Gasol trade thoughts.

For a Suns fan, I spend a lot of time talking about the Lakers. It's not clear how this affects things.

In normal times, you'd say that the Lakers won't win this year because it's just too difficult to assimilate that kind of talent into a functional system mid-season. This used to happen to the Mavs during the Nash era. Every March they'd make a big trade that would supposedly push them over the brink, and then stumble during the playoffs. The one year they didn't trade, they were a Steve Kerr good quarter and a Dirk injury away from making the finals against the Nets.

This year, it's harder to call because none of the big teams have jelled yet. The Suns in particular, while showing moments of transcendent ball, have played some bonehead games this season

But next year, with a pre-season behind them, the Lakers could be scary good.