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This is really something. I'd normally now lapse into some kind of analysis of this deal, but I put most of those thoughts together already.

Ignoring the Grizzlies, let's talk about the Lakers. This is an exciting time for them.

ESPN's John Hollinger writes on his blog (Insider):

Yes, [Gasol] is a little soft. He's also one of the quickest 7-footers in the league and can shoot, handle and pass. That last item is important -- he'll share the ball and play nice with Kobe, and he'll be very effective from the high post in the triangle while Andrew Bynum takes the low block.

As for the soft part, that should be a lot less of an issue now that he's finally surrounded by big guys who can handle the dirty work. His softness was a much bigger problem on a Memphis team laden with other softies than it will be if Andrew Bynum and Ronny Turiaf have his back. ...

Can the Lakers win the title with this team? Absolutely. That doesn't mean they will, mind you, but L.A. has the best team on paper once Bynum comes back. The lineup of Gasol, Bynum, Lamar Odom, Kobe and Derek Fisher, backed by one of the league's deepest benches, should strike fear in the hearts of other Western teams -- especially with Phil Jackson coaching them. Given how even things have been in the West so far, you'd have to look at L.A. as the favorite.

He may be a little soft, but Gasol is not without swagger.

Some things to consider in all the excitement:

• If Memphis is in fire sale mode, two other things that one would deduce might be on the trading block are Mike Miller and ... the entire Grizzlies franchise. Easier to sell a team with smaller financial obligations, and cap room for a new owner to use to put his own imprint on the team.
• The Aaron McKie part of this is kind of genius. A lot of teams maintain the rights to players they have cut. They could renounce them, but they often don't -- just in case they want to re-sign them and use them in deals like this. As I'm told McKie's agent Leon Rose pointed out to the Lakers, his cap hold was the right size to make a deal like this work. Meanwhile, McKie is an unpaid assistant coach in Philadelphia, and ends up getting a nice payday. He owes Leon Rose a nice fruit basket or something. 
• Mike Conley, Kyle Lowry, and Javaris Crittenton? Not sure that Memphis needed another point guard with potential. There seems to be more news to follow there.
  
• Lots of people have assumed that Juan Carlos Navarro must be sad about the departure of his buddy. Maybe so. That's not a bright spot for Gasol, I'm sure, either, who finally had a friend in Memphis. But you have to look at the bright side. And the bright side for Navarro is that now he might get some more touches, and maybe even a play run for him once in a while, as Iavaroni will need to find points.

More Important Than Anything: How is Andrew Bynum Doing?
If you have been watching ESPN TV, then you might have heard Ric Bucher say that he has heard Andrew Bynum could possibly miss the rest of the season. This is a key piece of information about which, obviously, I would like to know more. It's in here:

Healthy Andrew Bynum is an essential ingredient if we're going to be talking about titles in Los Angeles (Lakers/Celtics redux?). I'm sure over the next few weeks we'll learn a lot more about Bynum, and not being a doctor and not having seen his knee I'm in no position to speculate.

However, if we end up looking back on today as the day we learned that Gasol is in and Bynum is out, then this is not a great day for Laker fans after all.