Lakers Rumors: Rasheed Wallace Will Be Little Help This Late in Season

There isn't much Rasheed Wallace can offer the Lakers at this point in the season, or his career. A. Sherrod Blakely of csnne.com is reporting:

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There's at least one team apparently still with a need for Rasheed Wallace.
CSNNE.com has learned that the former Boston Celtic forward plans to sign with the Los Angeles Lakers.

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The Lakers are a bit thin up front after Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol, but can Wallace provide much for a team that needs a PG and SF more than a veteran big?

I say no.

I have always been a huge Sheed fan, but he's 37 years old, and hasn't played since the 2009-2010 season with the Boston Celtics. To say there will be rust is an understatement.

I could quote you Wallace's impressive career numbers as a snapshot into what type of player he is, but it would be more accurate to highlight what he did in his last year with the Celtics.

In his last season, Wallace averaged nine points and four rebounds in 22 minutes. That's not too bad for a backup big man, but that was two years ago.

You'd have to expect there will be some falloff from there.

Sheed has always been a solid low-post defender, and that is something the Lakers need off the bench, but there are other players available with that skill. Dan Gadzuric and Leon Powe are both younger and both played in the NBA last season.

Wallace's three-point shooting is usually a factor, but in his final year with Boston, even that dipped to 28 percent.

Without that aspect of his game, Wallace looks a bit ordinary at this stage of his career.

Can the Lakers—or any other team—expect Wallace to be in shape to contribute more than 10 minutes a night?

And how significant of an impact would he be anyway?

Not big enough to push the Lakers past the Oklahoma City Thunder and LA Clippers, in my opinion.

If this is precursor to a bigger move, then it makes some sense, as long as the Lakers' aren't putting too much stock into what they expect from Wallace.

As a stand alone transaction, it's pretty empty.

Of the Lakers' ills, the one that Wallace heals is the least of the teams' worries.

Point Guard is by far the biggest area of need; until that is addressed, the team is not a serious contender in the Western Conference.

Wallace could probably help a team closer to contention reach their goals, but with the Lakers, he'll just be another veteran watching the team get eliminated in the first or second round.