Well I hope this article has been informative for those of you who may not have known all the new players on the roster, and at least sparked some debate and/or opinions on how the Lakers should utilize all of these guys for the rest of you that did.
After the Lakers acquired Steve Nash and Antawn Jamison earlier this summer, but before the Howard trade and subsequent transactions, I posed the question: “Are the Lakers off-season upgrades enough for a championship?” At the time, I reasoned that “yes,” the upgrades were enough to make them a contender because I felt they had the best starting lineup and enough role players for a short rotation to get it done.
Now, with the additions that took place afterwards, I am definitely convinced they have a championship-worthy team. Not only have the Lakers upgraded their starting lineup–which legitimately gives them the best starting lineup in the league–but they’ve upgraded their bench even more so.
It may not be the deepest team in the league, but I believe with the All-Star power this team has, many of the role players will–at times–look like All-Stars themselves.
If I had to guess, I’d say that Robert Sacre, Darius Johnson-Odom, and Darius Morris will be assigned to the D-League at the start of the season, or that the two rookies could even be cut in an effort to save as many pennies as possible for the Lakers after taking on such a high payroll.
As for the rest of the squad, I would bet that at least one backup of Steve Nash–either Steve Blake or Chris Duhon–would surely get consistent playing time along with the likes of Jodie Meeks and Antawn Jamison.
Early on, however, nothing would surprise me when it comes to coach Brown and I could realistically see him using a 10-man rotation to start the season in an effort to kind of feel things out. In this instance I would venture to say he’d bring out Devin Ebanks and Jordan Hill along with the rest of his second unit.
As long as he eventually finds a solid rotation that works–however many players may be in it–I wouldn’t see a problem with it.
Mitch Kupchak and Jim Buss were extremely busy this off-season and brought in eight new players (two being rookies that may not make the team, to be fair), and retained the services of two more.
In doing so, they have given coach Brown options galore when it comes to his roster. With so many options and talent on his team, I can only imagine that he’s giddy just thinking about it.
Come autumn, we will finally get to witness what all of the off-season moves will form into.
For me, the season can’t come soon enough!