Bad signing. They need a skilled PF. Not a slow footed center.
I'm really intrigued to see if they try to play Gasol at center in D'Antoni's offense. I think there could be some success to be had there. I wouldn't be surprised if Nash, Gasol, and some pieces could hold a .500 record down until Kobe comes back.
And I wouldn't be surprised if the team stays around .500 after Kobe comes back too.
I think they could do that if they round out their supporting cast well which will be a tough task since they are only really armed with minimum contract offers. Maybe a mini-MLE but then again maybe not due to financial concerns.
G - Nash, (backup PG), S.Blake
G - Kobe, J.Meeks, (third string SG)
F - (starting SF), Artest
F - (starting PF), (backup PF)
C - Pau Gasol, J.Hill, (backup PF/C)
A lot of holes to fill. And Artest might end up being amnestied to avoid the luxury tax. That would create another hole to fill.
The Lakers front office did a really bad job last year of putting quality minimum contract signings around their talented core. If they do as bad a job again as they did last year, I could see that team being a 25-30 win team.
I think there is a real chance that LAL ends up filling that roster with players who hurt their team and detract from their team more than they add to it and improve it.
It is going to be very interesting to see what the Lakers do over the next few weeks. Might tell us some more about this new ownership / front office dynamic. About how competent they are.
Heck, they might be even worse than a 25-30 win team if Kobe Bryant struggles after returning from that achilles injury. A very scary injury. I could imagine him returning from that and going down the Gilbert Arenas route of firing off 15-20 FGAs while posting a sub .500 TS% and playing zero defense. Absolutely killing his own team on a regular basis. Does D'Antoni have the wherewithal to reign that Kobe in? Does Pau? Nash?
This team could be a whole lot of very different things at this point. Going to be very interesting to watch from a distance. See how they handle things. First thing up is filling out that supporting cast. That will tell us a lot.
Topic: Rumor: Chris Kaman to Lakers? (Read 3091 times)