It has been just over a week since the NBA trade deadline with Ramon Sessions playing for the Los Angeles Lakers and his impact has already been felt by the team and the fans. Despite the Lakers looking for a new starting point guard to take over for Derek Fisher, head coach Mike Brown decided to gradually work Sessions into the rotation by having him coming off the bench and starting veteran Steve Blake.
This season has been one of the worst of Steve Blake’s career in the NBA. The NBA journeyman hasn’t put up pitiful numbers, but they have been career-lows (5.1 ppg, 3.5 apg). That being said, Lakers fans have been getting anxious to have Ramon Sessions become the starter for the rest of the season and hopefully the foreseeable future.
In the first four games since being traded to the Los Angeles Lakers, Ramon Sessions has been as advertised putting up some impressive numbers off the bench. Sessions’ best game came in the blowout win over the defending NBA champion Dallas Mavericks (109-93). The up-and-coming point guard scored 17 points dished out nine assists and ripped down five rebounds in 29 minutes.
This solid performance against the Mavs convinced Mike Brown that a change was needed tonight against the Portland Trail Blazers via Dave McMenamin of ESPNLosAngeles.com:
“I’m going to start Sessions tonight,” Lakers coach Mike Brown told reporters after the Lakers’ shootaround Friday. “The biggest thing is there’s a comfort level there with all of us and Sessions. If you talk to him, he’ll tell you at the end of the Dallas game when he was on the floor, there was a comfort level that he had out there running the offense.”
It would be hard to argue that making this move wasn’t the best decision for the team moving forward. The competition is only going to get tougher from here on out and the team needs to get prepared for the playoffs which is just around the corner. Steve Blake will still be a viable option off the bench, but as a starter he just doesn’t have the same impact that Ramon Sessions bring when he’s on the floor.
It will be interesting to see how Sessions handles his new role as the starting point guard for the Lakers. Tonight, Sessions will go head-to-head against the likes of Raymond Felton, Jonny Flynn and Jamal Crawford which will be a good test to see how he can hold up against an experienced starter and a high-scoring backup.
Initially, Brown has made the right decision to start Sessions to bring some energy and consistency right out of the gate. Whether or not Sessions will play well immediately remains to be seen, but smart move in my opinion.
