NBA Trade Rumors: Lakers Must Only Trade Pau Gasol to Rockets for Kyle Lowry

The days change, but the names and faces in the NBA trade rumors stay the same.

While it remains unlikely the Los Angeles Lakers will deal Pau Gasol before the trade deadline, the Houston Rockets are nonetheless waiting on standby with an offer should they relent.

And the Lakers absolutely shouldn't relent unless the Rockets include Kyle Lowry in the offer. Here's the latest, from Steve Kyler of HOOPSWORLD:

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League sources say the Houston Rockets do have a standing offer for Lakers’ forward Pau Gasol. The deal does not include Rockets’ guard Kyle Lowry, so it's deemed a non-starter by the Lakers, but if LA decides it wants out of the dollars committed to Gasol, Houston seems more than willing to send Luis Scola and almost any of the parts mentioned above to the Lakers.

"

The parts mentioned above are Terrance Williams, Jonny Flynn, Jordan Hill, Chase Budinger, Patrick Patterson, Hasheem Thabeet and Courtney Lee, a veritable grab-bag of expendable players.

I still contend a Lowry and Scola deal for Gasol is a great move for the Lakers, and if Houston believes in Jonny Flynn and covets Gasol as much as it has appeared since they nearly acquired him before the season, this deal works for them as well.

But the Lakers absolutely cannot make this move without Lowry being involved. Scola is a nice player and would be a decent replacement for Gasol, but he is not good enough to be the headliner in the trade.

Lowry, on the other hand, has been brilliant this year (15.9 PPG, 7.2 APG, 5.3 RPG) and would fill a huge need for L.A. at the point guard position. Even with a bacterial infection that could sideline him anywhere from two to four weeks, he would be a fantastic addition down the stretch and in the playoffs for the Lakers.

I don't expect anything to happen between these two teams. But if it does, it's because the Rockets consented to send Lowry to the Lakers.

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