Greg M. Cooper-USA TODAY Sports

Trading with the enemy?

Just when you thought this bizarro season for the Los Angeles Lakers couldn’t take another twist along comes a CBS Sports Report claiming the rival Boston Celtics held preliminary talks surrounding a Dwight Howard for Rajon Rondo swap.

Showing shades of Howard’s awkward entrance into a Stan Van Gundy press conference this report comes mere hours after D12 stated Mitch Kupchak told him he was safe in L.A. for the rest of the season.

Did I mention Rondo is gone for the balance of the season with a torn ACL and the Lakers already have 99-year-old Steve Nash under contract for two more season beyond this one? But in a season when Mike D’Anonti is coaching the Lake Show to new lows while the Celtics actually improved without Rondo I guess anything is KG.

Today Memphis traded leading scorer Rudy Gay and reserve center Hamed Haddadi to the Toronto Raptors receiving point guard Jose Calderon and improved forward Ed Davis in return. Apparently Calderon will be on the move again as he’s expected to be swapped out for small forward be it Tayshaun Prince in Detroit or possibly Vince Carter in Dallas.

Whatever the case the Grizzlies who looked like a real force to be reckoned with in recent years are doing all they can to avoid the luxury tax even if that means taking apart a team sitting 4^th in the Western Conference.

Hey, whatever helps makes the teams in front of the Lakers worse I’m all for. Not only does the Lake Show need a nice win streak to get back into the playoff picture but they’ll also need some help from the teams their trying to catch as well.

At one point there were rumors of the Lakers getting into the Rudy Gay sweepstakes but that is clearly a lost cause now.

Obviously Memphis still has talent including two top tier low post players in Zach Randolph and Marc Gasol not to mention a quick and dynamic point guard in Mike Conley. But there is not doubt this move makes the team worse and not better. But again, I’m all for that if it helps pave a somewhat smoother path to redemption for the Lakers.