Lakers Rumors: Los Angeles Must Show Flexibility in Dealing for Point Guards

The Lakers will go as far as their point guard takes them, which is a scary thought for their fans. The current roster is razor thin at that position. If they are going to make a run in the playoffs, the Lakers have to improve that position. If they don't the embarrassment of the 2011 sweep at the hands of the Mavericks is only going to come back. 

According to Mike Bresnahan of the Los Angeles Times, the Lakers passed on that opportunity. "The Lakers were close to a smaller deal with Cleveland for backup point guard Ramon Sessions but didn't want to part with the future first-round pick they acquired from Dallas for Odom," he reported.

Here's the problem with that stance. The deal the Lakers apparently declined gave them a chance to dramatically improve their point guard situation, get younger, get deeper and keep their core group of talent together. 

It is hard to beat a trade that offers all of that. Sessions would be a nice player to build around for the future, as guys like Pau Gasol and Kobe Bryant aren't going to be there forever. 

No, the main player whom the Lakers need to start building around is Andrew Bynum. With the exception of their draft picks, they also have very little to offer other teams on the trade market. Pau Gasol and Bynum are of course possibilities, but that costs the Lakers some of their best players. In the case of Bynum, it costs them their best youngster. 

If you're not aware of how much of an upgrade Sessions would be at point guard, the numbers don't lie. 

	Age	MPG	PPG	APG	SPG
Ramon Sessions	25	24.9	10.3	5.3	0.5
Steve Blake	32	25	6.8	3.0	0.6
Derek Fisher	37	25.3	5.5	3.4	0.9

Bresnahan might have called Sessions a "backup" point guard, but he would undeniably by the team's best immediately. 

The problem with driving a hard bargain can't be stated often enough. The Lakers just don't have a big enough championship window with this group. Bryant and Gasol don't have a long time left in their primes, and this could easily be the last real shot they have at winning a championship.

Unfortunately for Los Angeles, that shot is nonexistent if Fisher and Blake are the point guards. They were too old a season ago against J.J. Barea. I don't even want to guess what players like Chris Paul or Russell Westbrook would do in a playoff series this year. 

The Lakers don't need to bring in a guy of that caliber, they just need someone to close the gap. A point guard needs to lead the offense and knock down the open shots that come with being a teammate of Bryant. That person does not currently play on the Lakers' roster. 

Hearing that they're not willing to give up a pick is curious. They are going to have to give up some value to improve at the position and all things considered, giving up the draft pick is the best thing for the team in several different ways. 

If they can, the Lakers need to revisit this trade. If they can't, they just need to realize that acquiring a point guard is a must and there isn't a lot of tradeable talent currently donning the purple and gold. 

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