Why do the Lakers do this?
Apparently Minnesota has offered D. Williams and Pekovic for Pau and Toronto has dangled a package of Bargnani and Calderon. Either of those trades make a lot more sense for L.A. than Paul Pierce does. Total pipe dream in this thread.
(1) I thought the Toronto rumour was that Brian Colangelo hasn't made that offer. That he has been unwilling to put Andrea Bargnani on the table. The rumour was just a few journalists saying they think that would be a fair offer rather than actual trade talks.
I would seriously question how much interest Toronto would have in an older player like Pau Gasol at this stage. Their roster is too weak. Too far away. It would have made a lot of sense if they landed Nash in the summer but not now.
Edit: My mistake. There are reports of Toronto having trade talks with LA. The previous reports I had seen hadn't said that. My bad.
(2) I don't think Pekovic has much value to the Lakers due to Dwight Howard. Pekovic would be wasted in a 10-12 minute a night role as Dwight's backup. If they could trade Pekovic onto a third team and pickup a player that better suits their roster, then maybe that holds good value for LA.
Derrick Williams is a big unknown. I imagine there is a lot of disparity between various teams evaluations of him given his struggles to date. If the Lakers are high on Williams, I think he has more value than Pierce because Williams can be a long term piece alongside Dwight. If not, I think the package falls apart quickly.
(3) I think Pierce has very good value to LA because he is still a top five SF and they are a win-now roster. Pierce can function well alongside a ball-dominant PG like Nash as well as an interior presence like Dwight and a wing like Kobe due to his well-rounded game and excellent jump-shooting. The Lakers have major problems at that SF spot with Artest and friends. Bringing in somebody like Pierce would be a massive upgrade for the team.
A Lakers team with Pierce is better than a Lakers team with Pau Gasol because he better complements Nash, Kobe and Dwight Howard.