Lakers Rumors: Ramon Sessions and Pau Gasol End Bellyaching over Chris Paul

Now that Ramon Sessions has firmly entrenched himself as the starting point guard/long-awaited savior of the Los Angeles Lakers, I think it's about time that we followers of the Purple and Gold revisit a question that no longer stings quite like it did up until the NBA trade deadline, a question so succinctly posed by Arash Markazi of ESPNLA.com:

"

In hindsight Lakers fans, and I know it's early, but would you rather have Chris Paul or Pau Gasol AND Ramon Sessions?

— Arash Markazi (@ArashMarkazi) March 24, 2012"

Think about that for a second. For those of you in need of a tidbit of memory jogging, ESPN's Marc Stein revisits the details of the nixed trade that would've landed Chris Paul with the Lakers, Lamar Odom with the New Orleans Hornets and Pau Gasol with the Houston Rockets:

"

The principal pieces of the original three-team deal were indeed all agreed to: Paul would be going to the Lakers; Pau Gasol was bound for Houston; and New Orleans would be receiving Lamar Odom, Luis Scola, Kevin Martin and Goran Dragic, along with a 2012 first-round draft pick from the Rockets that had been previously acquired from the New York Knicks.

"

To the average NBA fan, perhaps even the casual observer, a question like Markazi's might seem ludicrous.

"Of course, I'd rather have Chris Paul," one might say, and that would, in a sense, be a justifiable response. After all, CP3 is (still) arguably the best point guard in the game (though some guy trapped in the insufferable confines of the Garden State might beg to differ).

At the very least, Paul is still miles ahead of Ramon Sessions. Sure, Sessions is a quality young point guard with some serious wheels and an improving overall game, but he's nowhere near the vocal leader/bona fide superstar/supreme clutch performer that Paul is.

As for Pau Gasol, he's a terrific player as well, perhaps the most skilled big man in basketball (outside of Kevin Love, at the very least) and no worse than a top 10 power forward. One could argue, too, that Gasol's numbers (16.8 points, 10.4 rebounds, 3.4 assists), while impressive in their own right, paint a picture of a former perennial All-Star on the decline as his 32nd birthday draws near.

But, context matters and, in this case, context tips the scales in LA's current favor to some extent. The Lakers' clearest advantage since Gasol was acquired in 2008 has been their size in the front court. Most teams would be happy to employ even one big man who can walk and chew gum at the same time.

The Lakers, meanwhile, have two, between Gasol and Andrew Bynum, who can do that and throw lob passes to one another. That sort of advantage is not only unfair, but also something you just don't give up...ever.

Especially not with the dearth of quality pivots being what it is today.

That pairing also goes a long way toward explaining the drop-off in Gasol's stats. Bynum's emergence as a dominant (and healthy) force down low has both eased the burden of productivity that once fell on Gasol's shoulders and forced Pau to take a backseat in the grand scheme of things. Hence, the shift in Gasol's production isn't so much a sign of his decline as it is an indication of his adjustment to a new reality in LA's front court. 

Still, the Lakers clearly needed an upgrade at point guard over the well-kept corpse of Derek Fisher. Sessions is clearly that, even if he isn't anywhere near the locker room presence or intangible leader that Fisher was.

Sessions is no Chris Paul, but he's also no slouch, either. He's a talented 25-year-old without an extensive injury history who's posted triple-doubles and 24-assist games before.

But who, now in his fifth NBA season, has never had the opportunity to start consistently while bouncing from the Tulsa 66ers of the NBA Development League, the Milwaukee Bucks, the Minnesota Timberwolves, the Cleveland Cavaliers and now the Lakers.

He's also the best backcourt buddy Kobe Bryant's had since Nick Van Exel last suited up for the Lakers in 1998.

Not that the Black Mamba wouldn't mind (or even prefer) playing alongside Chris Paul, or that Paul, even with his long line of leg problems, wouldn't have given the Lakers a better long-term solution as the star around whom to build for the impending post-Kobe era.

However, the Lakers' most important directive is to win right now, to maximize however many elite years Kobe has left in the tank in pursuit of titles.

Don't get me wrong. Chris Paul would've helped tremendously to that end. 

But, in acquiring Paul, the Lakers would've sacrificed their front-court combo (and all the Lob City action that comes with it). Replacing Gasol would've required head coach Mike Brown to hand over big minutes at power forward to either Josh McRoberts, the Lakers' second-most detrimental player this year, or Jason Smith, the guy who likely would've been thrown into the CP3 deal and who's now better known as the dude who went Bountygate on Blake Griffin.  

After watching the Lakers operate as they have with Gasol and Sessions next to Kobe and Bynum, there's little doubt that LA is just as well off now, if not more so.

And that GM Mitch Kupchak deserves another merit badge for making it happen.

As such, the response to Markazi's original question shouldn't come as much of a surprise to folks in Lakerland:

"

Amazed by the reaction to the CP3 vs. Pau & Ramon question. "Basketball reasons" isn't such a sore topic in LA anymore.

— Arash Markazi (@ArashMarkazi) March 24, 2012"

Even if it may remain something of a mystery to The Association at large.

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