Mike Bibby / PG to Miami:
What he brings: Veteran leadership at the point and the ability to hit big shots in crunch time.
How he can directly affect the Lakers chances:
Bibby has lost a step at the age of 32, but his game wasn’t ever heavily reliant on his athletic ability. What he is and always has been is a cold blooded outside shooter that the Lakers fans are very familiar with from his days with the Sacramento Kings and those memorable playoff series against the Lakers in the early 2000s.
The guy is simply unconscious and won’t be timid about taking that big shot in the closing moments of the game. While Bibby is no longer the player we remember in his Sacramento Kings days, he is still an effective long range shooter and an offensive upgrade over Mario Chalmers and Carlos Arroyo – who was waived this week to make room for Bibby.
With Atlanta this year, Bibby was shooting a career high 44% from behind the arc and dropped 113 three pointers which accounted for almost 60 percent of his made baskets.
The Miami Heat now have a formidable line-up of long range shooters at their disposal by adding Bibby to the group of James Jones, Eddie House and Mike Miller.
Early on this season the Lakers were routinely late on their rotations and getting back to shooters on the perimeter. The Lakers will not be able to get away with that early season malaise and not get back to the shooters against the Miami Heat if they meet in the Finals, because this time they will get burned.