Chris Paul to Lakers: Lake Show Must Keep Making Moves to Compete for Title

Chris Paul is reportedly headed to the Lakers. Nothing can be official until Friday, but all signs point strongly to the trade going through. 

Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports reported the trade. 

Howard Beck of the New York Times went over the particulars of the trade on Twitter.

That's a good start for the Lakers. A backcourt of Chris Paul and Kobe Bryant gives the team a tremendous foundation. If nothing else, we know that the Lakers will be fun to watch.

Exciting and fun? Yes. But at this point, the team is not complete. Metta World Peace (or Ron Artest) still makes for a good defensive small forward, even if he is erratic. 

But when you look at the four and five position, where nasty points are necessary, the Lakers are now in a terrible position. 

Andrew Bynum is far too injury prone and inconsistent to be depended on for any significant production. But the situation with him is golden compared to what they have at power forward. 

As it stands now, this is a good team. They will make the playoffs with this roster, but an actual NBA title is miles away. They don't have the depth or frontcourt to compete with the best teams in the West. 

As the Sporting News reported, the Lakers do get to keep Andrew Bynum in this move. That makes acquiring Dwight Howard a distinct possibility.

While that sounds good, it's hard to imagine the Lakers not having to give up what depth they have to get Howard. Certainly Orlando would be foolish to take a Howard for Bynum deal straight up.

So, we need to clarify something. Acquiring Paul is a good move for the Lakers. This team clearly needed a big upgrade at point guard, and they just got it. 

But as it stands, this team will not be able to play for 48 minutes against the kind of big men they will face in the playoffs. 

Acquiring a player like Howard will thin the team out, but something needs to be done. They either need to add depth to give themselves a good eight- or nine-man rotation, or go for another home run in Howard. 

The Lakers would be in position to win a championship with either move. As things stand now, they will be a fun team to watch, but are no closer to a championship.

Follow @mdixon1985