NBA Free Agency Rumors: Lakers Must Maintain Core After Trade for Steve Nash
The Lakers' trade for Steve Nash will be useless if they have to give up Pau Gasol or Andrew Bynum in its aftermath.
Which is why it's a good thing the Lakers are reportedly trying to avoid trading either of those players at all costs.
According to a tweet by ESPNLA.com's Dave McMenamin, L.A. isn't gearing up to trade any of its core components, even after acquiring one of the biggest prizes on the free-agent market in a sign-and-trade deal:
"Pau or Bynum trade the next shoe to drop after Nash? Not so fast. Source tells me Lakers intend to keep core intact to play with Nash
— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) July 5, 2012"
With this trade, the Lakers have arguably become the favorite in the Western Conference. In Nash, they now have a piece they have never had during the Kobe Bryant era. They have a prolific point guard—one of the best in the league—who finally gives Bryant a star with whom to share the backcourt. He gives Bryant a facilitator, a scorer and someone who is going to give maximum effort in his quest for a championship.
With that missing piece—a veteran point guard who will stop at nothing to win—the Lakers can beat anyone in the West, with one caveat: if they can also maintain the core pieces of their frontcourt.
Nash gives the Lakers the piece they were missing against the Thunder this season, when they went down in five games in the second round of the playoffs. He gives them someone who, in tandem with Kobe, can compete with Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant, not only in terms of skill level but also in terms of experience.
In fact, experience gives the Lakers the one thing the Thunder don't have but desperately need, and that might put them one notch above OKC on the Western Conference food chain.
But in order to seriously compete in the upcoming season, Gasol and Bynum need to stay. They, too, are a crucial element in keeping this team dangerous. There was a time not too long ago when nobody in the NBA could contend with the Lakers' frontcourt, as long as that frontcourt was healthy and as long as those players were buying into the system without worrying about trade rumors and loyalty.
If Lakers management commits itself to putting that product onto the court, complete with Bynum and Gasol, there is no other team in the West right now that can better contend for a title.
