NBA Rumors: Los Angeles Lakers Must Pull Trigger on Pau Gasol Trade Now

The Los Angeles Lakers need to trade forward Pau Gasol as soon as possible.

All this back and forth, the waiting around, the rumors and the speculation—it's just too much.

Honestly, it's getting a bit silly.

The Lakers have been one of the league's proudest and most prolific franchises, but as of right now, they have literally been downgraded to a circus.

Who's at the helm of this thing? The Lakers are a ship without a rudder, and everybody can tell that they are in disarray.

There's been trouble in paradise all year long, and some of it should be expected. To go from one of the greatest coaches of all-time in Phil Jackson to Mike Brown is quite a transition—no offense to Brown.

Obviously, the team will need some time to get used to a new offensive scheme, a new personality and a new way of doing things.

That is excusable.

However, what we've seen from the organization thus far has been downright embarrassing.

Whether it be the poor offensive showings, players questioning the coach's X's and O's in player-only meetings or Kobe Bryant coming out and openly criticizing the Lakers management on the Gasol situation.

This is what Kobe had to say, via Dave McMenamin of ESPNLosAngeles.com:

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"Basketball is such an emotional game, you got to be able to have all of yourself in the game and invested in the game. We didn't have that," Bryant said after Gasol had 17 points and 12 rebounds against the Suns. "Pau, it's hard for Pau because of all this trade talk and all this other stuff, it's hard for him to kind of invest himself completely or immerse himself completely into games when he's hearing trade talk every other day. I wish management would come out and either trade him or not trade him

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The Lakers must get rid of Gasol right now, if only to bring some stability back to the organization.

Right now, general manager Mitch Kupchak is not running this organization—the media, speculation and chaos is now in control.

Friday, a rumor came out via writer Roland Lazenby's Twitter that Gasol had actually been traded:

It's obvious by now that the rumor wasn't true—either that or it's an extremely slow developing trade—but even so, Ramona Shelburne of ESPNLosAngeles reports that there was substance to it:

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While the rumor of his imminent departure was obviously overblown this time around, there was some substance behind it. According to multiple league sources, the Lakers have continued to field calls and listen to offers for the talented Spaniard. While there were talks with the Houston Rockets in recent days, nothing became serious because the Lakers aren't inclined to move Gasol unless they can get an All-Star-caliber player in return, most likely a point guard.

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The Lakers need to get this done. The distraction it's causing is making this organization look silly.

This is a team that needs stability right now, and the management is giving them anything but. It will be tough to part ways with Gasol, but perhaps it's time for the Lakers to bite the bullet and get what they can.

If it's an All-Star point guard, that would be preferable. I don't care if they get back a box of tissues and a Milky Way bar at this point.

Calming down the trade winds would be worth it, for a team desperately in need of stability and direction.