Lakers Trade Rumors: L.A. Must Target Ramon Sessions over Rajon Rondo

With trade rumors surrounding a Lakers team clearly in need of both immediate and long-term help, many have speculated that the Lakers will trade for Celtics superstar Rajon Rondo.

Assuming the Lakers have an ounce of common sense in their body, however, LA will hold onto Gasol and instead make a move for point guard Ramon Sessions as the trade deadline grows closer. The Lakers have been a perpetual source of rumors all year, and have been linked to the likes of Chris Paul, Dwight Howard, Ramon Sessions, Michael Beasley and Rajon Rondo over the course of one season.

To land Rondo, the Lakers would be forced to sacrifice big man Pau Gasol. Gasol, a core piece to the nucleus of the Los Angeles Lakers team that won two consecutive titles for Los Angeles, would provide Boston with the depth on the boards that they’ve lacked since they traded Kendrick Perkins this time last season.

In the Western Conference, the Lakers have a desperate need for a viable point guard with the aging Derek Fisher slowly seeing his career come to a close. Unfortunately, backup Steve Blake does not look to be a replacement worth much for the squad and there are no real prospects waiting in the wings.

For both teams, however, a trade wouldn’t make very much sense.

Gasol hardly embodies the M.O. of the Boston Celtics culture. Known for mental toughness and aggressive play, Gasol is known around the league for being a “soft” big man. Because an elite big man in Andrew Bynum and a superstar shooter in Kobe Bryant surround him, his style of play is a perfect fit for Los Angeles. In Boston, the aging offense would not complement his style of play as well.

Rondo demands the ball—something the Lakers could hardly afford on a team that already features Kobe Bryant—and draws a lot of attention both on and off the court. When the Lakers already have a Kobe Bryant, a player like Rondo would struggle to coexist in a natural way.

Los Angeles would be wise to take advantage of the fact that Ramon Sessions is on the market and stop their silly flirtation with their archrival, Boston.

All the trade speculation is doing for Rondo is making him “go gorillas” in Boston, causing writers at Grantland to speculate that the rumors are causing his sensational play in recent games. This could explain his stat line of 18 points, 17 rebounds and 20 assists against the Knicks last week. Could this Lakers talk be serving as a motivator?

The Lakers need an athletic gunner like Sessions to be a field general and secondary scorer for their offense. They can score him without getting rid of any of their primary assets (Bryant, Gasol or Bynum) and he fits in line with the Los Angeles trade exception that they received from the Dallas Mavericks.

Now that Dwight Howard has made it clear that he is interested in joining the Los Angeles Clippers and the Miami Heat and that a legitimate run at Howard to L.A. is unlikely at best, it would be wise for Los Angeles to pick up the slack in other areas by hoping to land a proven point guard in Ramon Sessions.

Sessions is averaging 10.6 PPG, 5.1 APG and 4.0 RPG. Against Houston on Sunday, Sessions scored 15 points with seven assists and four rebounds. He is a huge improvement over Fisher (5.7 PPG, 3.4 APG) and Blake (5.6 PPG, 3.5 APG). But in his starts above Kyrie Irving, he is shown that he has what it takes to succeed in the NBA.

At only 25 years old, he is a player to build around for the future.

With Bynum and Gasol on the team, they’d maintain their dominance on the glass and in the paint—an option very few teams can competitively keep up with. With the trade deadline swiftly approaching, don’t be surprised to see Sessions in purple and gold by the week’s end.

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