Lakers’ 2012 Depth Chart: Getting to Know Your Team

Most casual Lakers fans know the key players on the team, and with constant news of recent additions Steve Nash, Dwight Howard, and Antawn Jamison, you pretty much know the guys you’ll see on the court for the majority of games next season.

There’s little doubt that you’ll see a starting lineup of Steve Nash, Kobe Bryant, Metta World Peace, Pau Gasol, and Dwight Howard this fall, and most of you know exactly what those guys bring to the table and what they’re capable of.

For the sake of not being repetitive, we will focus here on the depth of the Lakers’ roster, and some of the lesser-known players on the team and where/how they might help.

The Lakers started off the summer by acquiring guard Darius Johnson-Odom and center Robert Sacre via the draft.

Then, they acquired Steve Nash through a sign-and-trade deal with Phoenix, signed Antawn Jamison through free-agency, re-signed Jordan Hill, managed to get Dwight Howard in a blockbuster four-team deal, re-signed Devin Ebanks, and lastly signed Jodie Meeks through free-agency as well.

Along with Howard, however, the Lakers received two “throw-ins” in the forms of Chris Duhon and Earl Clark; to which Lakers Nation’s own Elizabeth Benson delved into their respective potential.

Similarly, another member of our staff, Josh Sexton, recently ranked Mitch Kupchak’s top transactions as the team’s general manager; in which two of the three aforementioned moves broke the “top three” portion of the ranking.

Anyway, if you take all the names I just mentioned and add in holdovers Steve Blake and Andrew Goudelock, that makes 16 players. Only 15 players are allowed on a roster, however, which will mean at least one player will be sent down to the D-League or possibly even be waived. Additionally, only 13 players are allowed on the active roster.

Nonetheless, the Lakers will have all players at their disposal at the start of the upcoming season, so let’s break down the depth chart as follows:

As you may notice, certain players overlap, as they are capable of playing multiple positions. Additionally, I have ranked the players in order of whom I believe would get playing time in front of the other. However, some of those potential minutes are contingent upon how other players perform, or how coach Mike Brown decides to utilize his players.

Up next, we will break down the depth chart position-by-position.

Next Page: Point Guard