NBA Rumors: Lakers Would Be Loony to Send Pau Gasol to Timberwolves

The Los Angeles Lakers are stuck in a bit of a predicament approaching the NBA trade deadline. Their biggest advantage—aside from sporting a top-10 all-time great in Kobe Bryant in the backcourt—lies with their size up front, namely in seven-footers Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum.

To maximize the effectiveness of their Twin Towers, the Lakers must seek out a point guard who can get them the ball in their respective sweet spots.

Yet, to acquire such a point guard would require that LA give up one of its two bigs. There are ways to do this without completely obliterating the Lakers' roster and, in turn, their chances of competing for titles amidst the twilight of Kobe's career.

Not among them: sending Pau Gasol to the Minnesota Timberwolves.

According to Chris Tomasson of FOXSports.com, the T-Wolves are in hot pursuit of the big Spaniard, fancying him a perfect partner for fellow Iberian baller and rookie sensation Ricky Rubio.

That notion makes plenty of sense on its own merits, until you consider that Gasol's natural (and best) position is power forward and that Kevin Love, Minny's two-time All-Star, is currently the best in basketball at that spot. Featuring Gasol at center would be not only a misappropriation of his talents, but also a stunt in the rapid development of Montenegrin monster-in-the-middle Nikola Pekovic.

Of course, such redundancy would fit in perfectly with the pattern of behavior previously established by GM David Kahn, who's shown a penchant, if not an all-out preference, for stocking up on players at a particular position and allowing a Darwinian war of attrition to select for the best one. Kahn's strategy has (somehow) worked out a point guard, where the departures of Ty Lawson and Jonny Flynn made way for Rubio, and at power forward, where Love conquered all, including Al Jefferson.

Kahn's concoction at small forward hasn't sorted itself out quite as successfully yet, though, with 'tweeners like Michael Beasley, Wesley Johnson, Martell Webster and rookie Derrick Williams still fighting for minutes in Rick Adelman's rotation.

Lo and behold, the Lakers' scrum at small forward has been nothing short of atrocious. Metta World Peace and Matt Barnes have sopped up the minutes left behind by the departed Lamar Odom, but have failed to do much of anything productive with them. 

Surely, adding a promising young wing player (and native Angeleno) like Williams would help the Lakers now and into the future, as would a quality draft pick or two.

But to do so at the expense of Gasol, one of the top players at his position in the league whose intelligence and post savvy make him one of the key cogs in the fragile Purple-and-Gold machinery, would be ill-advised.

GM Mitch Kupchak is well aware that, as dire as the situation at small forward may be, the Lakers biggest need is at the point, where their collection of age (Derek Fisher), inexperience (Andrew Goudelock) and injury (Steve Blake) leaves the team particularly vulnerable in what might well be described as the Golden Age of point guards in the NBA.

If Kupchak is going to give up a player of such skill and importance as Gasol, he must be sure that he gets someone in return who can man and defend the point with the likes of Chris Paul, Steve Nash and Derrick Rose, among others. Hence, it would make eminently more sense to dangle Gasol in exchange for, say, Rajon Rondo of the Boston Celtics or Deron Williams of the New Jersey Nets, assuming Dwight Howard doesn't end up on the Turnpike.

In the meantime, dealing Gasol to Minnesota for a rookie and picks, while sensible for a team in full-scale rebuilding mode, would be absolutely foolish for a Lakers team looking to make the most of whatever the Black Mamba has left in the tank.

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