The NBA’s Silly Season is upon us.
How else to explain the latest Lakers trade rumor, this one out of the Toronto Sun.
A reliable source also told me that Lakersforward Lamar Odom (expiring this season) is another possibility in (a Jermaine) O'Neal deal. The Lakers' Andrew Bynum has not played up to expectations this season (grabbed five rebounds combined in two recent games, isn't controlling the boards like he should) and Pau Gasol is an extremely soft big.
Anyone who has watched O’Neal play this year laughs outright at the thought of this trade. O’Neal has had a nice bounce back year, and is playing good defense, but he is not nearly the offensive player Odom is and is not nearly as versatile. Plus, Odom leads the Lakers in +/- by a long shot; you had better have a great trade if you are going to move a guy like that. This is not it.
Take a closer look at this rumor — it’s from a Toronto beat writer, so we can be pretty sure that this is from a Toronto organization source. And for Toronto this trade is a wet dream, they get the better player and an expiring contract. It makes a lot of sense for Toronto to both start the conversation and to leak the rumor and hope it would gain favor in LA, putting pressure on management here.
Every leaked rumor is done so with a motive, remember that for the next few weeks. Also if the Lakers make a trade, you won’t know about it until it happens. Remember the Gasol steal from last year? Yea, just like that.
