Los Angeles Lakers Rumors: 8 Reasons Pau Gasol Is as Good as Gone This Offseason

The Los Angeles Lakers experienced a second straight elimination in the Western Conference Semifinals this postseason, and as is expected the basketball world is reacting with it's usual level-headed, collected, logical thoughts. Yeah, right.

Most people that have any kind of thought on basketball-related topics seem to think that either Pau Gasol or Andrew Bynum will be shipped out of Los Angeles before the 2012-13 season even tips off.

However, as it seems right now, Pau Gasol is the more likely trade option. He's older, closer to the end of (or even past) his prime and would still bring enough back to make the Lakers visibly better.

There are plenty of reasons why Gasol is as good as gone right now in Los Angeles, so the big man might as well start packing up his bags and get some realtors on the line in a few select NBA cities.

8. Gasol Seems to Be on the Downside of His Peak

Pau Gasol will be turning 32 in July and he'll be going into his 12th season in the NBA at the start of the 2012-13 season.

Now, Gasol is obviously still one of the best finesse big men in the NBA, he's a smart player and he knows how to play the game, but it could be that his best years are behind him, or are about to be.

Gasol will average a double-double next season for whatever team he plays for, but if he continues like he has been over the past year or so, he'll also continue to look sluggish at times and will make you question how many all-star years he has left.

7. Gasol's Previous Two Playoff Performances

After being one of the main reasons that the Lakers won titles in 2009 and 2010, and the reason that the Lakers won Game 7 of the NBA Finals against the Celtics in 2010 with his 18 rebounds, Pau Gasol has struggled for two straight playoff runs.

He shot miserably in both years, dropping below 45 percent shooting in both and averaging well below his regular season averages in both points (12.1 in 2011 and 13.5 in 2012) and rebounds (7.8 in 2011 and 9.5 in 2012).

The Lakers don't need Gasol to play well in the regular season; they're going to make the playoffs with or without him. However, they need him to play well in the playoffs, and if he doesn't then what use is he to the team?

6. Los Angeles' Large Number of Holes

If the Lakers go and trade Andrew Bynum it's going to be for a superstar the likes of Dwight Howard, but what does that do? It gives the Lakers another superstar to play alongside Kobe Bryant, but it leaves them with a weak bench, no wing scorers and an aging roster.

However, Gasol's likely trade scenario will be like breaking a $20 bill. Gasol will likely bring back two very good players and another role player if the Lakers are to get the most out of him.

In the end, it seems like that may be the best-case scenario for the Lakers.

5. Kobe Bryant's Lack of Trust

There were a few telling moments from Kobe Bryant in the past few weeks when it comes to trust and his teammates. First, after the Lakers lost to the Denver Nuggets in the sixth game of the first round, Kobe called out his teammates (save Metta World Peace) for their lack of effort. Second, after their game four loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder, Kobe placed quite a bit of blame for the loss on Pau.

Now, the Lakers aren't the Cleveland Cavaliers of a few years ago, and they're not catering to their superstar player like the Cavs did, but they're not ignoring him altogether.

At the end of the day, a happy Kobe is a good Kobe.

4. They Already Traded Him Once

If the Lakers were ready to get rid of Pau Gasol at the beginning of this season, why would anything be different after the season ended?

After all, they were ready to trade Gasol after the Lakers suffered an early (for them) playoff exit last year and it led to tense nerves in Los Angeles. Now the same thing has happened, the nerves are even more tense and the Lakers are worse off than they were before the season started.

Chris Paul isn't coming to town in exchange for Gasol, but they can definitely do a lot to help their team with the players they could get for Gasol.

3. Interest in Him Is Still High, Presumably

Before the season started and Pau Gasol was traded (and then untraded) to the Houston Rockets, Houston GM Daryl Morey was stoked to have one of the most talented big men in the league.

Then, as the trade deadline approached and the Lakers were looking for players to add for their playoff push, news came out that Houston was still interested, as was Minnesota.

Six months ago the Rockets wanted him. Three months ago the Rockets and Timberwolves wanted him. There's no way the past three months did so much damage to his reputation league-wide that his value dropped far enough to make these teams lose interest.

2. Public Opinion Has Gone Against Him

Why am I writing about the Lakers trading Pau Gasol? Well, because that's what the people want.

Whenever the Lakers don't win a championship (over the past five years or so, at least) Los Angeles goes into an uproar and the public starts to turn on one player or another on the Lakers.

This year, the public has turned completely against Gasol, and while that alone isn't going to lead to Gasol's trade, it's certainly not going to help his case.

1. The Lakers Are Going to Make a Move

We don't exactly know what the Lakers are going to look like at the beginning of the 2012-13 season, but if we are to believe Mitch Kupchak, they are going to look different.

Kupchak may fear for his job, or he may just realize that the Lakers aren't built well for a championship run. Either way, it's obvious that the Lakers will at least try to make a big move this offseason, the only question is who moves where.

At this point, it makes more sense to hang onto the future of their franchise in Andrew Bynum and build a team to complement him and Kobe Bryant, rather than be stuck with a team centered around three (or two) star players should the Lakers trade Bynum (or Bynum and Gasol) for Dwight Howard.

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