Going for an upgrade

If your heart bleeds purple and gold, a 12-9 record as of this writing is morbid. Oh yeah, a 10-2 home slate is superior but a 2-7 road report card does not speak highly of the NBA’s most valuable franchise andhaving the league’s highest paid player in their fold.

The rumor mill has been churning but let’s exclude Dwight Howard and Deron Williams out of the galingan since the Lakers are way over the salary cap limit and there’s a slim chance they’ll risk their ridiculous millions for either one of the two’s demands.

Of the several names floated, four came out prominent – Rasheed Wallace, Gilbert Arenas, Kenyon Martin and Ramon Sessions. I don’t know about you but my preference is on the point guard position and I’ll narrow down my choices to the athlete formerly known as Agent Zero and Cleveland’s Sessions.

Ramon Sessions is a 4-year vet and formerly manned the point for the Cavaliers.The 6-3, 25-year old guard is now playing limited minutes because of the stellar plays of rookie guard Kyrie Irving.

The upside on Sessions is that he knows Coach Mike Brown’s system, having played for him the past three seasons.Despite the limit, Sessions still produces 9.1 points and about 5 assists per outing.He doesn’t have to score if ever he dons the colors of Laker Nation.He can provide the offensive spark off the bench since he can penetrate, likes to pass and best of all, he’s quick.

As to the other guard that the Lakers have shown interest in, I personally have mixed feelings.Gilbert Arenas is a 3-time All-Star and if the pros and cons are to be considered, the pros outweigh the cons.

After being amnestied by the Orlando Magic, Gilbert Arenas has fallen into the Lakers’ radar and they had been considering his availability.As per reports, Arenas has been working out and has lost about 20 pounds, which would be very friendly to his surgically repaired knee.

The 30-year old, 3-time All-Star, while still with the Washington Wizards, averaged 17.3 points, 5.6 assists and 1.4 steals a game in 21 starts.In Orlando, he started in 16 games and posted similar stats with 17, 6 and 2.5.Arenas can play the 1 and 2 positions with ease and if he becomes part of the Lake Show, he will be the fourth scoring option behind Kobe, Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum. Arenas can start and Kobe will move to the 3 position.His presence will open up LA’s version of the Big Three since opposing teams will have to adjust their defense and show hostility to Arenas.

To my understanding, a player being amnestied is moved from the active roster and the salary removed from the cap figure, thereby clearing cap space.The remaining amount on his contract though still has to be paid.LA, if they do get Arenas, can have him for the minimum vet’s salary of $1.5 million.And he still gets the remainder of his $62 million from Orlando.Sweet.

Of course, rookie Andrew Goudelock comes into the picture.He has scored in double figures in three of the last four games he played and the coming in of either Arenas or Sessions is wholly dependent on Goudelock’s performance.Think – Arenas with 17 points and 6 assists a game or Sessions with 9 and 5 is much better than Derek Fisher’s per game averages of 5.4 points and 4 assists.

Kenyon Martin is another All-Star with the possibility of going to the Lakers.He will reportedly let his decision be known in a few days, whether he plays with the Lakers, the Clippers, the Miami Heat, San Antonio Spurs, Atlanta Hawks or the New York Knicks.

If he does signs with any of these teams, he can’t play yet since his contract with Xianjiang Gyong Hui of the Chinese basketball League is still in effect.

Rasheed Wallace also wants to be a Laker.He unretired after retiring at the end of the 2009-2010 season playing for the Boston Celtics.Everybody knows Sheed is physical but at 37 years old, the nagging question will be – is he still serviceable?Both Wallace and Martin are temperamental but these are milder cases compared to someone with a turbulent mind called World Peace.

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