What's the "BIG" problem?

[Yogi]

Here's the thing, though:  Bynum is much better than JO, and Odom is much better than BBD.  As much as we'd like to think otherwise, Gasol is probably better than KG, too, although KG still has the defensive edge.

To me it seems unfair to say that Bynum is much better than JO who is a 6 time all-star.  He was injured for most of last year and this year,  but he is healthy now.  Odom is better than Big Baby, but not by much.  Baby more than held his own against the Laker front line last season.  KG is having a great year, similar to he did in 2008.  Nenad Kristic was the starting center for Oklahoma city.  He was part of the team that took the Lakers to six games last season.  Jeff Green also started as power forward for the same team.  Troy Murphy is not injured and has shown steady improvement, despite looking lost for much of the time he's been on the floor.  He's just insurance anyway and he's still better than any of the Laker bigs sitting on the bench behind Bynum. 
Here's some of what we're up against
I put the guys who are injured or probably won't see time in parentheses. 
Boston:  JO, KG, Davis, Kristic, Green, (Shaq + Murphy).
Laker:  Bynum, Gasol, Odom, (Walton, Character, Smith, Ratliff).
Orlando:  Howard, Bass, Anderson, (Clark).
Chicago:  Boozer, Noah, Gibson, Thomas, Asik.
Miami:  Bosh, Anthony, Ilgauskus, Dampier.
Spurs:  Duncan, Blair, Mcdyess, (Splitter), Bonner.
Dallas:  Dirk, Chandler, Haywood, Marion.

Still looks like Boston has the deepest most talented front-line

[Roy H.]

To me it seems unfair to say that Bynum is much better than JO who is a 6 time all-star.  He was injured for most of last year and this year,  but he is healthy now.

JO actually wasn't injured most of last year; the 14/7 he put up is about the best you're ever going to get out of him, and that was as Miami's second option last year.  This year, he's been worse than that, and I think it's unlikely that his production will even approach last year's.  Bynum, in 28 minutes, averaged 11/9 on 57% shooting, as probably LA's fourth option.  He's simply better than JO.

Similarly, the difference between Odom and BBD isn't a slight one.  I'd cite stats, but honestly, I'm not sure it's worth arguing at this point.

[get_banners]

To me it seems unfair to say that Bynum is much better than JO who is a 6 time all-star.  He was injured for most of last year and this year,  but he is healthy now.

JO actually wasn't injured most of last year; the 14/7 he put up is about the best you're ever going to get out of him, and that was as Miami's second option last year.  This year, he's been worse than that, and I think it's unlikely that his production will even approach last year's.  Bynum, in 28 minutes, averaged 11/9 on 57% shooting, as probably LA's fourth option.  He's simply better than JO.

Similarly, the difference between Odom and BBD isn't a slight one.  I'd cite stats, but honestly, I'm not sure it's worth arguing at this point.

Didn't JO play through knee and ankle problems all last year? The knee wasn't as bad as it was this year, obviously, but I was under the impression that he was playing well under 100%...and actually, has been since his Indy days. Instead of taking time out to heal, he tried to play through his injuries and just made things worse, which sort of came to a head with the knee this season.

[Yogi]

To me it seems unfair to say that Bynum is much better than JO who is a 6 time all-star.  He was injured for most of last year and this year,  but he is healthy now.

JO actually wasn't injured most of last year; the 14/7 he put up is about the best you're ever going to get out of him, and that was as Miami's second option last year.  This year, he's been worse than that, and I think it's unlikely that his production will even approach last year's.  Bynum, in 28 minutes, averaged 11/9 on 57% shooting, as probably LA's fourth option.  He's simply better than JO.

Similarly, the difference between Odom and BBD isn't a slight one.  I'd cite stats, but honestly, I'm not sure it's worth arguing at this point.

They score more points because they play a much faster pace.  Gasol and Odom both are average defenders at best.  Bynum is a great defender but is very limited offensively.  He's not going to get too many dunks and alley-oops on JO.  JO is one of the premier shot blockers in the league.  Baby is a phenomenal position defender and can draw charges.  KG is one of the best defenders in the league.  Kristic is vastly superior to any Laker bench big with the exception of Odom.  Kristic averaged 7 points and 6 rebounds in 22 minutes in the playoffs against the Lakers last year.  In the same year Bynum (his best play off year) averaged 8.6 pints and 7 rebounds in 24.4 min.  I'd say Kristic held his own.  

[Roy H.]

Like I said, agree to disagree, I guess.  Let's just say that if we offered the Lakers JO + BBD + Jeff Green for Bynum + Odom, they'd hang up the phone very quickly.

[Yogi]

Like I said, agree to disagree, I guess.  Let's just say that if we offered the Lakers JO + BBD + Jeff Green for Bynum + Odom, they'd hang up the phone very quickly.

I agree that the Lakers would probably not take that trade.  But Trade value is different from combined production.  Bynum is a 22 year old, 7ft true center with playoff experience.  Quite a high trade value.  My point is the combined production of the 3 Laker Bigs, will be matched by the 5 players of the Celtics when they play the 4 and 5 position.  Rondo, Ray, Paul, West and Green (when he's playing 3) should outscore Kobe, Fish, Artest, Barnes, Brown and Blake