Los Angeles Lakers Won't Pay $250,000 To Help Pau Gasol Out

To the average person, $250,000 is a lot of money. To one of the most successful franchises in sports, though, that amount shouldn't be enough to discourage them from protecting one of their top players.

A quarter of a million dollars is what it would cost the Los Angeles Lakers to bring in another backup big man. With the team having to pay luxury taxes, it would cost $112,000 to $120,000 a week to sign another big body. With starting center Andrew Bynum expected to miss another 2-3 weeks, $250,000 would be approximately what it would require too add a little more depth.

Front line depth is really needed right now.

Starting forward Pau Gasol has been taking a beating as of late. With just the undersized Lamar Odom and the inexperienced Derrick Caracter available, Gasol is having to man the center position far too often. There simply isn't anyone else available on the team right now that can help fill that void.

The lack of depth has caused Gasol to log 39.1 minutes per game, which puts him into the top 10 league wide for minutes played. 

During a recent stretch of games, the fatigue is starting to show. For those of you that need numbers, Gasol averaged around 15 points a game against the Chicago Bulls, Indiana Pacers and Utah Jazz. Not coincidentally, he logged around 44 minutes a game during that stretch.

Three weeks doesn't seem like a very long time, but it can feel like an eternity when you're traveling the country and sacrificing your body against world class athletes. 

As a big fan of Gasol, I'm begging the Lakers to spend that money.