Lakers Trade Rumors: Players Los Angeles Can Target Not Named Chris Paul
You thought the lockout was a blemish on the face of the NBA? It certainly doesn't make the sting of that go away any faster when you realize just how much power the NBA holds over the teams and the players, with no better evidence than the nullified trade involving Chris Paul and the Los Angeles Lakers.
A deal that would have sent Paul to the Lakers, Pau Gasol to the Houston Rockets and Kevin Martin, Luis Scola, Goran Drafic and Lamar Odom to the Hornets was voided by the front office as they declared "basketball reasons" to be the reason why. As if it wasn't already a gross a misuse of power to nullify the trade, adding in that basketball reasons was why it didn't happen shows that the NBA doesn't even need a valid excuse to pull it off.
It seemed like a fair deal, but that's in the past now and all three teams must move on.
Because of how upsetting the deal was, it caused Lamar Odom to feel unappreciated by the organization and it resulted in him demanding a trade. Odom would end up in Dallas (the same team that swept the Lakers in the postseason) for two draft picks, ending a memorable era that saw him win the most recent Sixth Man of the Year award as well as two championships.
As solid a team as the Lakers are, they still face a number of flaws with the state of their bench and the future coming to find. Speaking of the former, Matt Barnes and Steve Blake represent the lone sources of credible and consistent talent that the team can rely on. Aside from those two, the team is composed mostly of young players who have yet to crack the rotation.
The future is possibly the most frightening part of this because the intention of bringing in Chris Paul was to establish some sort of solidity to the future. Even if the Magic weren't willing to part ways with Dwight Howard for Andrew Bynum, the Lakers could at least say that they had a 26-year-old who happened to be arguably the league's top point guard.
Aside from Bynum, the team has no starter under the age of 30. Derek Fisher is 37, Kobe Bryant is 33, Metta World Peace is 32 and Gasol is 31. That's an old team if I've ever seen one and even with Bryant, stronger and more hungry than ever, they only have a few more legitimate runs in them before age and health begins to play a serious issue.
There's just too much unproven talent on the Lakers' bench to rely on, which means that looking towards a possible trade will need to happen in order to give the team some hope towards a brighter future.
These players might just be able to provide some of that help:
Dwight Howard
It just wouldn't be a trade rumor article without having to include Dwight Howard or Chris Paul. With Chris Paul no longer being a possibility to the Lakers at the moment, we'll have to go with Howard.
Turns out that the Lakers are still possibly interested in dealing for Howard, and they certainly have the pieces to bring him in. Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum could easily be offered in return for Howard's services and it would be a huge positive for the Lakers to have a proven center on the team rather than a developing center and a power forward who just averaged 11 points and seven boards in the postseason.
Howard on the Lakers would rekindle old memories of Bryant when he was busy winning titles and dominating the NBA with Shaquille O'Neal throughout the early 2000's. Bryant has been doing well with an inside-outside game between himself and Gasol, and Howard replacing Gasol would only ripen the deal.
Dwight plans on staying with the Magic, but only if they begin building a championship-caliber roster. Anybody interested in signing a contract?
O.J. Mayo
The Los Angeles Lakers have shown interest in Memphis Grizzlies guard O.J. Mayo guard prior to this offseason, and they may be interested in him again now that he is back on the trading block.
Mayo hasn't exactly lived up to the expectations that he had in high school and while at USC, but he has been solid with Memphis and has averaged as much as 19 points per game. He was sent to the bench last season in favor of the famed perimeter defender Tony Allen and may just be expendable enough for the Lakers to give it another shot.
He averaged 11 points per in only 26 minutes worth of action last season and was a little sluggish (compared to his first two seasons) shooting only 41 percent from the field.
Poor shooting percentage or not, Mayo gives the bench some offensive help and adds another slasher and perimeter threat on a team that is greatly limited in both departments.
Paul Millsap
Shying away from trade rumors over the past few weeks after initial rumors had his name brought up, Utah Jazz forward Paul Millsap would add size and scoring in the post off of a bench which doesn't have a player that can provide either aspect.
Millsap has been in the league for five seasons and was recently given his first consistent starting job as the replacement for Carlos Boozer. He proved himself well by averaging 17 points, eight rebounds and three assists per game and showed off a terrific offensive repertoire in the post.
With the Jazz currently overloaded on frontcourt players, Millsap is expendable and the team should be looking to trade for quality backcourt members. The Lakers have Barnes, Blake and a plethora of young talent on the bench, which means that this trade could easily happen if L.A. is willing to make a deal.
Paul is accustomed to riding the bench as he did so for the majority of his first four years in the league.
