“It commonly is believed Bosh almost certain is to flee Toronto after this season, when he has the right to opt out of the final year ($17.1 million) of his contract.”

“My source believes the Lakers will offer Andrew Bynum for Bosh (if they haven’t done so already) well before the deadline expires. In itself, the one-for-one swap is impossible to make. Bynum’s “base year” essentially allows L.A. to take back but half of his salary this year ($12.5M). Of course, that restriction is lifted when next year’s salary ($13.7M) activates come July 1, at which time a sign-and-trade transaction would be feasible.”

Why would Toronto want to give him up? If they believe Chris Bosh is going to leave at the end of this season in his free agency, than this is a chance for the Raptors to try and get something in return for him, by making a trade before the deadline.

All in all this is very interesting. What would you guys think of the Lakers getting Bosh? Personally I think it’s too good to be true. But if somehow we could trade Bynum for Bosh, I think it would make the Lakers a much better team on both sides of the court. Your thoughts?

The Lakers know that with their current squad they can beat anyone anywhere. Period. And although home court advantage is important (and you know they will still try and get it), it’s not the most important item of business for repeating as champs.

Integrating Ron Artest

From the first day of training camp Coach Phil Jackson made it clear: “Fit Ron in.” He knows that in order to compete for a championship this season, their new small forward Artest will need to be perfectly integrated not only into the basketball side of things, but into the team’s overall chemistry.

The reason this outweighs the importance of home court advantage for L.A is that it might be necessary from time to time for the Lakers to sacrifice a few games here and there, in order to ensure Ron’s integration. Whatever it takes to get Ron fully integrated come April 15. That’s when the playoff’s begin for you noobs out there.

The Development of Andrew Bynum

Look. Bynum is a 7 foot monster/beast. Of the top contending teams, only Cleveland(Shaq) and Orlando(howard) has a center  that can compete with Bynum. And even those matchups favor the Lakers because of Pau Gasol in the frontcourt with Andrew.

Look for the Lakers to run more and more of their Triangle offense through Bynum during the regular season to help continue the development of his game. I expect Bynum to have another break out season and finally make the All-Star team.

These 2 objectives are the Lakers priority. You can sense it whenever you watch or hear an interview with the coaching staff or the players themselves. They know that if they can accomplish these 2 objectives, stay healthy, and keep up the same defensive intensity as last season, they WILL REPEAT AS CHAMPS!

Bynum said he wasn’t worried about regaining his spot in the rotation once he returned.

“ It’s cool. It’s cool,” he said. “Because when I come back in, then we’ll all jell. I’ll have to work my way back in and make us all better.”

Around the league though, not everyone is convinced the Lakers are a better team with Bynum than without him. Denver coach George Karl told Chris Tomasson of the Rocky Mountain News that he thought the Lakers might actually be more cohesive without their young 7-foot-1 center.

“Don’t you have to make the statement that maybe they’re better without
Bynum?,” Karl said. “Why do we always say Bynum? How many games has he played for this team? I like Bynum. I think he’s a great player. But sometimes you can have too much talent out there and it can kind of be confusing.”

ESPN: “We do,” Bryant replied, saying that even a season-ending injury to Bynum would not be insurmountable. “There have been plenty of teams that lost in the Finals that go back and win the next year.” Bryant, enhancing his argument, pointed to the experience his teammates picked up in their trip to the Finals last June.

“We’re better prepared,” he said. “For a lot of guys it was the first time, for Pau (Gasol) it was his first time out of the first round and he went all the way to the Finals. So a lot of things were new, but I think having a year of experience and also learning a lot from that series — because we learned a lot — now we take those lessons and apply them to this season.”

Click Here to read the entire article!

Luke Walton

Luke Walton was huge in this game. Particularly in the first 3 quarters of the game. Luke played a total of 27 minutes, scored 8 points, had 4 rebounds, 5 assists, and 1 steal. Of course you can find that kind of information by reading the box score, but by watching the game with some special attention there are a few other things to point out. At the 7:58 mark in the first quarter, Luke Walton brings the ball up the court and finds Andrew Bynum with a beautiful feed for a dunk. This dunk gets Andrew Bynum involved in the game and we start to see more activity out of him.

At the 1:47 mark in the 1st quarter, the Celtics went on a small run to go up 19-16, only to have that run ended by a corner three pointer from Luke Walton. Let’s move onto the second quarter. With 24 seconds remaining in the first half Walton drains a huge 3 pointer to put the Lakers ahead by 5. And in the 3rd quarter, Walton feeds Kobe Bryant with a beautiful back door pass which leads to a slam by Bryant. Defensively Luke Walton had a steal on Perkins in the 1st quarter, a block in the 3rd quarter, and a key forced turnover on Paul Pierce attempting a jump shot off a screen in the 3rd. Altogether, Luke Walton played a huge role in the Lakers defeat over the Celtics on Christmas day.

Lamar Odom

Many Laker fans like to talk trash about Odom when he doesn’t fill up the box score with points or assists. Hence the reason why Odom is the name who always comes up in trade talks. But it’s the small things that Lamar Odom can do that can change a game. And that is exactly what he did against the C’s. Odom had a total of 10 points, 7 Rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals, and 2 blocked shots. Perhaps the biggest two plays for Lamar Odom came toward the end of the 3rd Quarter, when he hit back to back 3 pointers from basically the same spot on the floor. It was not only that he hit 2 three pointers in a row, but the timing of the 3 pointers to close out the 3rd quarter.

Trevor Ariza

Trevor Ariza’s box score impact was very minimal. But there were 3 plays that he was a part of that were key during 3 different parts of the game. The first came during the 9:19 mark in the 2nd quarter when Kobe punched a loose ball to the other end of the court. Ariza out ran and out hustled Eddie House for the loose ball and while falling out of bounds, found Sasha Vujacic for a “and 1” layup.

The second came during the 5:06 mark in the 4th quarter with the game tied up, Trevor Ariza steals the ball from Tony Allen and and saves the ball barely from going out bounds once again. The final key play was Ariza’s dunk towards the end of the game after Pau Gasol’s block on Ray Allen’s jump shot.

Sasha Vujacic

Sasha is the type of player who will always be known as just a shooter, but the guy can play some fantastic defense some times. And on Christmas Day he did just that when called upon to guard Ray Allen. Sasha scored 10 points, and although he was only 1 for 5 from 3-point range, he stretched the Celtics defense with his long range threat and kept the Boston defense honest. He of course had the layup “and 1” during the first quarter after a Trevor Ariza hustle play. This was one of the turning points of the game, as the Lakers showed they could hustle too.

More Strengths

It’s obvious now that the Celtics miss Forward James Posey. Kobe Bryant had a much easier time scoring and getting into the lane against Ray Allen and Tony Allen. That Celtics defense did not feel nearly as dominant as it did last season. Also, the Lakers showed an obvious advantage inside with their length. Kendrick Perkins, who Boston fans have been raving about for months now, was nowhere to be found. Either was Leon Powe. It’s obvious as well that the Celtics miss P.J Brown, and might need to find some more size and length inside via free agency or some other means.

Guarding Ray Allen

The Lakers used Derek Fisher most of the game to chase Ray Allen around defensively. It worked! Ray was playing better than anybody on the Celtics roster, shooting the lights out from deep all season long. In this game he was limited to 14 points on 5-14 shooting and only 1 trip to the line! Great job by Derek Fisher in this game, as well as a key block on Ray Allen from Pau Gasol at the end.

Guarding Paul Pierce

This appears to still be a major weakness for the Lakers. As it is for most teams. Pierce was relatively quite during the first 2 quarters until he exploded in the third. He did not have a huge game, ending with 20 points and only 2 trips to the foul line. But the third quarter shows us that the Lakers will continue to have major struggles guarding Pierce. They need an athletic and strong small forward, like a Gerald Wallace to compete more in this area.

The Big Weak Spot – Andrew Bynum

Laker fans love themselves some Andrew Bynum. And the box score showed he played descent. 9 Points, 7 Rebounds, 2 Blocked shots. The effect of having Bynum in the came alone took Boston center Kendrick Perkins out of the game. Perkins was a relative non-factor all game long. But defensively, Bynum was hardly the effect the Lakers needed him to be. Bynum played a total of 35 minutes in this game, and during those 35 minutes the Boston Celtics scored 18 buckets in the paint! That’s a total of 36 points in the paint while the big 7 footer was on the floor! Ouch! If the Lakers want to win a game in Boston, Bynum will have to be 10x the factor he was in the paint on Christmas day! The other 13 minutes Bynum was not on the floor, the Celtics only scored 2 baskets or 4 points in the paint.

Final Statement

Everything looked great for the Lakers on Christmas Day. Boston in the middle of their 19 game winning streak, was on a role and playing the best basketball of their lives. The Lakers, coming off 4 games in 5 nights and all on the road, playing very sluggish ball to say the least. All of that said the Lakers turned up the heat and played well against the defending champs, showing them they can beat the Celtics on their home floor, even when Boston is playing their A game.

But this game took place in Los Angeles. In Boston it will be a different story with a different ending, unless the Lakers can find a way to get Andrew Bynum to be more of a defensive force in the paint. Role players like Luke Walton will play well at home, but not on the road. If the Lakers expect to ever win a game in Boston, they are going to have to show their young center how to play some D! For the Celtics this is bad news because it shows that the Lakers, after coming off 4 games in 5 nights, without their backup young point guard Jordan Farmar, and without much of a defensive presence inside from Andrew Bynum can still beat you! It means that the Lakers have the pieces in place. All they have to do is improve their young guys like Bynum and they are on their way to a championship.

It doesn’t matter whether they are big or small. It seems like guards and forwards alike are all picking on the young Laker center.

The other night, little Nate Robinson of the Knicks snuck around behind the giant Bynum for an easy layup. On Friday night, the Magic’s Dwight Howard pushed Bynum around like shopping cart at a Wal-Mart clearance sale.

And what did Bynum do about it? He climbed all over Howard’s back like a kid asking for a piggyback ride and then grinned from ear-to-ear when the referee blew the whistle.

But then why shouldn’t he grin? Or, for that matter, laugh out loud? He’s 21 years-old and has $54.7 million in the bank, thanks to the poor business management of general manager, Mitch Kupchak.

The Lakers could have opted to let Bynum become a free agent at the end of the year. Then, if his play and longevity throughout the season proved invaluable, they could have matched any offer that Bynum’s agent, David Lee, had on the table.

But David Lee must have appeared more like Bruce Lee to make Kupchak reach into Jerry Buss’ pocket and pull out $54.7 million over four years.

At the time, it just didn’t make any sense to me to pay out all this money to a kid who only played in 35 games last season before suffering a season-ending knee injury.

It seemed especially disconcerting when everyone expects Kobe Bryant to opt out of his contract at the end of the year, and the Lakers will need to back up the truck in Bryant’s driveway to keep the NBA’s MVP.

Perhaps the Lakers would have needed to pay Bynum a few million dollars more, but at least they would have known if he had been worth it.

Apparently, at this point in the season, he is not.

Appearing in 35 games last season, Bynum averaged 13.1 points, 10.2 rebounds, and 2.1 blocks. This year his average after 26 games has fallen to 12.3 points, 10.2 rebounds and 1.9 blocks.

That may seem like a small drop off, but the NBA doesn’t keep statistics on the most important statistic of all for a big man—intimidation. Namely, points allowed in the paint.

If they did, there wouldn’t be a drop off but a cave in.

Teams are driving at will to the basket on the Lakers, who were supposed to have dominating backcourt equal to, if not better than, the Boston Celtics.

Instead, it is the Lakers backcourt that is being dominated even the games they are winning. And Andrew Bynum is the main part of the reason.

This time last year, Bynum was beginning to assert his dominance from December to the mid-January when he was injured.

However, this year, it is just the opposite. His play has been deteriorating game-by-game. The other night against the Heat, he only had four points, six rebounds, no blocks, two turnovers, and four personal fouls.

Then against Dwight Howard and the Magic, Bynum had three points, two turnovers, 0 blocks, and—get this—only one rebound and five personal fouls.

And, if ever the Lakers needed Bynum to earn his keep, it is right now. Jordan Farmar tore the miniscus in his knee and could be out up to eight weeks depending on the outcome of further tests and examinations.

So, without Farmar, 35 year-old Derek Fisher had to play over 41 minutes and Kobe Bryant over 42 minutes against Orlando and accounted for 68 of the team’s 103 points.

Most of those points came in the first three quarters. By the fourth quarter, both Bryant and Fisher were dead tired. Meanwhile, Bynum’s walking around with a smirk on his face and five personal fouls.

It could very well be that Bynum has a serious case of Kamanitis. That is a disease characterized by extreme lethargy and lack of exertion brought about by a deep-rooted sense of unbelievable security.

The Clippers Chris Kaman exhibited the disease two years ago following a very productive season that landed him a five-year, $52.5 million contract.

Since the Clippers and the Lakers share the Staples Center, it is very possible that Bynum somehow contracted the disease from Kaman.

Unfortunately, like the flu and the common cold virus, there is no known cure for the disease. Once a player has “contracted” it, the team just has to wait until the disease works its way through the players system, and a sense of personal pride finally kicks in.

Click here to read the entire article!

Here are some things to watch in Kobe Bryant’s game this up coming season that will help him in his dominance of the league.

A Full Solid Roster

No more Smush Parkers or Kwame Browns! A full season of Pau Gasol, Andrew Bynum, Lamar Odom, Derek Fisher and co. will help Kobe Bryant in seeing less double and triple teams and will allow him to be in more isolation one on one opportunties. And there is nobody in the game that can guard Kobe one on one.

Smaller Defenders

One thing that teams have been able to do in the past, is guard Kobe with a bigger small forward who gives up quickness to Kobe, but compensates with a wall of defenders behind him. A classic example of this is last years NBA Finals where the Boston Celtics were able to use small forward James Posey or Paul Pierce to guard Kobe. Both Posey and Pierce are not quick enough to stay with Kobe, but didn’t need to because of the wall of defenders to help specifically Kevin Garnett, Kendrick Perkins, and Rajon Rondo.

Because of the size inside the Lakers will now have with Gasol and Bynum, and the inability to over help on defense because of the talent level on the floor, teams will be forced to use smaller, quicker defenders to defend Kobe. This will show us more of Kobe Bryant’s post game which we have not been able to see to much of over the past few seasons. This will give Kobe Bryant more shots closer to the basket much like Michael Jordan had during his championship runs.

The Pick n’ Roll

You saw this more and more during the playoff run last year in the most tense moments of each game. Kobe Bryant would have the ball on the left wing, with Pau Gasol setting the screen, and Kobe having four options. 1) To take a nice open mid range jumpshot (which is like a layup for Kobe), 2) bounce pass to Pau Gasol heading to the basket, 3) a lob pass to Pau Gasol, 4) a kickout to a wide open sharp shooter being either Fisher, Farmar, or Vuyacic.

Expect to see this same thing more and more this season, especially when games are in the balance during the 4th quarter when the Lakers really need a basket. Only this year there are two options for this play, one with Pau Gasol and the other with Andrew Bynum. Both will be able to participate in the Kobe pick n’ roll effectively.

More Help & Energy Defensively

This is a key area where you will see much more dominance in Kobe’s game this year. With all of the offensive options for the Lakers, Kobe Bryant is no longer a “1 man show” offensively. This gives him the energy to dominate games defensively, much like we saw him do during the Lakers 3 championship runs with Shaquille.

Also, don’t forget the all important factor of team defense. Bruce Bowen has been heralded for the past number of years as the games best individual defender. But let’s not forget that he has been Tim Duncan defending the paint for him.  With the twin towers inside, and a healthy long and quick Trevor Ariza, Kobe Bryant has much more defensive help than he has had in a long time. This will make him appear more dominant defensively, giving shooting guards a much harder time scoring wise.

All that being said, it’s still Kobe Bryant. Nobody is more ticked off than he is that the Lakers lost to the Celtics in the finals last year. He knows this year is his chance for redemption.