Lakers Trade Rumors: Los Angeles Should Make Strong Push for Antawn Jamison

As the Los Angeles Lakers continue to seek ways to shake up their stagnant roster, one intriguing name to emerge has been Antawn Jamison. The Cleveland Cavaliers forward would provide the Lakers with some much-needed offensive firepower for the stretch run.

Ken Berger of CBS Sports reports that the two sides had initial conversations about a potential deal, but didn't get any deeper into talks than that. It does leave the door open for talks to rekindle as the trade deadline approaches, though.

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The Cavs have been "aggressive" in seeking future assets for veteran Antawn Jamison, who has earned praise throughout the organization for his professional approach to being part of Cleveland's rebuilding plan, league sources said.

Jamison has never complained or asked to be traded, but one team that intrigues his camp is the Lakers. The Cavs and Lakers spoke this week, but L.A. did not express serious interest in Jamsion, one of the sources said.

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Jamison can play either forward position, which is a perfect fit for the Lakers. He can replace an ineffective Metta World Peace at small forward to help stretch the defense. And, if the Lakers were to deal Pau Gasol for a point guard, he could easily slide to power forward.

He's averaging 18 points and seven rebounds while shooting 42 percent from the floor for Cleveland. His numbers have been even better since late February as he's posted six straight games of at least 21 points.

The Lakers offense has struggled to find any semblance of consistency throughout the season. One reason is the brutal point guard play, but the lack of a second shooter to take pressure off Kobe Bryant has been equally as troublesome.

There's no doubt Jamison would solve that problem. His contract runs out at season's end, so the Lakers wouldn't have to worry about paying him some exorbitant amount of move moving forward like many of the players available on the market.

It's also good news that the Cavaliers seem desperate to move him. As a team focused on rebuilding, he probably doesn't fit into their long-term plans. The front office is probably just trying to get something for him before he walks away.

That means Los Angeles shouldn't have to deal any of their top pieces to get a deal done. The Lakers would just need to finagle it to make sure everything works under the salary cap.

Jamison doesn't have the star power of Dwight Howard and won't fill the point guard void, but he would still make the Lakers a far more complete team when the playoffs roll around.

That's why the team should make every effort to complete a deal before the deadline passes and they are caught without any upgrades.