Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports
With the trade deadline right around the corner there has been a lot of rumors and talk going across the league and today marks the first day players who signed contracts in the off-season can be dealt.
One of the biggest names on the rumor mill has been Pau Gasol. As we all know, Gasol has been on the chopping block for the last couple of years now and he has also been in decline. The Los Angeles Lakers have several holes on their team that they can fill with the 19 million dollars Gasol makes.
It has been over a week since Gasol suffered a concussion in a game at home and hasn’t been cleared to play or practice. Usually those injuries don’t take that long to heal but everyone is different. One of the things when I found out that Gasol wouldn’t play on Tuesday is that maybe the team is holding him back so they can trade him.
With Jordan Hill missing the rest of the season with hip surgery, the Lakers are shorthanded in a lot of key positions and need help. The team still has one of the worst benches in the league and is need of more athletes.
The biggest problem with Gasol is that he doesn’t fit well with Dwight Howard in this offensive system. Whether it’s a system thing or a personnel thing it’s just not working. The Lakers don’t have time to figure out if this can work or not they need to make a move to help the team right now.
Some of the players the Lakers should pursue if they become available are Ryan Anderson, Josh Smith and Derrick Williams. Those players would benefit playing in this style of offense and being around players like Kobe Bryant and Steve Nash.
