Los Angeles Lakers: The Impact Of An Andrew Bynum-Pau Gasol Swap

For The Cavaliers:

If the deal goes through, get used to these kinds of silly faces, Cavalier fans. Mandatory Credit: Jennifer Stewart-USA TODAY Sports

For the Cavaliers, this move solves a couple of problems but creates a few more. First and foremost, it gets rid of a player many perceive to be a cancer. Nobody really knows what Bynum’s “conduct detrimental to the team” was exactly, but if it prompted the Cavs to immediately suspend him and put him on the trade block, it probably wasn’t good. The Cavaliers have already had enough chemistry problems in the locker room this season, so shipping away a center who hasn’t shown many flashes of the dominance he used to possess isn’t the end of the world.

Shipping away Bynum’s attitude isn’t the only perk of this potential deal, however. Shipping away his contract before it becomes guaranteed money is just as important for a team that probably wet the bed when they heard Bynum saying he wasn’t sure he’d ever get his explosiveness back. For a guy who had played a grand total of 60 games since the 2011-12 season to be admitting defeat that early in the year…well, that’s not exactly a ringing endorsement of the potential $24 million the Cavs could’ve owed him through 2014-15.

The sad truth is, Bynum is already far past his prime. And with Anderson Varejao starting to finally shake off some of the rust from last year’s season-ending injury, the need for Bynum is pretty much diminished. As long as the Cavs can get rid of him before Jan. 7, Bynum was just a potential low risk, high reward investment that never panned out. Bringing in Gasol, who admittedly doesn’t have the highest trade value right now in the midst of the second-worst statistical season of his career, will help strengthen a frontcourt that currently includes Varejao, Tristan Thompson, Earl Clark and Anthony Bennett.

Varejao was rebounding like Dennis Rodman last season until his year was cut down because of a blood clot in his lung. This season, he’s only averaging 7.8 points and 8.8 rebounds in 29 minutes per game. Thompson has shown signs of his potential and he’s still a young player but he’s not close to making the leap yet either, evidenced by his mundane numbers (12 points and 9.7 rebounds per game) that are nearly identical to his production last year (11.7 points and 9.4 rebounds per game). Earl Clark is a serviceable rotation player and nothing more. And Anthony Bennett is on pace to go down as one of the biggest draft busts in NBA history.

So yeah, the Cavaliers could really use a veteran leader like Gasol, who could help this team sneak into the playoffs. The Cavs are trying to win now and despite all their problems, are only a few games out of the last spot in the East. Mike Brown’s offensive deficiencies as a coach are somewhat worrisome, but hopefully Brown will remember Gasol is more effective in the post if the deal goes through. Don’t forget, Gasol is still one of the league’s most skilled big men and before he became Kobe’s sidekick in LA, he was more than capable as a leader of the Memphis Grizzlies. He’d still play second fiddle to Kyrie Irving in Cleveland, but inserting Gasol into the starting lineup would allow Thompson to terrorize opposing second units off the bench. Plus, it would make the Gasol and Varejao the most likely frontcourt to set flopping fine records this season. So there’s that.

However, the problem with admitting the Bynum experiment was a failure is what the Cavaliers may have to give up in order to get Gasol, especially from a team that will likely overvalue him at this point. The Cavs have three protected first-rounders and four unprotected second-rounders in the next three drafts, which would help them put together a decent trade package. But there’s some risk in giving up too high of a pick for a guy who may or may not choose to resign in Cleveland after his contract expires.