I can only wonder how teams would defend the floor with Drew locking down the paint and Kobe opposite Melo most of the time on either wing. While Pau provides the Laker offense with deadly precision and skill in the post, as I said, Anthony is not only a beast in the paint, but as he’s shown throughout the last couple of years, his range is about as versatile as Mamba’s – meaning, he is as lethal of a scoring threat as you can hope for in the NBA. Don’t forget that he’s shown a propensity for hitting clutch buckets too.
However, the adage holds true in basketball, defense wins championships. What sets the Lakers apart from the rest of the league is the saucy length of Bynum and Gasol, which is beginning to truly take shape and pay dividends to the tune of six straight wins. If Pau was out of the picture, that advantage would undoubtedly be missed.
Then again, couldn’t the argument be made that against freakish threats like LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony is the perfect counter because he’d force James to play defense for most of the game and could equalize his scoring?
Take a moment to reflect back to last February when Anthony scored 40 points at the Q along with the game-winner, which he drilled while being checked by Bron, who finished with 43 points.
Kobe wouldn’t have to work nearly as hard to try and do it all by himself if our bigs are being collapsed upon in the paint, as we saw on Christmas Day.
The sort of equalization effect Anthony could provide would be a non-conventional interpretation of defensive strategy, sure, but it could work. If only the offensive possibilities weren’t so enticing, I’d say defensively, it’s a no-brainer to stick with Pau, given his length.
My basketball logic tells me that for the sake of being a true championship-caliber team with the cast of players we have here in L.A., Pau is the more natural choice, especially given the fact that he embraces his role as Kobe’s wingman.
Even so, the pure basketball fan in me, who is secretly in love with all of the drama that every new NBA season has to offer, tells me that Carmelo would make things a whole lot more interesting and yes, irresistibly dramatic.
Just to give you a final bit of food for thought, Melo turns 27 this year while Pau will turn 31. Who do you figure to be a better long-term investment, especially with Kobe in the twilight of his career?
I’ll leave this back and forth argument by simply saying…
As much as I got love for Boom Boom, I sure wouldn’t mind seeing the swap if it ever happened.
