Lakers Rumors: Updates on Last-Minute Moves and Speculation

With the trade deadline drawing nigh, the rumors are becoming more frequent and more desperate. Will the Lakers do something or not? That's what Lakers fans want to know.

The answer: I'm at least 50 percent certain that there's an even chance that they might do something (but only if  David Stern doesn't veto it). 

The latest rumors around the Lakers involve Pau Gasol. (I "guess all" the trade rumors involve him. POW!)

According to the Los Angeles Times, 

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The Lakers and Boston Celtics hate each other, an animosity that extends into the front offices of the two teams. ... Not really. The teams talked last week about a trade for Celtics guard Rajon Rondo, though nothing was close to accomplished and discussions dried up. 

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And why did they dry up? 

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The Lakers are unwilling to trade Pau Gasol for Rondo, making a deal with Boston unlikely before the trade deadline Thursday. "Unless they give up Gasol, they're not going to get a top-level point guard," said a person familiar with the situation but not authorized to discuss it publicly.

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There is also some talk of the Michael Beasley trade resurfacing, according to the Times:

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A more likely acquisition would be Minnesota Timberwolves forward Michael Beasley, though the Lakers weren't willing to give up the first-round draft pick they received from Dallas in the Lamar Odom trade, among other unspecified conditions currently holding up a Beasley deal.

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And then the Ramon Sessions trade talk has not died either, but they may now have some competition according to a report today by the Cleveland Plain Dealer,

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The Los Angeles Lakers and Atlanta Hawks are two teams rumored to have interest in Sessions. The Minnesota Timberwolves, fighting for a Western Conference playoff spot, might also be calling the Cavaliers after the season-ending knee injury to point guard Ricky Rubio.

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If you're wondering why all the rumors and indecision are hampering everything, I can answer that question for you in two simple words: Jim Buss.

Roland Lazenby tweets, 

Having the future of the singularly most successful franchise over the last half-century in all of North American professional sports can be a bit of a burden, even if the only reason you have such a responsibility is that you were born to the right mommy and daddy. 

Buss sees this as an opportunity to prove himself, and as a result he's rethinking everything and then rethinking his rethinking. In the end, the Lakers will probably do something, but my guess is that it will end up enraging Lakers fans everywhere. 

Or else he'll be so afraid of giving up too much (and frankly he's overplaying his cards here) that he won't end up doing anything. That will enrage Lakers fans everywhere. 

The bottom line is that I don't see Lakers fans being happy on Friday morning. Buss looks more and more like a rich kid bent on proving his worth and those deals don't normally work out well.