Lakers Rumors: 5 Reasons Pau Gasol to Minnesota Is a Good Deal

Pau Gasol to the Timberwolves for Derrick Williams and draft picks is a good deal for both teams.

According to FoxSports.com’s Chris Tomasson, the Minnesota Timberwolves are offering Williams and picks for Gasol and that the only untouchable players on the Timberwolves are Ricky Rubio and Kevin Love. According to the same report, the Timberwolves think that a combination of the two Spaniard sensations Ricky Rubio and Pau Gasol would be “enticing."

This deal would definitely benefit the Timberwolves in the short run and the Lakers in the long run—which the Lakers may need to start focusing on. 

The Future

The Lakers need to address their future plans with their team.

Kobe Bryant is 33 years old, and he is not getting any younger. The Lakers need to plan a future without Kobe. That future should not be with Pau Gasol.

Pau Gasol is 31 years old, and he will likely regress when Kobe is about to hang it up. Gasol is not going to get any better, if anything his skills have already started to diminish.

On the other hand, Derrick Williams was selected with the second pick in the 2011 NBA Draft—it’s clear that he has talent and plenty of potential. Williams would not only give the Lakers hope for the future, but he will definitely keep the size advantage alive for the Lakers even beyond Kobe’s departure—with Andrew Bynum or Dwight Howard.

 A front court of Derrick Williams and Andrew Bynum will be a dominant one for the next decade. 

Make Lakers More Enticing for Free Agents

With Kobe near the end of his career, and the lack of development the Lakers usually produce with young talent, the Lakers are going to look to sign a big free agent sooner than later.

With the addition of Derrick Williams, the Lakers will make him the selling point to any free agent that wants to join. Williams’s talent may be able to lure in a top point guard who would want to play with Williams and Bynum for a long time.

With Gasol likely on his way out in 2014 and Kobe's expiring contract in the same year, an enticing free agent would most likely look to another team because of the lack of talent left on the Lakers. Also, with the talent Williams has, the Lakers could offer a point guard the chance to play with Williams, and compete with the other incredible point guard and power forward combo in Los Angeles. 

Draft Picks

Based on the report from Chris Tomasson, the Timberwolves will be sending draft picks to the Lakers as well. The Lakers could use those picks to develop great young talent, or trade for young talent around the NBA.

It is necessary that the Lakers look to add more youth to a team full of veterans. Along with Kobe and Gasol, Luke Walton, Metta World Peace and Derek Fisher are all on their way out of the NBA. The Lakers need to draft young players to help fill these voids on the Lakers' bench and in the starting five.

The Lakers have already done a good job by selecting and developing the talented Andrew Goudelock and Darius Morris—with more draft picks like this, the Lakers may be able to put together a strong team after Kobe’s departure.

The Lakers do not want to suffer after Kobe retires, the same way the Bulls did when Jordan finally hung it up. The Bulls have just recently become one of the best teams in the NBA—more than 10 years after Jordan called it quits.

Have a Better Chance at Trading for a Point Guard

The Lakers want to move Gasol to fix their point guard position, but they may have an easier time doing it with Williams and not Gasol.

With the addition of Derrick Williams, the Lakers will have yet another enticing trade piece. It may sound crazy, but the Lakers should consider trading for Williams just so they could use him as trade bait to secure an All-Star-caliber point guard like Rajon Rondo or Deron Williams.

Derrick Williams is a much more enticing player for teams than Gasol is—especially for the Nets and Celtics. Both the Nets and Celtics are looking for youth, and not a veteran close to the end of his career. Williams will be a great piece for a team to build around, especially a team that is entering rebuilding mode like the Celtics are.

Or maybe the Lakers should not go through that hassle and try to pull off a three-team trade with one of these teams—ether way, the Lakers seem eager to find a solid point guard and they may not stop until they get one. 

Dwight Howard

Dwight Howard will most likely become a Los Angeles Laker as soon as Pau Gasol gets traded anywhere. If the reports by RealGM.com were true about Howard not wanting to be the Lakers third option, then this will definitely alleviate that concern for Dwight Howard.

Derrick Williams would become the Lakers third option because of his age and inexperience, leaving Kobe as the first option and Howard as the second—something that Howard would expect from playing with Kobe, even though he reportedly is not interested in that either. 

Williams will most likely be on the Lakers for the next decade if this trade goes down, and by the time Kobe retires, Williams will likely be in his prime and produce the way NBA scouts thought he would. If you thought Bynum and Williams would be a dominant front court, then imagine how dominant a front court of Howard and Williams would be. Dwight Howard would then be the number one option on the Lakers and have a Tim Duncan like sidekick in Derrick Williams for the foreseeable future. 

If the Lakers execute this trade with the Timberwolves, then expect the Dwight Howard trade to go down faster than the Dow Jones did in 2008. 

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