Pau Gasol For Deron Williams? Crazy But Possible

The Los Angeles Lakers always seem to be in the middle of every trade rumor. Ever since their season ended, the rumors have been coming fast and furious. Most of them have been ridiculous but one has surfaced that actually makes sense.

ESPN’s John Hollinger discussed the possibility of the Brooklyn Nets doing a sign-and-trade deal that would send Deron Williams to the Lakers for Pau Gasol.

After two disappointing post seasons, Gasol may not have the trade value he once had, but he is still one of the most skilled big men in the league and would fit nicely with Brook Lopez. Williams has already stated that if the Nets don’t get Dwight Howard, he’s gone so they might as well try to get something for him.

As much as I like Ramon Session, Williams would put the Lakers back in title contention. (Kind of the way Chris Paul would have. Thanks again, David Stern.) This would be the One Big Trade every Lakers fan has wanted. Everybody would finally be happy.

Whether this trade ever happens is beyond me. But it is one of the few rumors that I have heard that makes sense for both teams.

One thing seem certain, and that is Pau Gasol has probably played his last game in the Purple and Gold.

Pau Gasol To The Bulls??

Another off-season, another round of Lakers trade rumors. This time its Pau Gasol getting traded to the Chicago Bulls.

Of course its just a rumor but the Lakers are looking to trade Gasol. In fact, they have already trade him this season. Only David Stern un-traded him.

This most recent trade rumor doesn’t make a whole lot of sense for the Lakers. This first scenario involves Pau for Carlos Boozer. I don’t see the Lakers willing to take on Boozer’s huge contract when they are trying to lighten their payroll. Plus, Pau is a much better player than Boozer. The drop in talent will be too great.

The next scenario involves Luol Deng and Rip Hamilton in exchange for Pau. I like Den but the inclusion of Hamilton sours the deal for me. The Lakers need to get younger and with Hamilton, they get older.

I don’t see a trade with the Bulls happening because it doesn’t benefit the Lakers enough. The Bulls would be much better off and in a real position to challenge the Heat for Eastern Conference supremacy with Gasol in the lineup.

Its going to be difficult for the Lakers to trade Gasol because he is so talented. They will be hard pressed to find a player (or players) of equal talent.

One thing is for sure, this will certainly be an interesting summer.

Dwight Howard Is NOT Coming to the Lakers!

Sorry Lakers fans, Superman is not coming to save the day.

No sooner did the Oklahoma City Thunder bounce the Los Angeles Lakers out of the second round of the NBA playoffs for the second year in a row then the trade rumors started.

It seemed that everyone, and I mean everyone, was not pleased with Andrew Bynum’s lackluster performance in Game 5. And if his four rebound effort didn’t make them angry his “I’ll play anywhere,” locker room comment after the game sure did.

Of course, everyone wants to trade Bynum for Orlando Magic center Dwight Howard. I’m here to tell you that is not going to happen. Dwight Howard does not want to play for the Lakers. I spent the better part of last night trying to explain that to all the broken hearted Lakers fans on Twitter, but they just wouldn’t listen.

Howard has made it pretty clear that he does not want to play with Kobe Bryant and the Lakers. In fact, the only reason he signed on for another year with the Magic is because they threatened him with a trade to the Lakers. It was reported after this season’s trade deadline that the trade was agreed to between the two teams.

And why would you want to trade Andrew Bynum anyway? I know he can be a bit immature and stubborn at times but his upside is so great you would be a fool to trade him. The only center who might be better than him is Howard and he’s not coming. So what are your choices? Tyson Chandler? Joakim Noah? Al Jefferson? None of those guys are even close to Bynum’s skill level.

Not only is Bynum going to stay, I think you will see the Lakers build a team around him. Kobe is on his way out. He has maybe two or three seasons left in him. And those aren’t going to be high level seasons.

Whether you like it or not, Andrew Bynum is the future of the Lakers.

What’s Wrong With The Lakers?

I’m not even going to go into detail of last night’s beatdown the Lakers suffered at the hands of the Denver Nuggets. We all saw it. We all were sick about it.

I want to look forward. I want to look towards Game 7 and what the Lakers are going to have to do to win that game.

I think it’s pretty obvious that Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum are going to have to play better. And I believe they will play better because they couldn’t play any worse. Watching two seven-footers take jump shots and continually get beat on the inside is maddening. It’s almost like Pau and Drew forget that they are SEVEN FEET TALL.

Last night Pau played like he did during last season’s playoffs. When he wasn’t getting pushed around by players smaller than him he was moping up and down the court acting like his dog just died. (Either that or his girlfriend left him again.)

Andrew Bynum had one of the most lackluster double-doubles I have ever seen. Anybody who watched that game would have told you there was no way he had 16 rebounds.

Even worse than Pau and Drew was the total lack of effort on the defensive end by the rest of the team. When the Nuggets weren’t driving to the basket with little or no challenge, they were knocking down wide open jumpers.

I’m not asking them to play smothering, shut down defense, I’m just asking them to play SOME defense. I don’t think that’s too much to ask.

It was sad to see Kobe’s effort last night go to waste. In a game where he should have inspired the rest of his team, his efforts fell flat. No one on the Lakers seemed to care that he was out there playing even though he was suffering from a stomach flu.

Despite his illness he scored 31 points and had two rebounds. I mention the rebounds because Pau only had one more rebound than Kobe. And Pau is seven feet tall and he wasn’t suffering from the stomach flu.

If the Lakers are to win Game 7 three things have to happen. First, Pau and Drew are going to have to play like the seven-foot All Stars that they are. Second, the rest of the team is going to have to play harder on defense. And third, Kobe Bryant is going to have to be Kobe Bryant.

I can guarantee you that at least one of those things will happen.

Metta World Peace Gets 7 Game Suspension!

NBA commissioner came down on Metta World Peace with a seven game suspension for his elbow to the head of the Oklahoma City Thunder’s James Harden during Sunday’s game.

I think it was a fair decision. I was hoping for a five game suspension but I was also fearful that Stern would come down with a 10 game suspension. After all the media hype and the talking heads calling Metta a “criminal” along with other names, I thought they might suspend him for the rest of the season.

Metta’s past certainly was taken into consideration with this suspension. But it could have been worse. Think back to last year’s playoffs. Andrew Bynum got suspended for five games for his elbow on the Dallas Mavericks’ JJ Barea.

So Metta gets two extra games because of his past. I can live with that. The elbow was uncalled for and there had to be some punishment.

So this means that Metta will be out for all of the first round of the playoffs. And depending on how many games that first round goes, he may be available for the second round. And if the Lakers hold on to the 3^rd seed in the West their opponent could very well be the OKC Thunder.

If that’s the case it will be interesting to see MWP and Harden greet each other before the tip off.

Are the Lakers Better WITHOUT Kobe?

How dare I even ask that question, right?  Of course the Lakers aren’t better without Kobe Bryant. But they are winning without him. And beating good teams, too. They have won their last four games, three of them against playoff teams.

Since Kobe has been on the bench Andrew Bynum has been a monster on the court.  He followed a 30 rebound game against the Spurs with a 30 point game against the Nuggets. Can those numbers hold up once Bryant comes back into the lineup? Some people think they can’t.

This reminds me of when Linsanity hit the New York Knicks. With Carmelo Anthony out, Jeremy Lin energized the team and led them on a great run. The fear in every Knicks fan’s mind was that Melo was going to come back and screw everything up.

That is the fear some Lakers fans have right now.

Can Kobe Bryant come back and be a complementary player to this team? Would anyone even suggest this? I seriously doubt that Mike Brown would approach Kobe with this suggestion.

But if the Lakers are going to contend for a 17^th championship that’s exactly what Kobe is going to have to do.

He’s going to have to become a more efficient player. The days of jacking up 30 shots a game are gone.  He’s going to have to make due with 18-20 shots per game. He’s needs to pick his spots.

Kobe desperately wants to win that sixth championship ring and the window for him to do that is rapidly closing. His ego is going to have to take a back seat when he comes back. If he truly wants that sixth ring, he’s going to have to let the rest of the team win it for him. He will have to trust them to win it for him.

Right now this Lakers team is giving him every reason to trust them. Let’s just hope he does.

Come Back To LA, Lamar!!

Lamar Odom is looking for a new job. The Dallas Mavericks have given up on him and most of the sports writers are writing off his career.

I’m not one of those writers. I think there is only one place for him to go to revive his career and that is The Los Angeles Lakers.

Lamar belongs with the Lakers. It’s the only team he feels comfortable with and it was the team that he played the best for. After all, he was instrumental in the Lakers’ back to back championships. He was even Sixth man of the Year last season. And he is still the most versatile player in the league. Name me one other player that can play all five positions. I’ll wait.

Now, whether the Lakers will be able to get him back is another story. While he is no longer with the Mavericks, he is still under contract. Dallas can trade him to any team this offseason. The question is, after Lamar’s lackluster season, will any team want to trade for him?

Dallas can always release him and then he will be on the open market.

The real question is do the Lakers want him back? Kobe Bryant has gone on record saying he would welcome Lamar back. So hopefully that will have some sway with Lakers management.

I truly believe that if Lamar came back to the Lakers we would see the Lamar of old. He would be the x-factor that the Lakers desperately need.

If Lamar comes back to the Lakers, they can easily contend for another championship. And in the end that’s all that matters.

The Lakers Run LA!!

There was a time when people thought that the Los Angeles Clippers were the best team in Los Angeles. There was also a time when people thought the earth was flat. We all know that those people are wrong.

Sure, the Clippers got Chris Paul after the trade that would have sent him to the Lakers got cancelled by David Stern. Sure, the Clippers beat the Lakers twice in the pre-season. Sure, ESPN and a lot of other east coast sports networks breathlessly predicted that the Clippers were going to contend for the Western Conference crown.

Unfortunately, none of that is about to come true.

Los Angeles will always be a Lakers town. I said it during the beginning of the season; the only people who think the Clippers are the best team in LA don’t live in LA.

The Clippers had many new found fans during the beginning of the season but they have not been so vocal lately. And that is because the basketball world has returned to its rightful place. The Lakers are now three games ahead of the Clippers in the Pacific Division. The Clippers have suddenly remembered that they are the Clippers and have started losing games like it’s their job; they are 4-6 in their last 10 games.

The Lakers, on the other hand, are 7-3 in their last 10 games and are playing better than ever since they acquired Ramon Sessions from the Cleveland Cavaliers. He has given the Lakers a spark and has totally changed the offense. Watching him slash to the basket and create shots for those around him reminds me of the Showtime Lakers of the 80’s.

Sessions has everybody thinking about another championship. Even Kobe Bryant has come out and said that the Lakers are now a championship caliber team.

All is right with the basketball world. The Lakers are peaking at the right time and could seriously contend for the title and the Clippers have remembered that they are the Clippers and are starting slide down the standings.

It is going to be interesting to see all the talking heads explain how they were so wrong about the Clippers and even more interesting to watch them trying to explain how the Lakers made it all the way to the Finals.

It’s Time To Start Ramon Sessions!

I know it’s only been two games since Ramon Sessions has been with the Lakers but it’s time to put him in the starting lineup. Two games is an incredibly small sample size, but with this lockout-shortened season there is no time to waste.

The Lakers got rid of Derek Fisher because Sessions was coming to LA. There was no way they could justify starting Fisher when a younger, better point guard was sitting on the bench. A five-time champion gets pushed out the door but the Lakers are not willing to bench Steve Blake?

Sessions is, literally, running circles around Steve Blake. Lakers Fans haven’t seen a point guard with that kind of speed for over a decade.

I was at the game against the Utah Jazz Sunday and I must say watching Ramon Sessions run the floor is a sight to behold. It is said that he needs time to learn Mike Brown’s offense and that is why he needs to come off the bench. I don’t think that’s true. Without “knowing the offense,” Sessions has outplayed Blake in his two games as a Laker.

I’m sure he can pick up the offense in due time. And even if he doesn’t, he’s still playing better than Steve Blake. There is no reason that Sessions should not be starting. Blake has scored a grand total of zero points in the last two games. Sessions has 17 points in the same time frame. He outscored the starting point guard 17-0 running an offense that he supposedly doesn’t know. Can you imagine how good he’s going to be when the “gets it”?

I have defended Mike Brown this whole season when others were calling for his firing. However, on this issue I have to disagree with Coach Brown.  Ramon Sessions needs to start.

The Lakers may not ever get back to the Showtime era, but with Session running the point, they could get pretty close.

Michael Beasley Traded To Lakers?

As the NBA trade deadline gets closer the trade rumors are coming in fast and furious. One rumor that seems to be coming true is a three team trade that would send Steve Blake to the Portland trailblazers, Michael Beasley to the Lakers and Jamal Crawford to the Minnesota Timberwolves.

This trade has been reported as a done deal but it was also reported that the Lakers had signed Rasheed Wallace a few weeks ago.

While Beasley will be a welcomed addition to the Lakers bench, the departure of Blake leaves the point guard position in an even weaker state. The Lakers get yet another forward but lose one of the only serviceable point guards they have. This leaves the offense in the hands of Derek Fisher and Andrew Goudelock. Which is not the best situation.

The only way this trade makes sense is if the Lakers front office has another trade in the works. A trade for a point guard like Ramon Sessions. It’s been speculated that the Lakers would use the trade exception they got for Lamar Odom to go after Sessions.

Michael Beasley will help the Lakers, no doubt. But they still need to address their most glaring weakness, which is the point guard position. Trading away their number two point guard does not do that.

This trade, if it goes through, will certainly determine that rest of the Lakers’ season. Let’s just hope that it has a positive effect.