Phil Jackson didn’t walk into his press conference in Memphis and say “My kingdom for someone who can play defense.” But apparently privately he is saying just that.
Two different unsourced reports today have the Lakers considering a roster shake up. With the mercurial Lamar Odom in the last year of his contract, he becomes an obvious piece of trade bait, but can the Lakers get anything as good for him as the versatility they would give away?
Of course, there has been plenty of talk about the team moving Lamar Odom, and it makes a degree of sense to link the Lakers with the Charlotte Bobcats in this area. The Bobcats are shopping basically everyone, and Gerald Wallace could solve some problems that are currently facing the Lakers.
It’s hard to believe that Charlotte would do any form of an Odom for Wallace trade. But, let’s not overestimate the wisdom of the management there, which is now trying to please the Grinch-like Larry Brown’s roster desires. Of course, if they do this the Lakers would need to take on a second player for salary reasons, something like the disaster that is Adam Morrison.
One thing the Lakers should not do is trade for a point guard just because Jordan Farmar is out for two months. There are a lot of affordable and solid point guards coming on the free agent market this summer, and Farmar will return. No need to waste a trade piece on something you can get another way.
