, can we really be sure of anything right now? The trust level isn’t very high right now between the fans and the NBA – and deservedly so. West is a man who is well respected around the league but if he would have been in on the collusion, what is a likely scenario?

Theoretically, West could have hired Wallace with the understanding the Wallace would trade Gasol to the Lakers. Obviously, West would want to distance himself from the Grizzlies before anything fishy went down. West did just that in recent months as he stepped away from his relationship with Memphis.

Once enough time would pass, Wallace could go ahead with the trade. Wallace would get a clean slate to work with in Memphis. The Lakers would get a franchise bigman to help win championships as all Lakers and their fans celebrated the great trade.

Unbelievable? Yeah, probably. But if Jerry West is still a Lakers fan at heart, he’s smiling right now – whether he was involved in a collusion plot or not.