Tinkering with the Lakers, again...

Because we just can't get enough of it. Here's an idea I had a while ago, and while Odom has embraced his role as a 6th man, I think the Lakers can still improve at least in terms of players. Maybe. Maybe I'm crazy and just love tossing these ideas around. As you all probably know by now, I'm a fan for trading Lamar Odom, maybe throw in Luke Walton as well, but seriously, that guy makes enough to kind of wonder who you'd be trading for (that's like $19 million/year, no way I'm trading Odom and Walton for Marbury). So in conclusion, I would trade Lamar Odom for:

Andres Nocioni and Drew Gooden from Chicago

This is an interesting one that has potential, at least to me. Chicago is moving towards their younger players and thus are looking to jettison some of their older players, two of them being Gooden and Nocioni. I believe that Nocioni is a somewhat underrated defender, and additionally, he's very, very proficient from long-range (like all his Argentinian teammates). While Odom isn't a pure post player, he does finish well at the rim and is a big body for rebounding, upgrade from Drew Gooden. Gooden on the other hand adds some legitimacy to the reserves on the frontcourt for the Lakers, playing behind Gasol, he's a solid post presence that won't take a lot away from the team. Not exactly the first guy you think of when you ask about PFs but we're not asking for premier caliber here. So Gooden will be more than sufficient, I think he'd be better than most backup PFs out there. The question once again becomes though ego, can Gooden settle with coming off the bench? Certainly though he's been a starter before, and I think would be a solid backup should either Gasol or Bynum get injured. The Lakers' depth chart ends up looking like:

PG - Derek Fisher, Jordan Farmar
SG - Kobe Bryant, Sasha Vujacic
SF - Andres Nocioni, Trevor Ariza, Luke Walton
PF - Pau Gasol, Drew Gooden, Vladamir Radmanovic
C - Andrew Bynum, Chris Mihm

Odom on the other hand would bring experience and a solid player next to Luol Deng, and another scoring option. I think with a player like Derrick Rose, Odom could really thrive. Of course that all depends on how well Tyrus Thomas and/or Joakim Noah can hold down the C spot. However, either way I can see it working out. It could possibly add another headache to the guard platoon that has been alleviated with the injury of Larry Hughes but I could see the Chicago depth chart looking like:

PG - Derrick Rose
SG - Kirk Hinrich, Larry Hughes, Ben Gordon
SF - Luol Deng, Thabo Sefalosha, Demetris Nichols
PF - Lamar Odom, Tyrus Thomas, Cedric Simmons
C - Joakim Noah, Aaron Gray

Or something of the sort, the whole backcourt situation on Chicago is a little on the messy side. That's my take.