Chris Paul Lakers: How Trading Pau Gasol, Lamar Odom for CP3 Will Doom Lake Show

Have we not learned our lesson in sports yet?

Have the failures of the Miami Heat, Boston Red Sox, Philadelphia Eagles and soon-to-be LA Angels not taught us that a few stars can’t win a championship?

Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports reports that a blockbuster trade that will be official tomorrow sends Chris Paul to the Lakers in a three-team deal that ships Pau Gasol to the Rockets and Lamar Odom to the Hornets.

The Hornets would also receive Kevin Martin, Goran Dragic and Luis Scola from the Rockets in addition to a first and second-round pick.

This move reminds me of the first thing a Lakers fan would do if they bought NBA 2K12. Bringing in CP3 solves all your worries about Derek Fisher and Steve Blake; he will likely sign an extension to stay in the second biggest media market in the country.

Too bad Paul is playing on one good knee.  He tore his meniscus during the 2009-2010 season and missed 37 games. Sure, he averaged 18.7 points and 10 assists last year while reestablishing himself as one of the top point guards in the league, yet he registered a field goal percentage that was his lowest since 2006.

That’s because he can’t create the space he used to be able to. The incredible explosiveness is dwindling. If you watched the Hornets much last season, it was clear that CP3 would favor his knee at times and didn’t go all-out until the playoffs.

Is that what you want from a guy who caused your team to lose a combined 33.2 points, 18.9 rebounds from Odom and Gasol?

Odom is as underrated a player as there is in the NBA because of his versatility. He can bring the ball up the court and guard the opponents’ center. How many other players can do that?

Gasol may be soft, but he’s still an offensive force that can average 20 and 10. He has proven to be a championship-quality center and is only 31.

I’m not here to say Paul isn’t a great player; he is going to have plenty of highlights in the purple and gold. The problem is giving up so much for a 26-year-old that is going to be wearing a brace on his knee for the rest of his career.

Maybe it holds up, and maybe the Lakers win the next three championships as Kobe Bryant challenges Jordan. Or, maybe they eat too much fried chicken and hold a dance party before the season that pisses off every other team.

The weight of the world has been placed on a knee.

(Ignore all of this if the Magic are dumb enough to trade Dwight Howard to the Lakers for Andrew Bynum. Then the championship talks can really begin.)