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Another Hollywood Blockbuster? Melo Linked to Lakers

Victor Marticorena |
February 9, 2011 | 1:51 a.m. PST

Staff Writer

Melo is rumored to be bound for Los Angeles. (Creative Commons/Keith Allison)
Melo is rumored to be bound for Los Angeles. (Creative Commons/Keith Allison)
In the latest trade rumors surrounding the NBA, buzz has circulated about a potential blockbuster trade between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Denver Nuggets involving Andrew Bynum and Carmelo Anthony.

Melo has been the most talked about player this year regarding potential trades -- the Nuggets are also currently in talks with the New York Knicks and Minnesota Timberwolves about a three-team trade sending Anthony to the Knicks, but this new buzz has the potential to shake up the NBA even more so than the summer signings of the new "Big Three" in Miami.

Sources close to the Lakers organization say the deal is nowhere close to being done.

Even though a straight up trade would make sense financially for both teams, it seems as if more players are going to have to be included for the trade to come to fruition.

With that said, this potential blockbuster, should it happen, doesn’t make basketball sense for the Lakers. They would be giving up one of the main advantages they have over the rest of the NBA: their huge size advantage.

Yes, the Lakers would be acquiring the eighth-leading scorer in the league to complement the fourth-leading scorer in Kobe Bryant, however, the size mismatches that come with having Bynum, Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom on the team would be gone.

I may be looking a bit far into the future, but come June, the Lakers would be the one team that can body up with the Celtics, big for big. With Bynum gone, that advantage swings to the Celtics.

Should the trade happen, many of the roles of the Lakers would change. What would happen with Ron Artest? Would he accept a bench role, or would he move to the power forward position? Would Odom become the starting power forward? Will Anthony accept a contract extension?

There are too many unknowns for this to be a safe bet. Anthony has a player option for next year, but he will most likely opt for free agency at the end of the season, at which point his likely home would become New York.

Granted, Bynum has been injury prone in past years, but he has played in every game in the past two postseasons, and the Lakers have won back-to-back titles.

The last postseason game Bynum missed, the Lakers lost to the Celtics in the 2008 NBA Finals.

Lakers fans should hesitate before rushing into Melo-related trade hype.

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