The team has not played with the same passion or desire as other aging teams, such as the Boston Celtics and San Antonio Spurs.
Further events to push the issue more into the limelight were Ron Artest’s poor play this season and GM Mitch Kupchak’s recent announcement that the Lakers would consider hearing trade offers.
Today, ESPN’s Chris Broussard reported that the Lakers and the Denver Nuggets are having preliminary talks of a trade centered on swapping Carmelo Anthony and Andrew Bynum.
For the entire season thus far, I have been against trading Bynum for Anthony straight up.
By giving up Andrew Bynum, LA loses a lot of length, size and interior toughness that helps give the team an advantage over nearly every other club in the NBA.
In addition, with Anthony on board, Los Angeles would have a logjam at the small forward position, along with Ron Artest and Matt Barnes (both of whom are better defenders than Anthony), as well as Luke Walton.
Artest was especially key last year in defending Kevin Durant and Paul Pierce in the playoffs. He could prove useful this year against LeBron James should LA meet the Miami Heat in the Finals.
So far, LA has given up size up front and defense on the wings.
In addition, Anthony may further stall ball movement on the team and by having to learn the triangle offense, the Lakers’ chances of winning a title this year would diminish.
But here’s how a deal might make sense for both teams.
The Proposal
The Lakers trade Andrew Bynum, Ron Artest, and Luke Walton (along with using the trade exception acquired from Sasha Vujacic) for Carmelo Anthony and Nene Hilario.
For Denver, the advantages are obvious. The team gets a young c...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Los Angeles Lakers
