Coach Mike Brown’s son asks him about trade deadline

The trade talk follows Lakers Coach Mike Brown wherever he goes.

His players wonder about it. The media ask him about it. Sometimes he talks with the front office about it.

Those discussions even extend into Brown’s family life. After watching his son, Elijah, play in Santa Ana Mater Dei’s 78-66 victory Saturday over Mission Viejo, Brown took him out to eat at Del Taco. That’s when Elijah asked him a question.

“Dad, when’s that trade deadline going to pass?’” Mike Brown recalled Elijah asking. “It was out of the blue. I said, ‘That’s a good question. I think it’s coming up soon. I hope it gets here sooner than later.”

The trade deadline ends Thursday at noon PST, leaving the Lakers with plenty of uncertainty on a number of issues. Will the Lakers upgrade at point guard? Will they use Pau Gasol or Andrew Bynum as a centerpiece to land Dwight Howard or Deron Williams? Will the moves remain marginal? Or will the Lakers just stand pat and hope their current roster will become a championship contending team?

Brown, for one, is looking forward to when it’s all over.

“I can’t control anything that goes along with it,” he said. “Obviously it will probably ease some guys’ minds. But there’s really nothing I can do.”

Except continue to field questions about trade talks. Or receive random text messages from fans about the Lakers’ apparent acquisitions. Brown recalled receiving one such message, alerting him that the Lakers had signed a player whose name made Brown’s head spin -- he hadn’t played in the NBA in two seasons. But it wasn’t Rasheed Wallace, it was a point guard. But it wasn’t Allen Iverson, it was a backup point guard who hadn’t stayed on a team for more than one season.

So much for rumors.

But Brown won’t publicly complain about how social media has escalated the speculation regarding trade scenarios.

Said Brown: “It has created more jobs and we need more jobs in America.”

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