L.A. Lakers' New Small Forward? Why Tayshaun Prince Makes More Sense

Over the course of the past year, the media has been saturated with potential trade moves involving the Los Angeles Lakers.

First, there was the Steve Nash deal.

But the Suns are not likely to deal away the face of their franchise and lone ticket seller unless he asks to be dealt. Besides, could Kobe Bryant really co-exist with a true point guard?

Then there was the Dwight Howard talk.

This is laughable at best. Would Howard like to come to LA? Absolutely. Would Orlando deal their big man for anything that the Lakers currently have? Not a chance.

Now the talk has settled on Carmelo Anthony.

Of course, it makes sense that people would talk about this. The Lakers are the two-time defending champs and they have seemingly hit a bit of a wall. They need some sort of injection of new blood to get them hopping again.

And why not Carmelo? He obviously wants out of Denver. They obviously want to avoid Cleveland's fate by getting nothing for their star. It is an obvious fit, right?

Not a chance.

First off, let's take a look at what Denver wants for Anthony. They are looking for at least two No. 1 picks and young talent. The Lakers can dangle Andrew Bynum, and Denver would certainly like the enigmatic Lakers center.

But the Lakers cannot be willing to deal away their next two No. 1 picks. They are an aging team that will need those picks to replenish their talent level over the next couple years. Or else, they run the same risk as the Lakers teams of the 90's.

Therefore, the cost of Carmelo is likely too stiff for the Lakers.

But wait a second, why even go after Carmelo in the first place?

Take a look at the Lakers right now. I am not a Lakers fan, so I can look at them objectively. This is a team with two primary issues, defense and rebounding.

They are a team that is struggling defensively. In the past, the Lakers could always count on dialing up the defense when they needed it. But this year, against elite teams, they haven't been able to reach back and find that second level of defense.

Carmelo Anthony won't help them with this problem. Anthony is an apathetic defender at best. If you bring him in, you guarantee that Kobe Bryant will have to guard the best opposing perimeter player.

Sure, Kobe would be up for it, but at his age he shouldn't have to carry the team on both ends of the court.

The second issue facing the Lakers heading towards the playoffs is rebounding. Take a look at their last five games against elite teams.

In those games against Boston, San Antonio, Miami and Dallas, they held the rebounding edge in only one of those games. In their game against Boston, they were crushed by 13 boards.

Carmelo won't help you there either. Sure, he can grab the occasional board, but that isn't his game. Furthermore, dealing away your best interior defender and big man, Andrew Bynum, gets you further away from the title than you are now.

There are myriad other reasons why Anthony wouldn't help this team. He is not a proven winner at this level. During his career, he has only had one sustained run in the playoffs. Overall, he is only a 42 percent shooter in the post season.

In fact, he has only made it out of the first round once despite having a lot more talent around him than players such as LeBron James and D. Wade.

He has never been forced to play second fiddle on a team, and in LA, he would be at best the third option on offense. Anthony has an ego, as evidenced by his past dust ups with Chauncey Billups, and this likely would not sit well with him.

With the Lakers, he would likely get only about 15-18 points per game. Would he be happy with those numbers? Not likely.

Anthony also needs to create his own offense. He works best when the ball is swung over to him on the wing and he can ad lib as he likes. That would not work in Phil Jackson's triangle offense.

And while Jackson showed the patience in the past to alter his offense to suit his personnel, he won't completely pander to Anthony.

Lastly, the Lakers have less than half of the season remaining. Would they really have enough time to gel with a star of Anthony's level? Probably not.

This move is a train wreck and the Lakers can not possibly be seriously considering this trade.

Now here's a more likely scenario. Make a trade for Detroit's Tayshaun Prince.

Prince single-handedly would restore the luster to this team.

Prince is a winner, making the playoffs in all but one of his NBA seasons. And we aren't talking a quick cup of coffee that is over in early May.

We are talking six straight trips to the Eastern Conference Finals, two trips to the NBA finals, and one title.

He also can fit into a situation where he is not the first, second or third option on offense. In fact, he flourishes in this role.

But he can get his points, as evidenced by the fact that he was still a major factor on a team where he was the only player in the starting five that was not an All-Star.

He can get his points, but he doesn't have to have plays run for him. He can post up, he can make threes and he can handle the ball. These are all things that would help LA.

And I haven't even gotten to the best part; he is a stellar perimeter defender. If you bring in Prince, you automatically have someone who can guard Paul Pierce, LeBron James or Dirk Nowitzki one-on-one.

Imagine how much more effective Kobe will be on offense when he can count on Prince to guard the opposing team's best player.

Additionally, Prince will not cost you Andrew Bynum, which means that the Lakers can count on their big man to gain strength and improve the team's rebounding.

Prince doesn't get a lot of boards, but he plays smart basketball and will be able to learn the Lakers system.

So what will it take to lure Prince away from Detroit? Prince has an expiring contract and Detroit cannot take on big salaries.

Therefore, they will be looking for expiring deals and draft picks. This means that the Lakers will have to find a third team to join the mix.

It may be hard, but it is far from impossible, and Pistons team president Joe Dumars would love to reward Prince's hard work with an opportunity to contend for a title.

Besides, Prince would jump at the chance to head home (he is from Compton).

The rumors were right, the key to the Lakers season lies in their ability to pick up a new small forward.

Just not that small forward.