Although it was rumored two days ago that the trade talks between the Cavaliers and Lakers had stalled, Brian Windhorst and Ramona Shelburne of ESPN.com are reporting that talks between the teams have started back up and progressed throughout the day today.
In fact, according to the ESPN report, the talks have progressed so rapidly the Cavaliers are hoping to have the trade completed by tomorrow. The reasoning for the deadline tomorrow is because a trade needs 48 hours to be finalized and Andrew Bynum‘s contract becomes fully guaranteed if he’s not released by Tuesday. The Lakers (and other teams) are looking at trading for Bynum as an easy way to lower their payroll (via immediately waiving Bynum) in the middle of a season. This is especially important to the Lakers as they are trying to avoid the dreaded repeater tax.
According to Windhorst and Shelburne, the Lakers desire to obtain a young player or a draft pick in exchange for Pau Gasol appears to be what has been stalling the trade talks all along.