Plus, it's not as if LAL realizes any cap relief. Iguodala has 3 x yrs remaining on his current deal($12m per); Odom($8m) 2, Artest($6m) 3.

Amick - "The 76ers are continuing to explore trade options for Andre Iguodala, and league sources said that a deal with the Lakers involving Lamar Odom has been discussed recently. The deal would have to include another Lakers player in order to work under salary-cap rules. One of the sources said the Lakers might include small forward Ron Artest," --- Umm. Just say no -- PLEASE? If Pau just had the worst postseason of his life, Iguodala makes a habit of them. Iguodala (6-6): 22 x playoff games, 14.5 PER (regseason 17.1), .047/WS/48 (regseason .123), 42%/FG% (regseason 46%), 29%/3PT% ( regseason 32%). Odom (6-10): 102 x playoff games, 16.7 PER (regseason 17.1), .122/WS/48 (regseason .120), 48%/FG% (regseason 47%), 30%/3PT% (regseason 32%). And LAL would have to add Artest for THAT? Lemme guess. "League sources" = Ed Stefanski & Doug Collins.

Re [ http://bit.ly/mrNKj5 ]: Change the DRtg => to <= and you'll see how noteunworthy Love's 3's-Company really is.

"Could a player that set the most double-doubles (counting rebounds) since Moses Malone be an "awful" defender? Maybe I'm wrong, I always though rebounding is a key part of defense." Posted by: CyberCosmiX | June 22, 2011 at 10:26 PM --- Not necessarily. You could say the same thing about steals. In the same way some players ignore assignments to attempt high-risk steals, so do some players ignore stops, switches, close-outs to position themselves for rebounds. I will say Love is in select company. Among players 6-8 taller who've played 200+ games, averaged 20+mpg and 8+rpg with a Defensive-Rating of 108 or higher, Love is 1 of 3 [ http://bit.ly/mrNKj5 ]. The other two: David Lee & Antawn Jamison.

Good news re Barnes, however old. Meanwhile fave head-nodding Q&As from Brian Kamenetzky's chat transcipt @ ESPN/LA [ http://espn.go.com/sportsnation/losangeles/chat/_/id/39017 ] --- Brady (Temecula, CA): Am I the only one that thinks trading Pau for unproven talent is crazy? Derrick Williams is a nice player, but there is no knowing of how he'll turn out to be. Love is a good player but he's nowhere near the talent Pau is. Brian Kamenetzky (1:56 PM) : Brady, that's basically the undercurrent in the post I put up yesterday. Gasol was bad in the playoffs, for sure, but is overall still one of the game's great big men. - Peter (Edina, Minnesota): Am I the only one who sees K Love as overrated? I watched a few Wolves games and he is one of the worst defenders in the NBA. Brian Kamenetzky (2:16 PM): He's a very good player, and should continue improving, but you're right- he's awful defensively. In part because the team around him is awful as well, but also because he's undersized, and doesn't have much agility.It's a great example of how "getting younger" wouldn't necessarily help them in the athleticism/speed area. Young guys aren't always faster or more athletic. Gasol is a better athlete than Love. - Zain Saleh (Lincoln, Ne): What do you think of picking up Michael Redd? Fills our outside shooting problems. Him on one knee is better than any of our 3 point shooters. Brian Kamenetzky (2:03 PM): Zain-I actually think Redd, if he's healthy, will turn out to be more expensive than what the Lakers can give, but can't say for sure. I'm terrible at estimating what guys will get on the open market, and with the new CBA coming, it's even harder. But you're right- Redd's skill set would be a great fit. - Bobby (Los Angeles): Of all the point guard names being thrown around out there which veteran PG is most likely to be a laker next year? Brian Kamenetzky (2:21 PM): Hmmmm.... Maybe Tony Parker? But I don't put the odds of it very high. Just guessing, since you asked. Has Felton been around long enough to be a veteran PG? Probably. So he's in there, too, just because he's available. --- While Felton is an interesting name, his playoff production is anything but: 2 x 1st round exits (w/CHA & DEN), 11.9 PER, .016 WS/48, 113 DRtg. Ugh. Would NOT trade Lamar or even Artest for "that". Might as well sign T.J. Ford (UFA) for the vet minimum & take your chances (painless cut/release).

MM - "Mohammed's 2005 NBA championship with the San Antonio Spurs also suggests that he'll already have familiarity with the Lakers' mindset on how to properly approach the season toward another title. From the Lakers' end, it would be better if they found a young backup center. But the 34-year-old Mohammad doesn't have an extended injury history and has the capability of being a reliable backup center at a pretty cheap price." --- Agreed. Mohammed also has the distinction of maximizing his minutes, however limited, during the postseason. His regular-season career WS/48 of .107 is acceptably average; but his career postseason WS/48 of .138 suggests Mohammed won't shrink under bright lights. I'm not sure what happened in 2006. His game logs indicate Mohammed attempted zero FGAs over 15 total minutes of playing time spread across 3 x 2nd-round games vs. Dallas -- even though Mohammed had a decent 1st round vs. SAC (12mpg, 5ppg, 4rbg, 6blks, 73%/FG%, .222/WS/48).

BT - "The Lakers tried to move up in Thursday's NBA draft by offering forward Lamar Odom to Minnesota for the Timberwolves' No. 2 overall pick, but Minnesota turned them down, according to two NBA officials who were not authorized to speak publicly about the trade talks." --- I also think it's conceivable LAL rejected any MIN proposal that included Michael Beasley. The Wolves were reportedly looking to unload Beasley in any number of ways -- with no takers. WHEW!

Pincus/Hoopsworld - "To be fair, Beasley had a career-reviving season in Minnesota but historically he's struggled including a stretch in rehab back in 2009." --- "To be fair?" To be accurate, Beasley actually REGRESSED this season in almost every critical metric, including PER & WS/48. That's why trading Love makes no sense, because pairing Beasley with anyone will only "revive" Minnesota's recurring leadership among lottery losers.

MM - "In some way, Chandler is a poor man's Odom." --- I can see that. I also see a LOT of Tim Thomas, for better or worse. Particularly Thomas' aversion to contact and ability to disappear. Which isn't to say Chandler couldn't help. He could, at the right price (like everyone else).

(tweeped by Dave McMenamin http://twitter.com/#!/mcten/status/82987909216616448 )

/offtopic David Aldridge summarizes current impasse btw owners & players for NBA.com [ http://on.nba.com/lcXqh1 ]. Laker context: "Capital deserves some kind of return," said [one] current team executive. "And the owners' position is, for that much money put at risk, I deserve to have some kind of return on that at some point. But the players' position is that talent deserves to be compensated. And they're right. Nobody comes to see Jimmy Buss. " Okay. So it's hardly "context." And not particularly astute. (Gee. Wow. No one ever thought players were the product until current-team-exec deemed it so.) But why single out Buss? Unless you're the Warriors (Riley<--house bet), Clippers (Olshey), Kings (Petrie) or Suns (Blanks).

Dave McMenamin (ESPN/LA) reporting "Toronto Raptors assistant coach Scott Roth, Philadelphia 76ers player development coach Quin Snyder and former University of Utah head coach Jim Boylen are the three finalists for a position on the staff of new Los Angeles Lakers coach Mike Brown, according to sources close to the situation." [ http://es.pn/lD9kUF ]

A shorter Odom and either a poor man's Nash (Ridnour) or younger Earl Watson (Flynn).

Shane Battier and JR Smith are realistic Posted by: Mark Medina | June 17, 2011 at 03:45 PM --- Actually, Afflalo, Smith, Battier, Jordan, Williams, Dalembert are ALL, in the own ways, more "realistic" & surely more tangible than any N2O involving Love for Gasol. It's amazing how wishful-thinking by navel-gazers (Pincus) from afar suddenly becomes imminent, doable, fait accompli. This is what you get (as of 6/17 8:00 pm PT) when you google "Kevin Love", "Lakers", "trade" from ANY news source in the state of Minnesota: http://bit.ly/mHxDfb Not a peep, not a rumor, not even a whisper. And THAT's basketball issues aside. What issues? Too many to enumerate. But you could start with: trading a legit 7-fter for an overachiever who, on a good day, measures 6-9 WITH shoes (6-8 w/out). A bread-and-butter 4 with 3PT-range but a career FG% of 46% vs. a PLAYOFF-proven big who finishes like a big (52%) with outlet (Love's assist output is almost entirely outlet-based) AND interior passing skills. You could also underscore PLAYOFF tested & PLAYOFF proven. Else, who IS Kevin Love in the postseason? No one knows. But there's a clue. Two words. Carlos. Boozer. A similarly-size, similar regular season overarchiever who routinely disappears during the postseason when EVERY opponent, i.e., EVERY opposing big, puts out max effort, especially on defense. So what, really, are you getting for Pau Gasol -- even if it included a point guard of dubious (2-way) value? A shorter Odom and either a poor man's Nash (Ridnour) or younger Earl Watson.

MM - "It'll end with tangible evidence that the transition period from the Phil Jackson era won't be a joyful thing to watch. " s --- Thanks for ruining my buzz!!! Just kidding. It's too bad the Grizz are in the West. I'd love to see the Gasol Bros. re-united on the Lakers. Less sulking by Pau, no shot/touch demands from Marc, sibling synergy that reprises or exceeds their best for the ESP national team; complementary skills & strengths though both are excellent passers; Pau/Marc a better Twin Towers facsimile than Pau/Drew based on skills/ball IQ alone; plus the possibility of packaging a quality guard from Memphis depending on the numbers in Marc's new (sign-and-trade) deal. ZBo loves Marc but Drew for Gasol+ X could be one of those rare intraconference trades where both teams end up w/ better fitting pieces.

Yahoo Sports Contributor Gil Alcaraz touts Cleveland St. point guard Norris Cole as a possible fit for LAL http://yhoo.it/mgL0cq NBADraftnet profile: http://bit.ly/jewhhB ESPN stats: http://es.pn/jvNvI5 YouTube: http://bit.ly/lPubBt (#30) First take: Haven't seen him play (live full game); clips suggest good forward-lateral quickness, average overall athleticism, solid not superior handle; could struggle against superior athletes at next level; accuracy should be much better (43%/FG% 34%/3PT%) at CSU level of competition; not necessarily a pass-first point guard at CSU; OTOH, showed steady across-the-board improvement each season as 4-yr senior; college nos. similar to Jose Juan Barrera; studied DRose & Deron Williams according to interviews.

Yahoo Sports Contributor Gil Alcaraz touts Cleveland St. point guard Norris Cole as a possible fit for LAL http://yhoo.it/mgL0cq NBADraftnet profile: http://bit.ly/jewhhB ESPN stats: http://es.pn/jvNvI5 YouTube: http://bit.ly/lPubBt (#30) First take: Haven't seen him play (live full game); clips suggest good forward-lateral quickness, average overall athleticism, solid not superior handle; could struggle against superior athletes at next level; accuracy should be much better (43%/FG% 34%/3PT%) at CSU level of competition; not necessarily a pass-first point guard at CSU; OTOH, showed steady across-the-board improvement each season as 4-yr senior; college nos. similar to Jose Juan Barrera; studied DRose & Deron Williams according to interviews.

Moderator fine, babysitter overworked,

[T]he Lakers bench problems were exposed more this season because the team overall wasn't as good as last year.. --- YUP. And Jordan/Sasha did log up/down postseaons, that's why I mentioned "on average." I also agree the criticism is hardly fair after only *one* season. Barnes' injury is an automatic I-incomplete. Plus, even the smartest ballers usually need a full season within the triangle to play at fullspeed.

"Vujagic" = Vujacic

Lamenting the Lakers' lost reserves from the 2010 NBA title team points to 20/20 hindsight --- Fair enough. Fickle fair-weather fan: When commenting earlier and elsewhere about Jordan/Sasha v. Steve/Matt, I was particularly unfair to Barnes, not realizing the lingering extent of his injury-recovery. I was also on the Blake bandwagon last summer, expecting more than he may have been capable of delivering. But I don't think it's hindsight to concede certain measurable, immutable facts: Blake/Barnes in their first season as Lakers contributed less to LAL's postseason than Farmar/Vujagic did, on average, in postseasons prior.

No disagreement w/MM's analyses. Plaschke's proposal is wishful thinking (ORL would want Bynum and Gasol if LAL refused to absorb bad contracts). Bresnahan's is more realistic simply because of the Arenas incentive. Otherwise, if ORL ever got to *that* point -- the point where they actually listen to offers, you can automatically stamp "fail" on any proposal featuring Walton or Blake. ORL will try to be very picky, even about trade filler, unless they're expiring contracts.

Thank you for the coverage. I'd never heard of this syndrome and knew very little about the Horries. After visiting the Foundation website, at least I know this: it's difficult condition to diagnose, a challenge to manage, yet Ashlyn's smile is radiant, eternally radiant. Sincere condolences to the Horry family.

Hey MM -- Just a headsup re any thoughts about expending considerable resources on Facebook. The Fing is dead. Long live the Twing [ http://bit.ly/jUA4mq ].

Posted by: www.google.com/accounts/o8/id?id=AItOawn4EQ5LBrg8co8TTwBuNxRn7nO-lqyuZYs | June 10, 2011 at 11:42 AM -- Maybe I'm missing something but: Click on the Posted by: link [ www.google.com/accounts/o8/id?id=AItOawn4EQ5LBrg8co8TTwBuNxRn7nO-lqyuZYs ] to your Typepad Profile. Then click on Account (upper right corner of the Typepad Profile page). You should see a field for Display Name.