Lakers Rumors: Trading Pau Gasol for Rajon Rondo Would Create New Problems

The NBA rumor mill hasn't exactly been spinning fast and furious as of late, but the hottest speculation has to be the Los Angeles Lakers and Boston Celtics considering swapping Pau Gasol and Rajon Rondo. For the Lakers, however, that deal would only create another hole.

According to Eric Pincus of Hoops World, Lakers general manager may have made a Freudian slip that suggested the Lakers were interested in the Celtics' point guard. At the same time, Pincus said that sources indicated Boston has reciprocated interest in Spanish big man Gasol.

At first glance the trade makes perfect sense, since the Celtics are in dire need of a center to play alongside Kevin Garnett, while the Lakers could really use a ball handler that can take some pressure off of Kobe Bryant in the backcourt.

What some fail to realize, however, is that it won't exactly be easy for the Lakers to replace Gasol's production. Gasol is averaging nearly 17 points, 10 rebounds and over a block per game this season. He forms one of the best interior duos in the game along with center Andrew Bynum. Breaking that up would certainly be a tough thing for LA to do.

They were obviously willing to do so during the offseason as a potential trade for point guard Chris Paul involved Gasol going to the Houston Rockets, but that trade was famously vetoed. There is no denying that Rondo would be valuable as well since he is averaging nearly 14 points and 10 assists per contest this year, but I'm not sure it would be worth it.

There is no question that Bryant would benefit from having somebody like Rondo who can lug the ball up the floor. That would allow Bryant to vary his game a bit by running off screens and doing some spot-up shooting, but Kobe is extremely comfortable in his current role.

Over the course of his entire career he has never really had a point guard to run the offense. For the vast majority of his time in the league, Derek Fisher has been the Lakers' point guard, and while he has done a lot of good things, it has been Bryant who has handled the ball for the most part.

With that in mind, Bryant is probably best off with having Gasol to feed the ball to inside than Rondo distributing the ball to him. If the Lakers were to do a trade like this it would still give them an excellent triumvirate in Bryant, Rondo and Bynum, but the weakness of the team would just be moved to the interior.

Obviously Bynum can handle the load in the paint, but he'll have to team with the likes of Troy Murphy and Josh McRoberts rather than Gasol. Part of the reason why Bynum and Gasol have been so successful this year is that teams can't really double either of them, or else the other is bound to have a field day.

Solving one problem and creating another isn't going to help the Lakers improve much on their 15-11 record. That means that LA will either have to find a solution in house or figure out a way to make a trade that doesn't weaken the team in some way.

It would be nice for the Lakers to bring in a legitimate point guard, but they have had tons of success without one in the past, and if it means giving up Gasol, it likely isn't worth it ultimately.