With the NBA Draft today, the word is swirling that the Lakers have both Pau Gasol and Metta World Peace on the market to move up in the draft.

And if the Lakers do in fact part ways with Gasol and Metta World Peace, what the hell must Kobe Bryant be thinking? Although the Lakers appear to be going nowhere fast, is getting rid of Pau Gasol the right thing to do right now? Maybe, only if they can get an solid player in return. But how far will the Lakers go to move up? The 2012 NBA Draft may be one of the deepest in quite some time, but Gasol is still an NBA All Star. Then again, Kobe Bryant wasn’t too happy with Gasol’s performance in last year’s playoffs and even called him soft in so many words. So, perhaps dealing Gasol to get a point guard (Ramon Sessions is going to test the market) and moving up in the draft is the smart thing to do. The Rockets have a plethora of picks and are doing whatever they can to get Dwight Howard. But if they can’t get Howard, maybe Houston will give one of those picks and Kyle Lowry to Los Angeles in return for Gasol.

Sounds like a good deal to us.

Metta World Peace is another established player but might prove to be difficult to move. He still has two years and $15 million remaining on his contract. A late-first round pick might be all they can get.

So Kobe Bryant has to be wondering if this is his last hurrah as the team around him gets blown up. Or, perhaps, the Lakers are making a last ditch effort to keep the Lakers relevant up until he decides to hang it up.

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