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At first there were whispers. And then, after a fashion, the whispers
turned to chatter. The chatter soon turned into a dull roar and now
we're into a full-on, Kevin Garnett primal scream: trade Pau Gasol.
The 2011 2nd Team All-NBAer hasn't helped matters much: since Mike
D'Antoni took over, Pau is averaging 10 points, 8 rebounds and 4
assists, to go along with .388 shooting and a woeful 64% from the
charity stripe. Those stats are fine if you're Jason Kidd
or Kurt Thomas--not so much when you're the 9th highest-paid player in
the league. Gasol's numbers have followed a frightening trend from the
end of the 2010 playoffs, in which the hardened, vengeance-driven
warrior was one of the driving forces behind an epic Game 7 victory over
the Celtics in the Finals (just...sit on that one for a minute Lakers fans. All be well).
However, as we've covered extensively on this blog, and even further
than that in just about any comments section, the most glaring reason
behind Pau trade whispers has been his shocking lack of energy on both
ends of the floor. Whether it's been the coaching changes, lack of
managerial or fan support, system demands or perhaps just plain old
injury, Gasol has lacked much of the aggression and effort Los Angeles
fell in love with in 2008. He's slow to rotate on pick and roll defense,
as well as perimeter closeouts, and has been shockingly sedentary
finishing around the rim offensively. More importantly, the Lakers
aren't winning. With the team sitting at 8-9, Pau's play hasn't been the
main thrust behind an under-.500 record, but when the team is losing,
everything is magnified and there's going to be a scapegoat. Pau, for
the moment, seems to be that guy.
The obvious solution here? The once unthinkable: trade Pau Gasol.The question is where? And for whom?
(Read on here)
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