Written by: Dustin Malcolm
Fresh off of winning their 16th World Championship, the Lakers resemble the head cheerleader from your high school. She gets better looking with every year, and soon enough all the guys in school want to be with her. Now that the NBA’s “D-Day” is here, free agents are scrambling for attention in hopes to land big deals and new teams. The only question that remains is whether or not these top free agents will flock towards the popular cheerleader, Los Angeles, or head for the less prestigious alternative options around the league.
Many of the available players have both publically and secretly expressed their desire to hop on the Laker train headed for a three-peat. With the possibility of a Bosh-Lebron-Wade “mini dream team” in Miami looming, the Lakers need to fill holes in a couple of positions and realign some pieces from their recent championship run if they hope to stay in contention.
Championship organizations share the common sentiment that the last thing they want to do heading into the new season is mess with team chemistry. But the Lakers proved able to adjust last season when they parted ways with Trevor Ariza and signed with Ron Artest, which ultimately helped them earn their second title in as many years. 2010 is arguably one of the biggest free agent summers in league history, so the Lakers are working hard to make sure they are still the favorites in the league come pre-season. With six unrestricted free agents on his hands, Mitch Kupchak has a few holes that will need to be filled in if he wants to help lead the Lakers to #17.
Next: Filling in the Blanks…
1. Point Guard
The Lakers struggled defending the point and it showed in this year’s playoffs. Young stars Westbrook, Williams and Rondo all took turns pushing the Laker defense to the limits. But the triangle offense is not a haven for true point guards, which is why the stronger Derek Fisher has succeeded using his poise in executing the offense. Fisher had a valuable showing during the 2010 Playoffs. During the season he averaged just 7.5 points in just over 27 minutes, but jumped to 10.3 points in 33 minutes once April rolled around. He proved to be most valuable during the West Finals, averaging 11.8 points.
Being a fan favorite, Fisher is always in the right place at the right time to hit the shots the Lakers need to win. These playoffs proved to be no different, with Derek sealing the Lakers Game 3 win over Boston in the Finals, as well as hitting a huge game-tying shot in the closing moments of Game 7. There is no better guard to defend against the screen than Derek, as he was able to show against the Celtics. The 13 year vet will be turning 36 this offseason, and while the tread on those tires would be a concern to most fans, the bigger worry should be if the Lakers are the team he’s hitting big shots against next postseason.
Shannon Brown is another player who has value in the eyes of the fans. Known for having one of the league’s biggest vertical leaps at 45 inches, he earned his way to the 2010 NBA Dunk Contest on a fan sparked movement. The 2009-2010 seasons saw Shannon earn career highs in most of the major statistical categories: points per game (8.1) and minutes per game (20.7) as well as in blocks, steals, assists and rebounds. His athletic build is undeniable, and he could prove to acquire valuable minutes with the aging of Derek Fisher and the imminent departure of Jordan Farmar. The Lakers are already pursuing to re-sign Shannon, who repeatedly insists he wants to stay in LA and further integrate himself into the triangle.
Among the new faces the Lakers are looking at to back up point is 30 year old veteran Steve Blake. Fresh off his half-season with the Clippers where he shot career bests 43.7% from three and 44.3% overall, Blake could easily lift an often lacking Laker bench. On April 14th he proved he could still score in bunches, helping beat the Lakers by knocking down 4 of 6 from deep and totaling 23 points. His pass-first mentality coupled with his ability to knock down big shots could be the spark the Lakers need to stay competitive in games.
While Blake seems to be the number one choice the Lakers are also looking at guards Earl Watson and Luke Ridnour. Watson is a proven passer, averaging over 5 assists in each of the last 4 seasons which could be big in the production by the bench. Ridnour could also be an asset, averaging just over 10 points on a respectable 48% shooting last season. He also had sizeable performances for the Bucks during their grueling 7 game series with the Hawks in the first round.
Next: Tightening Up the Bench…
2. Energy Off the Bench
With a starting lineup essentially set in stone if Fisher is re-signed, the Lakers are left to look for players to fit on a bench that struggled last season, to say the least. What the Lakers could use most is a player who brings intensity during big games, having the ability to knock down shots and slash to the basket.
Raja Bell is a free agent whose name has been mentioned a few times in Lakers free agency talks. Bell only played 6 games last year between Charlotte and Golden State due to a wrist injury that kept him sidelined. However, Bell is not far removed from his defensive battle with Kobe Bryant in the 2006 playoffs and the swingman still exhibits strong characteristics on that end of the floor.
While defense is sometimes difficult to illustrate with statistics, scoring is not. In this respect Bell excels at hitting the corner three in big games, averaging approximately 40% from deep in 7 of his 10 seasons in the NBA. Bell could be the slasher off the bench that former Laker great and GM Jerry West suggests the Lakers need. With Bell, the Lakers get a strong guard who can hit big shots and provide an intensity that could carry the team through games.
Matt Barnes is a player similar to Raja Bell that has expressed his interest in joining the defending champs. The most appealing thing coming out of Barnes is that very early on in the free agent hunt he expressed his willingness to come off the bench if it meant contending for a title. Much like Bell, Barnes can hit the corner three and is a defensive spark plug. In the past season he showed improvement as a rebounder, averaging a career high 5.5 RPG. He would be asking for a raise from his 1.8 million dollars from this season, but with the Magic only being able to give him their mid level exception the Lakers could easily offer theirs if they decided to go in that direction.
Next: Final Thoughts…
Now that Phil Jackson has announced his intent to return to Los Angeles for one more season, the pieces are beginning to fall into place for the Lakers. There is no doubt that Jackson’s return is vital to the success of the Lakers, and Lakers Nation can breathe a little easier today knowing that Phil will be back in his orthopedic chair next season. However, a coach isn’t going to be the deciding factor on whether a team wins or loses, so Los Angeles still has to do a good job of filling in the roster slots that are currently vacant.
The next few weeks will be intriguing because the Lakers, with the league’s highest payroll at 91.4 million dollars, might have to fill up a number of roster spaces without the financial cushion that many other teams have. With the cap for the next season set at 56.1 million and owner Jerry Buss expressing his dwindling desire to continue paying the dollar-for-dollar tax, it is clear that Kupchak has a lot of magic to work to help the Lakers tie the Celtics for most franchise NBA titles.