I’ve always been the trade buff. My Internet homepage is the ESPN NBA Trade Machine. I have Google alerts for the phrase “DeShawn Stevenson trade” sent to my phone. I love trade talk. So, naturally, when I saw that NBA legend Magic Johnson suggested the Lakers need to make a deal soon, I got giddy.
I know, I know, there is little precedent for in-season Laker trades. The only one that leaps to mind is the 2008 Pau Gasol trade with Memphis (also known as the trade that killed the Grizzly fan). But that point helps my argument.
The Lakers made that trade, not only because Memphis’ general manager wanted to commit corporate suicide, but also because they needed it. The Celtics had already beaten the Lakers in both of their regular season matchups, and they were on a collision course for the NBA Finals. If they didn’t trade for Gasol, they wouldn’t have had a shot.
They failed to win the title in 2008, but they won the next two, and going into this season they were the favorites to win it again. Far be it from me to give all the credit to Gasol, but I think the Lakers would have experienced different results in 2009 and 2010 had they not traded for him.
Which brings us to this years’ Lakers. They’re good, but they aren’t the same team that seemed to be headed for a three-peat just a few months ago. San Antonio is beating them in their own conference, and the Mavs and the Thunder are right behind… not to mention the new and improved Floridian teams out East. If they intend to even compete for a Championship this year, Los Angeles needs to make a change.
Enter Steve Nash. The 37-year-old impact point guard has played incredible basketball for years, winning the MVP Award twice, but not once capturing the championship (and the Phoenix Suns aren’t exactly the favorites this year either). Wouldn’t a championship-hungry player with his pass-first mentality be a good fit in LA, where Kobe Bryant has had a hard time not being, to put it coldly, an insufferable ball hog?
Yes, he would. And a trade for Nash would work, salary cap wise. Nash plus Grant Hill for Andrew Bynum (who could be replaced at his position by Gasol, without a hiccup) and a second-round pick is just one scenario that both teams might find appealing.
With coach Phil Jackson leaving after this year, and promising young teams in Oklahoma City and Miami gaining strength, this may just be the Lakers’ final chance. But it won’t be over until the fast Canadian point guard signs.
