CP3 could be the Answer for the Lakers

The Lakers front office will be scurrying to build another championship team with various trades and resign agreements during the offseason. Fortunately, they already have the core pieces for another championship at the positions of shooting guard, forward, power forward, and center. Notice anything missing? The Lakers are in dire need of an effective and consistent point guard to lead them back to the NBA Finals.

Derek Fisher has been a member of the Lakers for the majority of his basketball career, and he has proven to be an important piece to the Lakers championship puzzle with his clutch shooting in the playoffs and strong veteran leadership. He has won five championships with the Lakers alongside his partner in crime, Kobe Bryant. However, if the Lakers want to become champions again in 2011-12, they will need to find a new leader at the point guard position.

The Lakers tried to support Fisher with a veteran point guard in Steve Blake this past season, but I think they went backwards with this acquisition. The Lakers had the right formula during their two-year championship run from 2009 – 2010 with Jordan Farmar and Sasha Vujacic. These are two guards that were young and hungry for championship rings, and that’s what the Lakers need again.

Next: Chris Paul

The first player that comes to mind that would greatly increase the chances for the Lakers to be title contenders again is Chris Paul from the New Orleans Hornets. If the Lakers would like to have a fighting chance against the likely Finals matchup against the Miami Heat, who are considered to be 5/2 favorites by the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, they will need to make an investment at the point guard position by acquiring a MVP-caliber player such as Paul.

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Paul demonstrated his amazing leadership skills and killer instinct against the Lakers this past postseason in the first round when the Lakers took the series 4-2. But on top of his great play against the Lakers, he has proven to be one of the best point guards in the NBA since entering the league in 2005. Paul has grown dramatically in his short career, with his stellar passing ability, shooting range, and consistent free throw shooting. These reasons are just a small fraction as to why the Lakers could very much use his services as their point guard.

The Lakers have always struggled against speedy point guards, demonstrated by the play of J.J. Barea in their loss against the Mavericks during the 2011 Western Conference Semifinals. Their defense cannot adjust to the high-speed of these guards, and the fact that Derek Fisher is entering his 16^th season is a sign that his body cannot keep up with the surge of younger guards in the league. Paul would provide the defensive speed that the Lakers have lacked against these types of guards, and he would also bring to the Lakers, his lightning quick hands, which has helped him average 2.4 steals throughout the course of his career.

Next: MVP Numbers

Most importantly, the main skill of a point guard is their ability to provide assists to the entire team, and Paul would provide that necessary contribution, as he has averaged 9.9 assists for his career. Can you imagine Paul running down the floor in a Lakers uniform and having the option of dishing it down low to either Andrew Bynum or Pau Gasol? The Lakers need to utilize the strength they have down in the paint with their pair of seven-footers, and the best way to embrace this talent is to acquire a player with a skill set which parallels that of Paul, who can easily feed the big men inside.

Even though Paul is known more for his quick moves and fluid passes, he is also a scoring threat, as he has averaged 18.7 points per game over his six-year career. This clearly makes him a double-double machine in nearly every game he plays in. On top of Paul’s shooting percentage, he has been consistent on the charity stripe by knocking down 85.3 percent of his attempts from the line. Fisher has only averaged 8.8 points per game for his career, so this addition would clearly improve the Lakers scoring at the point guard position.

An area that the Lakers need to improve in is their three-point shooting. There is potential with the current roster, as Lamar Odom demonstrated with his 38.2% shooting from behind the arc this past season. The Lakers need to make acquisitions for the bench that would improve this area, but the addition of Paul would also provide an additional threat in the Lakers’ starting lineup. Paul has a career average of 35.9% for 3-point shots, and this would certainly be a boost for the Lakers’ struggles from downtown.

The thought of Chris Paul in a Lakers uniform is a possibility this off-season, and this should be a priority for the Lakers front office. More than anything, the Lakers should be investing in the future of the franchise and the addition of Chris Paul could be the next superstar on their roster. Kobe Bryant is getting older everyday, and even though he will work harder than any other player in the NBA to maintain his form, he will need to eventually hand off the franchise to another player. That player could very well be Chris Paul.

Statistics provided by NBA.com