With the trade deadline only about a week away, things are getting a little tense. There are still a litany of questions yet to be answered, and not much time to do it. So with that in mind, we welcomed ESPN Radio's Ryen Russillo to the show. It was a busy show, covering a lot of ground. It should also be noted we recorded before the road losses against Detroit and Washington. Obviously, those results would have otherwise been a topic of discussion.

The highlights:

• What do the Lakers need at the deadline, and whether they should move Pau Gasol or Andrew Bynum to get them filled.

• How real is the push in Boston to trade Rajon Rondo? (7:00)

• What real trade -- meaning something not totally one sided and absurd -- would you make including Bynum or Gasol? (13:15)

• Even if they make moves filling in the middle of the roster, Russillo thinks the window on this group has closed. (19:00)

• Does the fact the Lakers have become so money conscious show the new CBA is working as intended? (26:00)

From there, we get into an extended conversation about the MC Bracket Russillo and Scott Van Pelt are running as part of the Scott Van Pelt Show on ESPN Radio -- 64 contestants in all, with the regions broken up into the Dirty South, West Coast, East Coast and 8 Mile. As hip hop isn't my strong suit, most of the deeper opinions are delivered by Russillo (who knows his stuff) and AK (who knows more than me -- hard to believe, but I'm actually less "street" than I look).

But we encourage everyone to click the links above and vote. Just vote responsibly.