Ah, all of the armchair and real GM'ing going on as the trade deadline nears. Why not a fantasy exercise for all those creative and analytical juices?

Here's the scenario . . .

Fast forward to the summer of 2011. Phil Jackson is packing his teardrop trailer for his first trip to Montana as a retiree. Brian Shaw, with keys to the Lakers future in hand, opts to consider the tongue-and-cheek advice to TRADE EVERYONE -- and unilaterally makes the requisite changes in the rules to allow this to happen if he decides it's in the bests interests of the team going forward.

In addition, the rest of the league acquiesces to letting the Lakers abscond with any player currently on a team roster because a) Shaw says so, and b) the projected windfall of revenue sharing from sales of Lakers gear worldwide more than makes up for the drop-off in other forms of income realized by a given team (Donald Sterling, naturally, is the first to sign off).

You win some offseason contest to be Lakers GM for a day, and settle in behind Mitch Kupchak's desk. You and the Shawfather roll up your sleeves and set about building the ideal team to run the triangle offense through at least the mid-point of the decade. You, dear SS&R member, are on the clock.

Have fun!