Pacific Notes: Lakers, Gasol, Suns, Dudley

The Chris Paul-less Clippers are in action tonight against the Wizards and it's evident that they miss their star point guard.  Eric Bledsoe is doing an admirable job in the starting one-guard spot and has 17 points off of 7-12 shooting through three quarters, but the Clippers are neck-and-neck in Washington.  Here's more out of the Pacific..

  • If the Lakers want to get out of the graduated tax for next season, then dealing Pau Gasol this year makes sense, but Eric Pincus of the Los Angeles Times (on Sulia) writes that they can hang on to him for the second half, pay this year's tax, and then move him this summer.  Earlier today, GM Mitch Kupchak made comments that seemed to imply that the big man will be staying put.
  • More from Pincus (on Twitter) who opines that if the Lakers wanted to sign players like Delonte West and Kenyon Martin, they would have done it long ago when players were hurt.
  • We haven't heard a lot of chatter surrounding the Suns' Jared Dudley, but he would make a great deal of sense as a trade candidate for Phoenix, writes Sean Deveney of the Sporting News.  It's obviously a lost season for the Suns and Dudley could be valuable for a playoff team looking for a perimeter threat.  The Sixers would be one such team that could use his services.
  • Sacramento mayor Kevin Johnson made a mistake by setting a self-imposed deadline for unveiling an ownership group for the Kings and not meeting it, writes Scott Howard-Cooper of NBA.com (via Sulia).  In a recent press conference, Johnson said that he had a number of minority investors lined up but he has yet to reveal the big money behind a group to keep the Kings from moving to Seattle.
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