Last night, the Lakers lost to the Grizzlies to dip back below .500 on the season. Afterward, coach Mike D'Antoni, 1-2 in his brief Lakers tenure, took a jab at Pau Gasol, standing by his decision to bench him in the fourth quarter and questioning the big man's conditioning. It's not the first time Gasol has drawn such criticism from his coach, as Ramona Shelburne noted via Twitter that Phil Jackson used try to get under the Spaniard's skin at times. Still, D'Antoni's comments seem destined to spark another round of Gasol trade rumors, just a week or so after a report by Marc Stein of ESPN.com denied speculation about a deal with the Hawks.
The Lakers have been linked to Raja Bell and Mickael Pietrus in the last 48 hours, and it seems like GM Mitch Kupchak and company are poised to make some kind of move. Still, Steve Nash will likely be returning from injury soon, and the team's roster coming into the season was perhaps the most impressive in the league. Nash has only appeared in two games so far, so maybe a change would be premature, since the team really hasn't had a chance to play together. How do you think the Lakers should approach their personnel? Let us know below, and feel free to share ideas in the comments.
Lakers – Nash – Joe Johnson – Artest – Josh Smith – Dwight
Bench – Lou Williams – Teletovic – Humphries – Anthony Morrow – Pachulia
Hawks – Teague – MarShon Brooks – Devin Ebanks – Pau Gasol – Al Horford
Bench – Devin Harris – Korver – Antawn Jamison – Toko Shengelia
Nets – Deron – Kobe – Wallace – Reggie Evans – Lopez
Bench – Watson – Jodie Meeks – Jordan Hill – Blatche
Lakers hand the keys to Dwight Howard basically. 100% wont happen. Didnt look at contracts. Kobe probably has a no trade clause. Tons of players cant be moved until January. Still fun :)