NBA Rumors: Los Angeles Lakers Must Trade Distracted Pau Gasol

The Lakers cannot allow the trade deadline to come and go without shipping off Pau Gasol.

Gasol knows he is on the trading block, and he is not the kind of person that can keep that kind of drama from affecting him on the court. 

He has already been traded once this season—in the ill-fated deal for Chris Paul—and now, he is just waiting for the news to fall from the sky that he has been traded again. 

In the meantime, his performance is slipping. Let's get to his comments and then discuss why he must be traded. 

The Rumors

After the Lakers' recent loss to the 76ers, Gasol was asked if he expected the team to make changes. Here is Gasol as quoted by Kevin Ding of the OCRegister.com:

"

That might occur, regardless. I don’t know. It’s totally out of my power. But there’s always a sense that if something was going to happen before, something might still happen until probably we get to the (trade) deadline. We won’t know for sure. We’ve just got to try to forget about that, put that aside, and try to continue to play as well as we can without being affected by any of that.

"

Gasol speaks intelligently on the topic, and he alludes to the right things when he talks about not being affected by the chatter. 

The problem is, talk is cheap, and Gasol is not ready to make that a reality. 

Why Gasol Must Be Traded

The lengthy Spaniard is averaging his fewest points per game of any season of his career, and this is despite playing more minutes per night than he has at any time since joining the Lakers.

His field goal percentage is also lower than it ever has been as a Laker. 

Some of this can be attributed to playing a different role in a new offense, but there is much more to it than that. 

Gasol can't shake the fact that the Lakers tried to trade him or that he may be traded at any moment. This is a player that has proven he can't deal with the distractions. 

In the playoffs last season, Gasol's performance dropped off dramatically. This coincided with rumors swirling about him having relationship problems. He denied those problems, but did admit that inner turmoil was taking its tole.

Here is Gasol as was quoted by ESPN's Dave McMenamin: 

"

Obviously there's some tension inside of me. I guess it's—you can see it. It's tangible.

"

The trade rumors have created that tension again, and even if the trade deadline passes and he is still a Laker, they won't go away. 

He knows they tried to trade him before and that they wouldn't hesitate to do so again. 

Now, it is time for the Lakers to finish what they started and trade the big man before the situation gets worse.