Lakers Rumors: Los Angeles' Failures Compounded by Keeping Pau Gasol

Could the Los Angeles Lakers' offseason get any worse?

They lost Chris Paul to the Los Angeles Clippers, the Orlando Magic have reportedly pulled Dwight Howard off the trade market, they traded away reigning Sixth Man of the Year Lamar Odom to the Dallas Mavericks and, oh yeah, Kobe Bryant is angry.

But amid all the disaster, it's also worth mentioning that the Lakers failed in trading power forward Pau Gasol, who severely disappointed in the playoffs last season against the Mavericks.

Sure, it's not like Gasol is a bad player. He averaged 18.8 points, 10.2 rebounds and 1.6 blocks last season before his disastrous postseason.

But when the game was on the line, when the team needed him most, he choked. When that happens, it's hard to trust him moving forward.

There's also the fact that he's not getting any younger. He's 31 years old now. At some point, he's going to start declining.

The Lakers had a prime opportunity to unload him this season before he began to decline and they would have been lauded if they packaged him in a deal for Paul or Howard.

But what they are left with is an aging team that has gotten worse and doesn't have any pieces for the future on top of that.

The chances of the Lakers finding a good deal for Gasol now appear to be slim. Perhaps they'll be able to finagle some draft picks away from a desperate team, but they likely won't find a young up-and-comer that could potentially be a piece on a championship squad down the line.

You also haven't made things very pleasant in Los Angeles for Gasol if he ends up staying. His name was mentioned in trade rumors for Paul and Howard, and now he knows he's expendable...like, say, Odom.

The culture and the talent has gotten worse in L.A.

And you thought there was drama last season.