Rumors: Lakers Seem More Inclined to Trade Pau Gasol Than Not

Pau Gasol has not seemed like himself this season.  Sure he has been battling minor injuries all season, but even still, the Los Angeles Lakers' forward has been timid and ineffective so far this year.  Part of the reason may be the changing offense under new coach Mike D'Antoni. According to Mitch Lawrence of the New York Daily News, the Lakers may be interested in trading Pau Gasol because he doesn't quite fit into the offensive system D'Antoni wants to run.  D'Antoni reportedly wants to have a forward who can leave the post and shoot from outside more than Gasol does.Earlier in the season, Gasol admitted he had been playing through a knee injury.  The severity of the injury did not seem to be such that it should affect his play too much.  Yet, Gasol has not quite been the same player this season.  Age and declining ability are probably the more likely culprits, but the injury could definitely be playing a role.Gasol is averaging the fewest points per game in his career.  He is averaging just 12.6 points per game and 8.8 rebounds per game.  Last season, he averaged 17.4 points per game.  The season before that, he averaged 18.8 points per game.  His point averages have declined in each season since 2008-09. If a trade comes, the Lakers will have to find a team willing to trade for an aging former star while giving Los Angeles a shooter.  It seems like a tall order, but don't rule it out. Follow @hoopsinjurynews!function(d,s,id){var js,fjs=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];if(!d.getElementById(id)){js=d.createElement(s);js.id=id;js.src="http://www.nbainjurynews.com//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js";fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);}}(document,"script","twitter-wjs"); var _gaq = _gaq || []; _gaq.push(['_setAccount', 'UA-34100676-1']); _gaq.push(['_trackPageview']); (function() { var ga = document.createElement('script'); ga.type = 'text/javascript'; ga.async = true; ga.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 'https://ssl' : 'http://www') + '.google-analytics.com/ga.js'; var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s); })();