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Rebuilding a dynasty: The Los Angeles Lakers' need
Matt Willis
May 25, 2006
 
Los href=/profile//> Angeles href=/profile//> Lakers
(#26, href=/profile//> #51)
Current href=/profile//> Depth href=/profile//> Chart:
PG- href=/profile//> Smush href=/profile//> Parker/Sasha href=/profile//> Vujacik/Aaron href=/profile//> McKie
SG- href=/profile//> Kobe href=/profile//> Bryant/ href=/profile//> Devin href=/profile//> Green*/ href=/profile//> Von href=/profile//> Wafer
SF- href=/profile//> Luke href=/profile//> Walton/ href=/profile//> Devean href=/profile//> George*/ href=/profile//> Jim href=/profile//> Jackson*
PF- href=/profile//> Lamar href=/profile//> Odom/ href=/profile//> Brian href=/profile//> Cook/ href=/profile//> Ronny href=/profile//> Turiaf
C- href=/profile//> Kwame href=/profile//> Brown/ href=/profile//> Chris href=/profile//> Mihm/ href=/profile//> Andrew href=/profile//> Bynum

Background href=/profile//> for href=/profile//> the href=/profile//> Season:
The href=/profile//> Lakers href=/profile//> overachieved href=/profile//> in href=/profile//> the href=/profile//> eyes href=/profile//> of href=/profile//> many href=/profile//> this href=/profile//> year. href=/profile//> Not href=/profile//> many href=/profile//> people href=/profile//> expected href=/profile//> them href=/profile//> to href=/profile//> be href=/profile//> in href=/profile//> the href=/profile//> play-offs, href=/profile//> and href=/profile//> fewer href=/profile//> thought href=/profile//> they'd href=/profile//> be href=/profile//> competitive href=/profile//> once href=/profile//> there. href=/profile//> The href=/profile//> problem href=/profile//> for href=/profile//> the href=/profile//> Lakers href=/profile//> is href=/profile//> that, href=/profile//> though href=/profile//> they href=/profile//> were href=/profile//> in href=/profile//> the href=/profile//> playoffs, href=/profile//> they're href=/profile//> not href=/profile//> a href=/profile//> playoff href=/profile//> quality href=/profile//> team. href=/profile//> Kobe href=/profile//> is href=/profile//> still href=/profile//> the href=/profile//> driving href=/profile//> force href=/profile//> behind href=/profile//> any href=/profile//> success href=/profile//> that href=/profile//> they href=/profile//> have, href=/profile//> thus href=/profile//> there href=/profile//> is href=/profile//> still href=/profile//> a href=/profile//> lot href=/profile//> of href=/profile//> work href=/profile//> to href=/profile//> do. href=/profile//> There href=/profile//> was href=/profile//> promise href=/profile//> towards href=/profile//> the href=/profile//> end href=/profile//> of href=/profile//> the href=/profile//> season href=/profile//> when href=/profile//> Lamar href=/profile//> Odom href=/profile//> began href=/profile//> playing href=/profile//> to href=/profile//> his href=/profile//> great href=/profile//> potential href=/profile//> almost href=/profile//> nightly href=/profile//> and href=/profile//> Kwame href=/profile//> Brown href=/profile//> certainly href=/profile//> showed href=/profile//> some href=/profile//> signs. href=/profile//> Smush href=/profile//> Parker href=/profile//> was href=/profile//> also href=/profile//> a href=/profile//> surprise href=/profile//> this href=/profile//> season. href=/profile//> Laker href=/profile//> organization href=/profile//> and href=/profile//> fans href=/profile//> alike href=/profile//> showed href=/profile//> a href=/profile//> renewed href=/profile//> spirit href=/profile//> this href=/profile//> past href=/profile//> year, href=/profile//> embracing href=/profile//> these href=/profile//> overachievers. href=/profile//> Andrew href=/profile//> Bynum href=/profile//> showed href=/profile//> signs href=/profile//> of href=/profile//> being href=/profile//> someday href=/profile//> the href=/profile//> team's href=/profile//> center href=/profile//> and href=/profile//> he href=/profile//> brought href=/profile//> an href=/profile//> aura href=/profile//> of href=/profile//> excitement href=/profile//> with href=/profile//> him href=/profile//> whenever href=/profile//> he href=/profile//> stepped href=/profile//> on href=/profile//> the href=/profile//> court. href=/profile//> Ronny href=/profile//> Turiaf href=/profile//> was href=/profile//> another href=/profile//> fan href=/profile//> favorite href=/profile//> who href=/profile//> showed href=/profile//> that href=/profile//> he href=/profile//> may href=/profile//> be href=/profile//> this href=/profile//> Lakers' href=/profile//> generation's href=/profile//> version href=/profile//> of href=/profile//> Mark href=/profile//> Madsen. href=/profile//> Luke href=/profile//> Walton href=/profile//> is href=/profile//> still href=/profile//> one href=/profile//> of href=/profile//> the href=/profile//> favorites href=/profile//> amongst href=/profile//> Laker href=/profile//> fans href=/profile//> and href=/profile//> is href=/profile//> becoming href=/profile//> a href=/profile//> very href=/profile//> solid href=/profile//> NBA href=/profile//> player. href=/profile//> Had href=/profile//> they href=/profile//> won href=/profile//> the href=/profile//> series href=/profile//> against href=/profile//> Phoenix href=/profile//> his href=/profile//> tie href=/profile//> up href=/profile//> for href=/profile//> the href=/profile//> jump href=/profile//> ball href=/profile//> with href=/profile//> league href=/profile//> MVP href=/profile//> Steve href=/profile//> Nash href=/profile//> would href=/profile//> have href=/profile//> gone href=/profile//> down href=/profile//> as href=/profile//> one href=/profile//> of href=/profile//> the href=/profile//> great href=/profile//> plays href=/profile//> in href=/profile//> the href=/profile//> franchise. href=/profile//> And href=/profile//> then href=/profile//> there's href=/profile//> #8 href=/profile//> (soon href=/profile//> to href=/profile//> be href=/profile//> #24). href=/profile//> What href=/profile//> more href=/profile//> can href=/profile//> be href=/profile//> said href=/profile//> about href=/profile//> Bryant href=/profile//> as href=/profile//> a href=/profile//> player. href=/profile//> He href=/profile//> is href=/profile//> one href=/profile//> of href=/profile//> the href=/profile//> greats href=/profile//> that href=/profile//> has href=/profile//> ever href=/profile//> played, href=/profile//> and href=/profile//> deserved href=/profile//> to href=/profile//> get href=/profile//> more href=/profile//> MVP href=/profile//> votes. href=/profile//> This href=/profile//> team href=/profile//> of href=/profile//> overachievers href=/profile//> did href=/profile//> just href=/profile//> that, href=/profile//> but href=/profile//> they href=/profile//> still href=/profile//> don't href=/profile//> have href=/profile//> the href=/profile//> look href=/profile//> of href=/profile//> a href=/profile//> champion href=/profile//> quite href=/profile//> yet.

Team href=/profile//> Needs

There href=/profile//> are href=/profile//> a href=/profile//> lot href=/profile//> of href=/profile//> needs href=/profile//> the href=/profile//> Lakers href=/profile//> need href=/profile//> to href=/profile//> fill. href=/profile//>
1)Against href=/profile//> Phoenix href=/profile//> they href=/profile//> tried href=/profile//> to href=/profile//> pound href=/profile//> the href=/profile//> ball href=/profile//> inside, href=/profile//> and href=/profile//> had href=/profile//> some href=/profile//> success, href=/profile//> but href=/profile//> surely href=/profile//> not href=/profile//> enough href=/profile//> to href=/profile//> take href=/profile//> the href=/profile//> series. href=/profile//> A href=/profile//> low href=/profile//> post href=/profile//> player href=/profile//> who href=/profile//> can href=/profile//> score href=/profile//> with href=/profile//> consistency href=/profile//> would href=/profile//> help href=/profile//> to href=/profile//> open href=/profile//> up href=/profile//> some href=/profile//> open href=/profile//> shots href=/profile//> for href=/profile//> Kobe.
2)A href=/profile//> point href=/profile//> guard href=/profile//> who href=/profile//> can href=/profile//> shoot href=/profile//> is href=/profile//> another href=/profile//> need href=/profile//> for href=/profile//> the href=/profile//> Lakers. href=/profile//> Smush href=/profile//> had href=/profile//> a href=/profile//> good href=/profile//> season href=/profile//> for href=/profile//> Smush href=/profile//> Parker, href=/profile//> but href=/profile//> he href=/profile//> is href=/profile//> not href=/profile//> the href=/profile//> type href=/profile//> of href=/profile//> player href=/profile//> who href=/profile//> can href=/profile//> run href=/profile//> a href=/profile//> championship href=/profile//> team. href=/profile//> Sasha href=/profile//> Vujacik href=/profile//> is href=/profile//> not href=/profile//> that href=/profile//> guy href=/profile//> either. href=/profile//> The href=/profile//> Lakers href=/profile//> need href=/profile//> that href=/profile//> point href=/profile//> guard href=/profile//> who href=/profile//> can href=/profile//> finish href=/profile//> when href=/profile//> kicked href=/profile//> out href=/profile//> to href=/profile//> from href=/profile//> Bryant, href=/profile//> Odom, href=/profile//> and href=/profile//> Walton, href=/profile//> in href=/profile//> much href=/profile//> the href=/profile//> same href=/profile//> way href=/profile//> a href=/profile//> Ron href=/profile//> Harper href=/profile//> or href=/profile//> a href=/profile//> Derek href=/profile//> Fisher href=/profile//> did. href=/profile//> Look href=/profile//> for href=/profile//> them href=/profile//> to href=/profile//> make href=/profile//> a href=/profile//> big href=/profile//> push href=/profile//> towards href=/profile//> Sam href=/profile//> Cassel href=/profile//> to href=/profile//> fill href=/profile//> that href=/profile//> role. href=/profile//> Mike href=/profile//> James href=/profile//> will href=/profile//> also href=/profile//> be href=/profile//> available href=/profile//> and href=/profile//> has href=/profile//> shown href=/profile//> to href=/profile//> have href=/profile//> a href=/profile//> nice href=/profile//> shooting href=/profile//> touch. href=/profile//> They href=/profile//> may href=/profile//> even href=/profile//> bring href=/profile//> back href=/profile//> Tyronne href=/profile//> Lue. href=/profile//>
3) href=/profile//> Depth href=/profile//> at href=/profile//> the href=/profile//> perimeter. href=/profile//> One href=/profile//> has href=/profile//> to href=/profile//> assume href=/profile//> that href=/profile//> Devean href=/profile//> George href=/profile//> has href=/profile//> played href=/profile//> his href=/profile//> last href=/profile//> Laker href=/profile//> game href=/profile//> due href=/profile//> to href=/profile//> the href=/profile//> injuries href=/profile//> he href=/profile//> can't href=/profile//> recover href=/profile//> from. href=/profile//> The href=/profile//> Lakers href=/profile//> are href=/profile//> not href=/profile//> very href=/profile//> deep href=/profile//> on href=/profile//> the href=/profile//> perimeter href=/profile//> and href=/profile//> they're href=/profile//> not href=/profile//> athletic. href=/profile//> They href=/profile//> don't href=/profile//> have href=/profile//> the href=/profile//> depth href=/profile//> in href=/profile//> the href=/profile//> front href=/profile//> court href=/profile//> for href=/profile//> Odom href=/profile//> to href=/profile//> consistently href=/profile//> play href=/profile//> the href=/profile//> 3. href=/profile//> They href=/profile//> need href=/profile//> someone href=/profile//> who href=/profile//> can href=/profile//> run href=/profile//> the href=/profile//> wing.

GM's href=/profile//> Strategy
The href=/profile//> Lakers href=/profile//> have href=/profile//> their href=/profile//> two href=/profile//> center href=/profile//> pieces href=/profile//> set href=/profile//> in href=/profile//> Bryant href=/profile//> and href=/profile//> Odom. href=/profile//> They href=/profile//> need href=/profile//> more href=/profile//> talent href=/profile//> around href=/profile//> them. href=/profile//> It href=/profile//> will href=/profile//> be href=/profile//> interesting href=/profile//> to href=/profile//> see href=/profile//> if href=/profile//> they href=/profile//> try href=/profile//> and href=/profile//> fill href=/profile//> the href=/profile//> postitions href=/profile//> with href=/profile//> the href=/profile//> blueprint href=/profile//> of href=/profile//> the href=/profile//> Bulls href=/profile//> and href=/profile//> Lakers href=/profile//> dynasty href=/profile//> teams, href=/profile//> working href=/profile//> around href=/profile//> Phil href=/profile//> Jackson's href=/profile//> triangle href=/profile//> offense. href=/profile//> If href=/profile//> they href=/profile//> do href=/profile//> that, href=/profile//> low href=/profile//> post href=/profile//> scoring href=/profile//> will href=/profile//> not href=/profile//> be href=/profile//> their href=/profile//> first href=/profile//> priority. href=/profile//> They href=/profile//> will href=/profile//> look href=/profile//> for href=/profile//> a href=/profile//> guard href=/profile//> who href=/profile//> can href=/profile//> shoot href=/profile//> from href=/profile//> the href=/profile//> outside, href=/profile//> especially href=/profile//> after href=/profile//> Parker's href=/profile//> collapse href=/profile//> in href=/profile//> the href=/profile//> Phoenix href=/profile//> series. href=/profile//> Low href=/profile//> post href=/profile//> players href=/profile//> have href=/profile//> never href=/profile//> been href=/profile//> a href=/profile//> favorite href=/profile//> of href=/profile//> Phil href=/profile//> Jackson's href=/profile//> to href=/profile//> draft href=/profile//> because href=/profile//> he href=/profile//> wants href=/profile//> proven href=/profile//> rebounders, href=/profile//> and href=/profile//> Kwame href=/profile//> and href=/profile//> Mihm href=/profile//> have href=/profile//> proven href=/profile//> they href=/profile//> can href=/profile//> be href=/profile//> rebounders. href=/profile//> But href=/profile//> they href=/profile//> also href=/profile//> need href=/profile//> speed href=/profile//> as href=/profile//> they href=/profile//> are href=/profile//> beat href=/profile//> far href=/profile//> too href=/profile//> often href=/profile//> on href=/profile//> the href=/profile//> perimeter href=/profile//> defensively. href=/profile//> Kobe href=/profile//> is href=/profile//> an href=/profile//> all-league href=/profile//> defender href=/profile//> but href=/profile//> he href=/profile//> always href=/profile//> had href=/profile//> someone href=/profile//> with href=/profile//> him, href=/profile//> such href=/profile//> as href=/profile//> Rick href=/profile//> Fox href=/profile//> or href=/profile//> a href=/profile//> healthy href=/profile//> Devean href=/profile//> George href=/profile//> who href=/profile//> could href=/profile//> log href=/profile//> the href=/profile//> minutes href=/profile//> against href=/profile//> the href=/profile//> opposing href=/profile//> team's href=/profile//> star. href=/profile//> Luke href=/profile//> Walton href=/profile//> is href=/profile//> not href=/profile//> that href=/profile//> type href=/profile//> of href=/profile//> defender. href=/profile//> Look href=/profile//> for href=/profile//> shooting href=/profile//> and href=/profile//> perimeter href=/profile//> defense href=/profile//> to href=/profile//> be href=/profile//> the href=/profile//> main href=/profile//> points href=/profile//> of href=/profile//> focus href=/profile//> for href=/profile//> the href=/profile//> Lakers href=/profile//> come href=/profile//> draft href=/profile//> time.

Personal href=/profile//> Analysis-

The href=/profile//> draft href=/profile//> has href=/profile//> never href=/profile//> been href=/profile//> the href=/profile//> time href=/profile//> for href=/profile//> Phil href=/profile//> Jackson href=/profile//> to href=/profile//> try href=/profile//> and href=/profile//> improve href=/profile//> his href=/profile//> squad. href=/profile//> He href=/profile//> tends href=/profile//> to href=/profile//> like href=/profile//> doing href=/profile//> it href=/profile//> through href=/profile//> free href=/profile//> agency. href=/profile//> Sam href=/profile//> Cassel href=/profile//> will href=/profile//> be href=/profile//> a href=/profile//> main href=/profile//> point href=/profile//> of href=/profile//> focus href=/profile//> due href=/profile//> to href=/profile//> his href=/profile//> experience href=/profile//> and href=/profile//> shooting href=/profile//> ability, href=/profile//> but href=/profile//> Mike href=/profile//> James href=/profile//> may href=/profile//> be href=/profile//> the href=/profile//> better href=/profile//> player, href=/profile//> but href=/profile//> also href=/profile//> financialy href=/profile//> unrealistic. href=/profile//> With href=/profile//> Bryant href=/profile//> and href=/profile//> Odom's href=/profile//> salaries href=/profile//> even href=/profile//> Speedy href=/profile//> Claxton href=/profile//> looks href=/profile//> to href=/profile//> be href=/profile//> a href=/profile//> tough href=/profile//> sign. href=/profile//> The href=/profile//> shooting href=/profile//> point href=/profile//> guard href=/profile//> spot href=/profile//> could href=/profile//> be href=/profile//> filled href=/profile//> by href=/profile//> a href=/profile//> player href=/profile//> like href=/profile//> Daniel href=/profile//> Gibson href=/profile//> from href=/profile//> Texas href=/profile//> (also href=/profile//> a href=/profile//> strong href=/profile//> defender), href=/profile//> or href=/profile//> a href=/profile//> combo href=/profile//> guard href=/profile//> like href=/profile//> Quincy href=/profile//> Douby href=/profile//> from href=/profile//> Rutgers href=/profile//> or href=/profile//> Guilmerro href=/profile//> Diaz href=/profile//> out href=/profile//> of href=/profile//> Miami. href=/profile//> As href=/profile//> far href=/profile//> as href=/profile//> low href=/profile//> post href=/profile//> scoring, href=/profile//> the href=/profile//> first href=/profile//> round href=/profile//> may href=/profile//> be href=/profile//> a href=/profile//> place href=/profile//> to href=/profile//> pick href=/profile//> up href=/profile//> Alexander href=/profile//> Johnson href=/profile//> out href=/profile//> of href=/profile//> Florida href=/profile//> State href=/profile//> or href=/profile//> Nick href=/profile//> Fazekus href=/profile//> out href=/profile//> of href=/profile//> Nevada. href=/profile//> If href=/profile//> a href=/profile//> shooter href=/profile//> is href=/profile//> their href=/profile//> main href=/profile//> focus href=/profile//> Steve href=/profile//> Novak href=/profile//> may href=/profile//> be href=/profile//> available href=/profile//> at href=/profile//> 26. href=/profile//> As href=/profile//> far href=/profile//> as href=/profile//> perimeter href=/profile//> athleticism, href=/profile//> Brandon href=/profile//> Bowman href=/profile//> out href=/profile//> of href=/profile//> Georgetown href=/profile//> is href=/profile//> a href=/profile//> tremendous href=/profile//> defender href=/profile//> and href=/profile//> very href=/profile//> intelligent. href=/profile//> Other href=/profile//> possibilities href=/profile//> for href=/profile//> athleticism href=/profile//> in href=/profile//> the href=/profile//> second href=/profile//> round href=/profile//> would href=/profile//> be href=/profile//> Texas' href=/profile//> P.J. href=/profile//> Tucker, href=/profile//> Arizona's href=/profile//> Hassan href=/profile//> Adams, href=/profile//> Michigan href=/profile//> State's href=/profile//> Shannon href=/profile//> Brown, href=/profile//> and href=/profile//> Washington's href=/profile//> Bobby href=/profile//> Jones. href=/profile//> My href=/profile//> bets href=/profile//> would href=/profile//> be href=/profile//> Gibson href=/profile//> at href=/profile//> 26 href=/profile//> for href=/profile//> his href=/profile//> shooting href=/profile//> and href=/profile//> defense, href=/profile//> and href=/profile//> Bowman href=/profile//> at href=/profile//> 51.
If href=/profile//> they href=/profile//> take href=/profile//> Gibson href=/profile//> and href=/profile//> Bowman, href=/profile//> that href=/profile//> gives href=/profile//> them href=/profile//> a href=/profile//> point href=/profile//> guard href=/profile//> who href=/profile//> doesn't href=/profile//> need href=/profile//> to href=/profile//> run href=/profile//> the href=/profile//> offense, href=/profile//> with href=/profile//> Odom href=/profile//> and href=/profile//> Walton href=/profile//> more href=/profile//> adept href=/profile//> at href=/profile//> that, href=/profile//> and href=/profile//> he href=/profile//> can href=/profile//> be href=/profile//> a href=/profile//> spot href=/profile//> up href=/profile//> shooter, href=/profile//> which href=/profile//> Gibson href=/profile//> already href=/profile//> is. href=/profile//> He href=/profile//> can href=/profile//> contribute href=/profile//> defensively href=/profile//> as href=/profile//> well. href=/profile//> Bowman href=/profile//> is href=/profile//> a href=/profile//> solid href=/profile//> player href=/profile//> who href=/profile//> is href=/profile//> also href=/profile//> ready href=/profile//> to href=/profile//> contribute. href=/profile//> He href=/profile//> can href=/profile//> come href=/profile//> in href=/profile//> and href=/profile//> give href=/profile//> minutes href=/profile//> as href=/profile//> a href=/profile//> defender href=/profile//> and href=/profile//> also href=/profile//> will href=/profile//> fit href=/profile//> in href=/profile//> nicely href=/profile//> with href=/profile//> the href=/profile//> pass href=/profile//> oriented href=/profile//> triangle href=/profile//> offense.
 
The opinions expressed above are strictly of the author (a DraftExpress user/fan) and not of the staff. You can see the staff clubhouse for this team here: 76ers Clubhouse