That rumor was fun while it lasted, but it was killed on Thursday night shortly before the Lakers took on, and ultimately beat, the Celtics.
The Lakers do, however, need a point guard. Mitch Kupchak hinted as much to Lakers.com last week and Adrian Wojnarowski, of Yahoo! Sports, dove into the team's point guard dilemma on Friday.
The key passage of Wojnarowski's report is this one: "Everyone knows the Lakers need a point guard, and the price of a top playmaker remains the same: Gasol."
Wojnarowski notes that the Houston Rockets still have "a longing" for Gasol, but they would be pretty reluctant to part with Kyle Lowry.
The Lakers might be able to get Kevin Martin or Luis Scola, but it's likely that the Lakers will only move Gasol if it means solving their point guard woes.
It doesn't need to be argued that the Lakers have a point guard problem. They do. Derek Fisher has never been a major contributor, but in the past, he always had the ability to come up with a clutch shot (or a clutch flop). This year, Fisher's shooting has been awful and he's only giving the Lakers about 26 minutes a night.
The guys next to Fisher on the depth chart leave a lot to be desired. None of them represent a better option than Fisher, meaning the team's point guard dilemma will not be solved in-house.
Trading Gasol for a top point guard would improve the Lakers dramatically. It's true that they would no longer have the luxury of having two dominant big men in Gasol and Andrew Bynum, but it must be kept in mind that Gasol has taken a backseat to Bynum anyway. A point guard who could step in and distribute and do a little scoring would more than make up for Gasol's absence.
There's also no telling what kind of positive effect a top point guard could have on Kobe Bryant...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Los Angeles Lakers
