Lakers Trade Rumors: Pau Gasol for Luis Scola and Kyle Lowry Would Be Nice Move
If the Los Angeles Lakers do, indeed, decide to trade Pau Gasol before the NBA trade deadline on March 15th, they could certainly do worse in return than, say, Luis Scola and Kyle Lowry from the Houston Rockets.
According to Sam Smith of Bulls.com, the Rockets are still interested in acquiring Gasol, whom they nearly nabbed in a three-team deal in December that would've sent Chris Paul to the Lakers and Scola, Goran Dragic and Kevin Martin to the New Orleans Hornets.
As Smith notes, a swap of Gasol for Scola and Lowry would make eminent sense for both teams:
"The Rockets are said to be high on Goran Dragic and Jonny Flynn to replace Lowry, and the Lakers desperately need a point guard under Mike Brown’s system.
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Scola may not be nearly as skilled a big man as is Gasol nor as good a rebounder, but, to his credit, he's similar in age to Gasol and sports the sort of mid-range game that would presumably make him a better complement in the middle to Andrew Bynum, on whose space Gasol often infringes.
At the very least, Scola would provide Lakers head coach Mike Brown with a serviceable replacement at power forward. As for Lowry, he'd give the Lakers a young borderline-All-Star to plug in at the point, where they've struggled so mightily this season.
Though small for just about any position, Lowry carries with him a ton of strength and tenacity to compete with bigger, longer players at the point and post triple-double lines on a given night.
Lowry is a ways off from the likes of CP3, Deron Williams, Steve Nash and Rajon Rondo, though he's still far better than anything the Lakers could possibly squeeze out of Derek Fisher or Steve Blake for the rest of the season.
And certainly, Kobe Bryant—after 16 NBA seasons and the incalculable mileage that comes with it—wouldn't mind playing alongside someone capable of controlling the ball and creating shots for himself and others.
That being said, this scenario isn't exactly a slam dunk for LAL.
Without Gasol, the Lakers would no longer boast the ability to overwhelm opponents with a pair of skilled seven-footers in the half court, an advantage that would presumably become even more pronounced when the pace of play slows down in the postseason.
Nor is this particular trade anywhere beyond pure rumor at this point in time.
But, if the Lakers are truly determined to turn Gasol into a bundle of pieces with which to fill the gaping holes on their roster, they wouldn't exactly be unwise to prey on the Rockets' yearning for a post player in pursuit of Scola and Lowry.
