As Marc Stein of ESPN.com reports:
"Sources with knowledge of the Lakers' thinking say that the team is already trying to create a backcourt opening, having made it clear to the rest of the league that Chris Duhon and Steve Blake are available via trade to any interested party willing to absorb one of those contracts."
Let me start by saying that Duhon and Blake would both be better than purported target Derek Fisher. Like, much better. Did Mitch Kupchak even watch the Playoffs last year? Or did he just recoil into hibernation after the Lakers were eliminated? Fisher was awful! Saying he's over the hill is a massive understatement: He's so far past the hill, he can't even see the hill. The hill is a dot to him!
But I'll digress. The more pressing issue is whether Steve Blake or Chris Duhon will be traded, and if so, which one it will be. There are two questions to ask here:
1. Does It Even Matter?
Why do we care? The Lakers have Steve Nash! He's gonna be playing all the important minutes; why does it matter who defers to Kobe while Nash is on the bench?
Well, not so fast. Having Nash actually makes the backup point guard positions more paramount than they already were. Although his stats don't reflect it, Nash is 38 years old, and has been suffering from chronic back problems for years. The Suns, and their notoriously good training staff, gave him regimented in-game rest during his Phoenix tenure, giving rise to super-subs like Goran Dragic.
So, yeah. Nash's backup does matter. And although Darius Morris is also in the mix for minutes, whomever doesn't get traded will be looked at as a ballast of veteran stability should Morris be too raw. This argument does actually matter. Which brings us to....
2. Which Player Should St...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Los Angeles Lakers
