The deal is not dead, but it is no longer progressing. The Cavs, who have until Jan. 7 to trade Bynum before his contract becomes guaranteed and loses its instant value in a trade, are now actively seeking other options.

The major issue, sources said, involves the Lakers’ desire to get an additional asset from the Cavs beyond Bynum’s team-friendly contract, which could save the Lakers more than $20 million in salary and luxury taxes. The Lakers are interested in also getting a young prospect or a first-round draft pick as part of the deal. The Cavs have been reluctant to part with either.

To satisfy NBA trade rules, the Cavs would have to add at least one more player to any trade involving Gasol for Bynum. Gasol is in the last year of a contract that pays him $19.3 million. Bynum’s contract is for $12.25 million but is only half guaranteed before next week, which is why the Lakers are interested. By trading for and then waiving Bynum, the Lakers could take themselves below the luxury-tax threshold for the first time in seven years.

The Lakers, though, remain reluctant to part with Gasol before giving the team time to recover from a wave of injuries that have derailed its season, sources said. Jordan Farmar was the latest Laker to go down, tearing his hamstring and being declared out for a month on Wednesday. Los Angeles (13-19) has lost six games in a row.

There is some pressure for the Lakers to get out of the luxury tax to help with future flexibility. If the Lakers remain in the tax this season, going into the tax in either of the next two seasons would trigger a “repeater tax” the franchise hopes to avoid. The Lakers are planning to be major free-agent players the next two summers.

Gasol, no stranger to trade rumors, addressed the latest one after the Lakers’ practice Thursday.

“I’m more accustomed to them and I deal with them better than I did at first, when it started,” he said. “But it’s just a reality, and I just got to stay cool and keep my mind on the game as much as I can.”

He also said he wants to remain in Los Angeles.

“It’s my home, it’s my team,” Gasol said. “It’s the team that I’ve been through so much with, and I’m not the type of guy that likes to jump ship because everything is not going right right now. So, I’m a loyal guy. I’d like to continue to be here and fight with the guys that are here and once we get bodies back, everything will be better. But right now, I’d like to continue to stay here. This is my team, this is my city.”

The Cavs (10-21), meanwhile, have also lost six in a row, but they are maintaining hope of making the playoffs for the first time in four years.

In 2012, the Lakers and Cavs engaged in protracted talks for weeks before making a deal just hours before the trade deadline that sent Ramon Sessions to Los Angeles for Luke Walton and a first-round draft pick.

That was also a money-based deal, as shedding Walton’s contract saved the Lakers in excess of $15 million in salary and luxury taxes. It appears possible these talks could go down to the wire next week as well.

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“I sure didn’t see this effort coming,” Collins said to open his extremely candid postgame news conference. “I thought we played incredibly hard against Miami. I thought we played incredibly hard in New York on Sunday. And this is mind-numbing to me. We went up 29-20, and from that point on, I couldn’t even tell you what occurred.”

The Sixers struggled mightily down the stretch in Tuesday’s 98-84 loss, their sixth consecutive defeat. A trendy preseason pick to contend for the Atlantic Division title, Philadelphia (22-33) fell a season-high 11 games below .500.

“I’m disappointed, I really am,” he said. “There was so much this season that we were looking forward to. But it just seems like every time we turn around, it’s been something else.”

Philadelphia has lost all four of its games since the All-Star break, but Collins would not comment on whether or not his players had become “comfortable” losing.

“I told you, I did not think our guys prepared themselves during the break to come back to play,” he said.

Collins also acknowledged reaching out to his players in an attempt to “be a better leader.” But the 61-year-old Collins also emphasized that his players need to commit to improvement.

“Sometimes you’ve got to help yourself,” he said. “Youth is a very blaming thing. … I usually go to them. And after a while, the talk gets old. It just does — at some point in time, you’ve just got to play.

“They say it’s a players’ league. Well then take ownership. That’s all I’m asking — take ownership of what you’re putting out there.”

Collins cited Andrew Bynum’s health on several occasions during his 11-minute conference. But Collins did not use Bynum’s season-long absence as a reason for his team’s lack of preparation or effort.

“We are a team that the least, little change affects us,” he said. “All of the sudden the starting lineup changes again — we have guys that don’t deal well with that. We’re not a team that rolls with it that easily.

“I don’t want you to feel like I’m up here blaming. I don’t want you to think I’m making excuses. That’s not what this is about. … I’m a guy who when I have coached, I’ve always been able to find some answers. And I have not been able to find answers, and from my standpoint that is very disappointing, because I’m paid to do that.”

A four-time All-Star during his eight-year career as a guard for the Sixers, Collins has compiled a 98-105 record in his two-plus seasons as Philadelphia’s coach.

“I wish I knew [why we’re struggling],” Collins said. “I really do. I’m sitting there — I gave my body to this franchise. I was never booed as a player, never. I ran through my sneakers. … There cannot be a game where you just go out and don’t put your heart and soul into the game. We had an off-day, we’ve been on the All-Star break — there’s no reason for that, none.”

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2013 NBA All-Star Starters
Eastern Conference
Player Votes
LeBron James, MIA 1,583,646
Carmelo Anthony, NYK 1,460,950
Dwyane Wade, MIA 1,052,310
Rajon Rondo, BOS 924,180
Kevin Garnett, BOS 553,222
Western Conference
Player Votes
Kobe Bryant, LAL 1,591,437
Kevin Durant, OKC 1,504,047
Chris Paul, LAC 929,155
Dwight Howard, LAL 922,070
Blake Griffin, LAC 863,832

Lakers teammate Dwight Howard and the Clippers’ Chris Paul and Blake Griffin will join Bryant in the Western Conference lineup for the Feb. 17 game in Houston. Oklahoma City’s Kevin Durant, the MVP of last year’s game, rounds out the five.

Kevin Garnett held off Chris Bosh in fan balloting, giving the East two Boston Celtics and two Miami Heat players. LeBron James and Dwyane Wade will represent the defending champions and receive passes from Rajon Rondo. New York’s Carmelo Anthony is the other starter.

Bryant finished with 1,591,437 votes, edging James by about 7,800 to finish as the leading vote-getter and break a tie with Shaquille O’Neal, Jerry West and Karl Malone for the most consecutive starting nods.

The NBA’s leading scorer is a four-time MVP of the All-Star Game and last year became its career scoring leader.

Garnett beat Bosh, who took to Twitter to stump for votes in the final days of balloting, by about 25,000 votes. He tied Bryant and O’Neal for second all time with his 15th selection behind Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who was selected to 19 games.

It’s the second straight year that Los Angeles teams will make up four players. Last year it was Bryant, Paul, Griffin and Andrew Bynum, who was dealt to Philadelphia in part of the deal that sent Howard from Orlando to the Lakers.

The ballot changed this season, eliminating the center position. Fans were required to vote for three frontcourt players and two guards.

They picked an interesting mix in the East. Anthony and Garnett exchanged words during a game on Jan. 7, and Anthony was suspended one game by the NBA when he tried to confront Garnett afterward in the tunnel area at Madison Square Garden and by the team bus.

Rondo was injured in the playoffs two years ago after getting tangled up with Wade and landing awkwardly on his arm, part of what’s become a tense rivalry between the Celtics and Heat.

Reserves will be announced next Thursday. Coaches will vote for seven players in their conferences: two guards, three frontcourt players and two players regardless of position. They can’t vote for a player on their own team.

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