Lakers Trade Rumors: Pau Gasol To Houston Rockets?

Lakers trade rumors went into overdrive on Friday when rumors began swirling of an imminent trade of Pau Gasol to the Houston Rockets.

Lakernoise.com's Roland Lazenby, the author of more than five dozen nonfiction books, tweeted on Friday that Gasol had been traded.

It seems we'll soon be getting news that Gasol has been traded. No details confirmed, but he's apparently gone.

Lazenby, who wrote a Jerry West biography, managed to give himself a little wiggle room though with a subsequent tweet that said, Considering the Chris Paul fiasco, it's good to remind that nothing is official. Only whispers, but it's a whispering NBA world these days.

Yahoo Sports' Adrian Wojnarowski, the king of breaking NBA news, reported that the two teams hadn't made a deal, but that Houston has continued to aggressively probe the Lakers on a potential Pau Gasol trade.

Neither Lazenby nor Wojnarowski mentioned specific names involved in a Gasol deal, but it'd likely involve some combination of Kevin Martin Luis Scola, and draft picks.

The Lakers had agreed to send Gasol to the Rockets in the Chris Paul deal, but the NBA blocked the trade and Paul eventually went to the Los Angeles Clippers. Gasol has been a subject of trade rumors ever since and it could be having an impact on his game.

Lakers superstar Kobe Bryant told reporters in late-February that he wished the team's management would either just trade Gasol or keep him, but end the constant rumors.

I talked to (Gasol) a little bit about it, Bryant said. It's just tough for a player to give his all when you don't know if you're going to be here tomorrow. I'd rather them not trade him at all. If they're going to do something, I wish they would just (expletive) do it. If they're not going to do it, come out and say you're not going to do it. This way he can be comfortable, he can go out, he can play and he can invest all of himself into the game.

On Friday shortly after the Lazenby and Wojnarowksi tweets, Gasol began trending worldwide on Twitter. The Lakers haven't publicly commented on the Gasol trade rumors, but there is enough smoke to the fire to believe that the All-Star big man could be on the move in the near future.