01-31-2012, 04:06 AM
He's not Chris Paul, but he could be a lot worse.
Yahoo Sports reports that the Los Angeles Lakers have reportedly phoned the Cleveland Cavaliers to express interest in trading for reserve guard Ramon Sesssions.
The Los Angeles Lakers have talked with the Cleveland Cavaliers about possibly acquiring guard Ramon Sessions, league sources told Yahoo! Sports. No deal is imminent, but the Lakers view Sessions as a candidate who could help their depleted backcourt.
Cleveland is interested in stockpiling draft picks in potential deals, sources said. Several teams have inquired about Sessions lately, front-office sources said. The Lakers have a handful of players on short-term deals who canât be traded until March 1.
The Lakers' messy point guard situation got messier when key back-up Steve Blake went down for an extended period of time with a rib injury. Starter Derek Fisher is on his last legs and 2011 Draft picks Andrew Goudelock and Darius Morris are still learning how to walk. The position is clearly the weakest link on L.A.'s roster and will almost certainly be the scapegoat if the Lakers aren't able to win the 2012 title.
So is Sessions the guy? Not definitely, but he would earn major minutes immediately given the other options. His career has been derailed by circumstance, as he signed a contract with the Minnesota Timberwolves, who couldn't really use him, and then was traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers, who don't really ned him now that Rookie of the Year candidate Kyrie Irving is carrying such a major load. His best play might have come last year, for a truly horrendous Cavaliers team, so it got lost in the muck. He's not an excellent shooter, but he has good size, is a capable set-up man and specializes in the pick-and-roll, a nice asset with Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol on the roster.
Financially, the Lakers can absorb the entirety of his $4.3 million salary into the trade exception created when they dumped Lamar Odom to the Dallas Mavericks. That means L.A. doesn't need to match salaries in return and can instead send draft picks and/or a lower-priced player (or no player at all) to Cleveland in return. Sessions has a $4.5 million player option for next season, which he will very likely pick up, but a capable third or fourth guard would seemingly be worth that price to the Lakers, who are pretty desperate at the one after NBA commissioner David Stern nixed a potential blockbuster trade that would have landed Paul during the preseason.
Sessions is an obvious trade target and has been ever since the Cavaliers landed the No. 1 pick in last year's Draft lottery. Indeed, even his agent thought he would be the odd man out if Irving was selected, but that wound up being Baron Davis, who was released using the amnesty clause. Cleveland would be smart to milk his value all the way up to the trade deadline. While the Cavaliers are off to a better-than-expected 8-11 start, the goal is to secure as many complementary pieces to Irving and fellow 2011 lottery pick Tristan Thompson. Picks would seem better than salaried players at this point of the rebuild.
http://eye-on-basketball.blogs.cbssports...4/34629960
Yahoo Sports reports that the Los Angeles Lakers have reportedly phoned the Cleveland Cavaliers to express interest in trading for reserve guard Ramon Sesssions.
The Los Angeles Lakers have talked with the Cleveland Cavaliers about possibly acquiring guard Ramon Sessions, league sources told Yahoo! Sports. No deal is imminent, but the Lakers view Sessions as a candidate who could help their depleted backcourt.
Cleveland is interested in stockpiling draft picks in potential deals, sources said. Several teams have inquired about Sessions lately, front-office sources said. The Lakers have a handful of players on short-term deals who canât be traded until March 1.
The Lakers' messy point guard situation got messier when key back-up Steve Blake went down for an extended period of time with a rib injury. Starter Derek Fisher is on his last legs and 2011 Draft picks Andrew Goudelock and Darius Morris are still learning how to walk. The position is clearly the weakest link on L.A.'s roster and will almost certainly be the scapegoat if the Lakers aren't able to win the 2012 title.
So is Sessions the guy? Not definitely, but he would earn major minutes immediately given the other options. His career has been derailed by circumstance, as he signed a contract with the Minnesota Timberwolves, who couldn't really use him, and then was traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers, who don't really ned him now that Rookie of the Year candidate Kyrie Irving is carrying such a major load. His best play might have come last year, for a truly horrendous Cavaliers team, so it got lost in the muck. He's not an excellent shooter, but he has good size, is a capable set-up man and specializes in the pick-and-roll, a nice asset with Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol on the roster.
Financially, the Lakers can absorb the entirety of his $4.3 million salary into the trade exception created when they dumped Lamar Odom to the Dallas Mavericks. That means L.A. doesn't need to match salaries in return and can instead send draft picks and/or a lower-priced player (or no player at all) to Cleveland in return. Sessions has a $4.5 million player option for next season, which he will very likely pick up, but a capable third or fourth guard would seemingly be worth that price to the Lakers, who are pretty desperate at the one after NBA commissioner David Stern nixed a potential blockbuster trade that would have landed Paul during the preseason.
Sessions is an obvious trade target and has been ever since the Cavaliers landed the No. 1 pick in last year's Draft lottery. Indeed, even his agent thought he would be the odd man out if Irving was selected, but that wound up being Baron Davis, who was released using the amnesty clause. Cleveland would be smart to milk his value all the way up to the trade deadline. While the Cavaliers are off to a better-than-expected 8-11 start, the goal is to secure as many complementary pieces to Irving and fellow 2011 lottery pick Tristan Thompson. Picks would seem better than salaried players at this point of the rebuild.
http://eye-on-basketball.blogs.cbssports...4/34629960