Per Mike Bresnahan of the Los Angeles Times, bringing Gasol off the bench appears to be a realistic option for coach Mike D'Antoni and the Lakers.
The Lakers are debating whether to bring Pau Gasol off the bench when he returns from knee tendinitis, said a person familiar with the team's thinking.
Gasol has struggled mightily this season, averaging 12.6 points and shooting only 42%, both career lows.
The Lakers are trying to decide how a demotion to the bench would affect Gasol. If they determined it would be adverse, they'd keep him in the starting lineup.
This is a bad idea altogether. If the Lakers are wondering what effect moving Gasol to the bench would have on the veteran, they can look no further than this article.
Gasol has been a lifetime starter in the NBA and could very well be a future Hall of Famer when his career is over. Granted, all players decline at some point or another, but few former stars handle moving to the pine well.
The Lakers' power forward has already proven he can be a bit sensitive when his feelings are hurt, so one can only imagine how Gasol would react to this decision.
So, there has to be a better way to handle Gasol moving forward. Let's take a look at a few things the Lakers can do to help this situation besides benching Gasol.
Wait for Steve Nash to Return
This one is a no-brainer solution for Los Angeles.
Gasol has barely logged any minutes with Nash on the floor in the regular season, so naturally there's no telling how these two will co-exist. But it doesn't figure to be too difficult of a match as Nash is one of the best facilitators in the game today.
Also, Gasol i...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Los Angeles Lakers
