Lakers Trade Rumors: Raymond Felton Would Lead Lakers on Deep Playoff Run

The Los Angeles Lakers may have finally found an answer to their point guard woes.

According to Roland Lazenby of LakersNoise.com, the Lakers are trying to bring in PG Raymond Felton of Portland and forward Michael Beasley from Minnesota.

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I hear they want both Felton and Beasley. That's their goal. But talk is cheap right now. The source is good tho.

— Roland Lazenby (@lazenby) February 25, 2012"

While the addition of Beasley would be intriguing, Felton is the more crucial asset at this point. The Lakers are dealing with one of the worst point guard situations in recent memory, and although Felton has some issues of his own, he'd be a major upgrade over Derek Fisher's corpse. 

I've always loved Fisher, and everyone should be forever grateful to him for the work he did during the lockout. Unfortunately, his days as an effective NBA point guard are long gone.

He's only averaging 5.5 points and 3.4 assists per game, while shooting just 37.1 percent from the field. He gets murdered on defense every night, and as long as he's playing major minutes, the Lakers have no shot of advancing to their fourth NBA Finals in five years.

If they bring in Felton, however, the Lakers could get their hands on yet another Larry O'Brien Trophy.

Felton is young and fast, two words that will never be used to describe Fisher. He's shooting a similarly awful 37.6 percent on field goals this season, but he's picked it up by hitting 15-of-26 shots over his last three games.

Felton is far from perfect, but he's a legitimate starting point guard, and at this point, that's all the Lakers need.

L.A. has plenty of holes, but as the Miami Heat proved last season, if your three best players are better than your opponents', you will advance deep into the playoffs. And aside from the Thunder (maybe), the Lakers have the best Big Three in the West.

Despite his aging body, Kobe Bryant is still a ruthless scorer and shutdown defender. Pau Gasol, whose name is always swirling around the rumor mill, is still the most skilled seven-footer on the planet. And Andrew Bynum has shown major improvement from last season, proving without a doubt that he's the best center in the league not named Dwight Howard.

The Lakers have struggled this season, and at times they looked more like a lottery team than title contenders. However, they've righted the ship and are currently tied for fifth in the Western Conference.

If they bring in Raymond Felton, they'll be in prime position to make another deep playoff run.