Melo-Drama

With the long lived Carmelo Anthony to New York talks that date back to summer of last year slowly coming to a halt, another team enters the room as a possible destination for the 4-time All-Star. After posting a disappointing 5-5 record in their last 10-games before winning on the road in Memphis on Monday, Lakers GM Mitch Kupchak publicly expressed his feelings about potentially making a trade. Though nothing was said about any player in particular, all signs pointed towards a possible deal involving Ron Artest, who has struggled this year to say the least, putting up career-low number on offense. But with very few teams willing to take on the remainder of Artest's five-year, $33 Million contract, another name surfaces.

Sources say if a deal involving both parties was to be made, 23 year old Laker Center Andrew Bynum would most likely be featured as the base of the trade. Although no one has ruled out the possibility of the two star players being traded straight up, a third party will likely be involved to help Denver shed even more of their salary. Since the addition of Pau Gasol in February of '08, size has been one of if not the biggest advantages for the Lakers, led by the two aforementioned 7-footers and Lamar Odom who mostly serves off the bench. When healthy, Bynum has shown a tremendous upside and has the potential to become one of the more dominant big men in the league, but his lack of consistency and fragile frame has been his weakness, resulting in numerous injuries.

Having struggled all season long against the top teams in the league, including recent losses to the San Antonio Spurs and Boston Celtics who each lead their respective conferences, there's no need for L.A. to push the panic button just yet. However, there is somewhat of a cause for concern given the Lakers have already lost more games at home this season than they did all of last year, and we're yet to reach the All-Star break. Despite currently being the third seed in the Western Conference behind San Antonio and their inner-state rivals the Dallas Mavericks, I still don't see either team beating the Lakers in a best-of Playoff series. But that doesn't mean I don't think a move needs to be made. After offseason additions of Matt Barnes, Steve Blake and Theo Ratliff to deepen the depth of the Lakers bench, it seemed as if the Lakers had the perfect formula to runaway in the standings. Instead they find themselves trailing.

Personally, I wouldn't hesitate one bit to trade Bynum to Denver in exchange for Carmelo, but only if we were able to sign him long term, as I don't see any reason in acquiring a player of his magnitude if he's only gonna serve as a rent-a-player for less than a season. Not to mention Bynum has another year left on his contract. My biggest concern if the deal for Melo did go through wouldn't be the loss in size, but rather how it would effect the role of Odom who has been L.A.'s MVP so far this season. Also, would he fit into Phil Jackson's system or would he pose as a speed bump in the Lakers' chances of three-peating? What surprises me more than anything, is that the Nuggets would even consider trading their All-Star talent within the conference.

As for the players themselves, neither Melo nor Laker captain Kobe Bryant were aware of the trade rumors, and downplayed the possibilities of it happening. And even though it would be nice to see both players playing alongside one another like they did in the 2008 Summer Olympics, let's face it, it probably won't happen.