Pau Gasol is having one of his worst seasons in years and the problems have been ongoing since 2011, writes Matt Moore of CBSSports.com. The Lakers are now 3-4 in the Mike D'Antoni era and the big man is being pegged by many as the team's weak link. Despite his struggles, the Lakers can certainly move Gasol and get a solid return, but they may not get a piece in return that will help improve their club. They may not have a choice in the matter, however, as Gasol is clearly not buying into the system. Here's more on Gasol and the Lakers..
- More bad news in Los Angeles as the Lakers announced that Steve Blake will have laproscopic surgery to repair a torn abdominal muscle. The injury will keep him out of action for at least 6-8 weeks and the Lakers may need to look for outside help as fellow guard Steve Nash remains sidelined.
- It's slim pickins on the one-guard front as the best available point guards are players like Mike Bibby, Earl Boykins, Walker Russell, Jonny Flynn, and Coby Karl, tweets Marc J. Spears of Yahoo Sports. We learned earlier today that Bibby is working to stay in basketball shape and is hoping to make a return.
- Trading Gasol for a power forward who fits better next to Dwight Howard would be a great idea in theory, but the Lakers don't know that Howard will be with them beyond this season, tweets Marc Stein of ESPN.com.
- Trading Gasol to the Raptors for Andrea Bargnani and Jose Calderon is a deal that would make sense for both teams, writes Sam Smith of Bulls.com. Bargnani's style is well-suited for D'Antoni's offense while Calderon would be a great backup for the aging Nash.
- Despite mounting pressure on Gasol, Howard also has to elevate his level of play, writes Kevin Ding of The Orange County Register.
I don’t understand why that would be a good deal for the Raptors…why would they even consider it?!