LA Lakers Trade Rumors: Lamar Odom, Pau Gasol or Bynum, Who Goes on the Block?
The Los Angeles Lakers have been eliminated from the playoffs, and the blame game is in full effect. Just whose fault was it?
Was it Kobe Bryant's fault? Like always, he tried to put the team on his back and took lots of bad shots. As I've said before multiple times, the Los Angeles Lakers can't tune into the Kobe Bryant Show night after night if they want to win.
Or is Lamar Odom the guilty one? He averaged 14.4 points and 8.7 rebounds this season and was named Sixth Man of the Year. Yet, he and his wife Khloe Kardashian are stars of their own reality show and rumors swirled all season that it was a constant distraction in the locker room.
Perhaps forward/center Pau Gasol is the reason a three-peat didn't happen. In the playoff series against the Dallas Mavericks, he was not the dominant inside presence and defender the fans cheered for all season. He averaged just 12.5 points and 9.2 rebounds against Dallas.
Given the defending champions' collapse against Dallas, rumors swirled about team chemistry and that either Odom or Gasol should be traded. I'll tell you right now that neither of them will be playing elsewhere next season. Odom is a solid player, be it in the starting lineup or coming off the bench and Gasol, in response to rumors about a rift between him and Bryant, put those to rest saying that everything was fine and that said rumors were the reason the team "suffered."
Rather, there is one player on the Los Angeles Lakers who should be on the trading block. If Lakers GM Mitch Kupchak hasn't already started discussing deals involving this player, perhaps he should read this piece and get right on it. I'm talking about center Andrew Bynum.
The reasons why Bynum should be traded could probably fill two file cabinets, but I'm going to focus on just two—maturity and durability.
Ever since the seven-footer was drafted 10th overall by the Lakers in 2005, Bynum has been known for inconsistent play and being injured constantly. In his six-year career, he has only played in 82 games once. Over the past four seasons, he has missed a total of 124 games due to injury. For someone who's 7'0" and weighs 285, Bynum gets hurt way too often.
This is going to sound harsh of me, but if Rajon Rondo can play in an important game with a dislocated elbow, then Bynum can learn how to play through pain. I understand that he has suffered some serious injuries, but it seems as though he only plays through the pain when pushed to. Case in point, last year's NBA Playoffs.
Rooted in Bynum's injury problems are his maturity issues. Before this season started, he gave the team hours' notice, not weeks', that his recovery from knee surgery was taking longer and that he would miss the start of the season. In researching this, I later found out that this was because he chose to wait until after he went on vacation to have the surgery.
Seriously, Bynum? You're part of a TEAM. Your health is important, and you don't just put that and your team's success at risk just so you can go gallivanting around the world.
More importantly, Bynum should be traded just for his actions in Game 4. I don't care how badly your team is losing, you just DON'T pull that kind of bush league play against the opposition. Instead, you just keep playing despite all the frustration.
That all being said, it's time for Bynum to go. The Lakers are supposed to be one of the most storied franchises in the NBA history and as long as this man is on the team, he'll only run them into the ground in the foreseeable future. Once he's gone and Dwight Howard is potentially in, the Lakers might be truly unstoppable.
