Lakers Rumors: Lake Show Should Be in No Hurry to Trade Pau Gasol

A couple weeks ago, it looked like the Los Angeles Lakers organization was going to tear itself apart over Pau Gasol.

It was damn good theater. One day, Kobe Bryant was issuing an ultimatum to the Lakers' front office. The next, general manager Mitch Kupchak was issuing his own ultimatum, one that translated to: "Nobody tells me what to do."

Right now, the Gasol situation isn't quite as interesting. All the various reports suggest that Gasol is still very much on the trading block, but Gasol himself told Marc Stein of ESPN.com that there's no rift between him and Kupchak.

According to Stein, Gasol has gotten a "level of clarification" about his status from Kupchak, and that he has gotten "some" sense of the team's plans for him. 

It has been widely reported that the Lakers would deal Gasol for a star point guard in a heartbeat if the opportunity presents itself. Steve Kyler of HOOPSWORLD reported on Friday that this is very much true, though the Lakers are also open to flipping Gasol for other assets as well.

Above all, what must be understood is that the Lakers have nothing against Gasol as a player. On the contrary, they think highly of him, and that means their price from him is high.

From Kyler:

"

Laker sources have been adamant in their assessment of Pau Gasol… The team still views him as an All-Star level player and the only way they would move him is if they got another All-Star in return. The Lakers understand Pau’s price tag is scary to a number of teams, but they say they have gotten enough offers on Pau to know they could move him if they needed to, but they are not ready to move him unless it return a real proven point guard.

"

As far as "proven" point guards go, Stein reports that the Lakers are still eyeing Houston Rockets point guard Kyle Lowry. The Rockets, however, are "adamant" that they're not about to deal Lowry for Gasol, even if they do like Gasol.

The Lakers have also been linked to Boston Celtics point guard Rajon Rondo, but it's become apparent that rumor was a bunch of BS. Such was the gist of Adrian Wojnarowski's appearance on the "Dennis and Callahan Show" on WEEI on Friday.

"I've been told the two teams never ever discussed [it]," said Wojnarowski, who covers the NBA for Yahoo! Sports, "L.A. had never called Boston and they've never discussed it. I don't think it's anything that's really based in any reality."

The reality of the Gasol situation is not nearly as interesting as the perception of it. Though he is on the block, many of the trade scenarios involving him have inevitably ended up being dead ends (Michael Dixon of B/R penned a great roundup of the nonsense on Friday).

At this point, the only trade scenario that is at all realistic is the Lowry scenario, but it sounds highly unlikely that trade is going to be made. Beyond that, the most realistic trade scenario is one in which there is no trade. If the Lakers can't get equal value for Gasol, you better believe they'll keep him.

This isn't very dramatic, but it's undeniably sensible. Gasol is not as big a part of the Lakers as he's used to being, but he's still an All-Star-caliber player who is only getting better as the year goes along.

Just take a look at what Gasol did in February. He averaged 18.0 points and 12.2 rebounds per game, easily his best month of production so far this season.

Not bad for a guy who has no guarantee he's going to be playing in L.A. beyond March 15th.

Make no mistake, not making a deal before the trade deadline is not the ideal scenario for the Lakers. This Lakers team needs a boost, and Gasol is a major asset at Kupchak's disposal.

But Kupchak isn't going to make a trade just to make a trade, which is something that many Lakers fans are pining for. Trading Gasol for anything less than he's worth would not help the situation.