Sasha Vujacic: The Machine-Slovenian Pest

Sasha Vujacic is known to get under his opponents' skin. Ask Carmelo, Eduardo Najara, jr Smith, Ginobili, Bowen, and Kyle Korver whom all took cheap shots at him. 

The latest culprits were Bruce Bowen and Manu Ginobili who gave him an elbow to the neck and shoved him to floor respectively.

What makes him a valuable player is that he can flat stroke the ball from anywhere from the floor, and he can defend just as good.

He's practically the third best Lakers’ defender behind Trevor Ariza and Kobe Bryant.

On some night, he looks like the best defender on the floor. Go ask Kyle Korver how Sasha denied him a shot and run the floor and knock a jumper in his (korver) face.

This guy can easily average 15-20 PPG if he gets starter minutes and enough shots. He can run around a screen at full speed, catch a pass, and still pull up for a jump shot with no problem.

And the fact that he's the second best guard/defender on a team with Kobe Bryant makes him even more valuable. 

I won’t be surprised if the Lakers opt to trade Odom for salary relief and move Sasha to the starting lineup and put Kobe at small forward.

But the chance of this happening is slim to none because Odom is that valuable to the team.

The bad news for the Lakers is that his stock rises with each playoff game. He's even starting to gain some national press.

I'm sure that after this series is over, win or lose, the Spurs will come knocking with a fat paycheck thrown his way. And the Lakers will have to part with Luke Walton, Radmanovich, or Chris Mihm to re-sign him.

And if I'm the Lakers, I put re-signing Sasha at the top of my list since we have an extra year to negotiate a contract with either Andrew B. or Jordan F. because guys like Sasha (shooter/passer/defender) are hard to find.