Los Angeles Lakers Stock: Who's Rising and Falling?

With the Los Angeles Lakers’ 2011-12 season nearly a third of the way finished, I thought it would be a great time to see which team members’ stock is rising and whose is falling.

Which Lakers need to step up their game as we draw closer to the midway point of the season?

Let’s take look.

14. Andrew Goudelock: Falling

After seeing a slight increase in playing time earlier in the month, with Mike Brown testing Andrew Goudelock as Kobe Bryant’s backup, the rookie has been delegated back to “garbage time duty,” averaging only a smidge under four minutes over the team’s last three games.

It’s hard to see Goudelock cracking the rotation, especially with fellow rookie Darius Morris seeing an increase in minutes.

13. Darius Morris: Rising

Since Steve Blake went out with a rib injury January 11th against the Utah Jazz, rookie Darius Morris has been thrust into more action, averaging 18 minutes a contest, serving as Derek Fisher’s backup.

And while Morris has made his fair share of rookie mistakes, he has been far from terrible. Also, he adds a shot of youth and athleticism the Lakers sorely lack otherwise.

12. Devin Ebanks: Falling

After coach Mike Brown experimented with Devin Ebanks as his starting small forward for the first four games of the season, the second-year player has only appeared in four games.

With Matt Barnes playing stellar basketball lately, it’s unlikely Ebanks will be getting heavy playing time anytime in the near future, unless of course Brown starts giving Ebanks some of Meta World Peace’s minutes…

11. Luke Walton: Push

Gone are the days of Luke Walton receiving major playing time.

But that doesn’t mean the always professional, hard-working Walton isn’t capable of producing when called upon. With Troy Murphy, Josh McRoberts and Jason Kapono all missing the game against the Phoenix Suns earlier in the month, Walton played 26 minutes (his most playing time in what seems like ages) and scored six points to go along with eight rebounds and three assists.

It’s certainly not fair to say Walton’s stock is rising. But given his role and point in his career, it's not falling, either.

10. Jason Kapono: Rising

It may seem strange for me to say Jason Kapono’s stock is rising, given the fact he hasn’t left a serious mark on one game all season.

At the end of the day, Kapono is arguably the Lakers’ only player who can improve their ghastly three-point shooting (the Lakers are dead last in three-point shooting this season, shooting just 25 percent from beyond the arc).

So, Kapono’s rising stock is not attributed so much to what he has done, but for hopefully what he will do.

9. Troy Murphy: Falling

Troy Murphy has seen a decrease in minutes after missing two games with the flu.

Murphy is an above-average rebounder and is a capable of hitting the mid-range jump shot. I still hold to my original prediction that Murphy will end up playing a huge role for the team before the playoffs start.

But for now, Murphy is on the decline.

8. Josh McRoberts: Rising

It’ definitely not crazy to argue, given his hustle, physical play and movement without the basketball, Josh McRoberts is the team’s most valuable reserve, especially with Steve Blake sidelined with a rib injury.

The beauty of McRoberts, given his penchant for doing the dirty work mentioned above, is he doesn’t have to play extremely well on either end of the court when inserted into the game.

Look for “McBob” to be an integral part of the team’s rotation going forward.

7. Metta World Peace: Falling

Mike Brown had high hopes Metta World Peace would be a good fit coming off the bench as the team’s sixth man. But despite a great early-season game against the Sacramento Kings on December 26th, in which World Peace scored 19 points, the former Defensive Player of the Year is averaging career lows in all major categories.

6. Steve Blake: Rising

Before being sidelined three to four weeks with a rib injury, Steve Blake was having a great bounce-back season after having a terrible first season with the Los Angeles Lakers. Blake is currently averaging seven points and shooting 40 percent from the field, up from four points and 35 percent last season.

The Lakers are subpar at the point guard position with Blake healthy. Without him they are that much more vulnerable.

The longer he is sidelined, the more the team will need him, so therefore, his stock rises by default.

5. Matt Barnes: Rising

Since becoming the team’s full-time starting small forward on December 31st against the Denver Nuggets, Matt Barnes has quietly played very solid basketball for the Los Angeles Lakers.

Working as a starter, Barnes’ averages in points, rebounds, assists and minutes have all improved from last season’s marks.

4. Derek Fisher: Falling

Derek Fisher reminded everyone last Monday why we all love him in the first place, hitting a game-winning three-pointer against the Dallas Mavericks.

But in all reality, Fisher is still a huge liability on both ends of the court. Fisher is shooting a career-low 22 percent from three-point land and has his lowest overall field-goal percentage since 2003-04, and we all know about his shaky defense.   It’s hard to see his stock being on the incline ever again.

3. Pau Gasol: Push

It seems as though Pau Gasol has been trying to re-carve his niche on the Lakers during the first month of the new season. Whether it’s due to his sore shoulder or struggling in Mike Brown’s new offense, we have seen Pau hovering around the perimeter much more this season, shooting 15- to 20-foot jumpers (including more three-pointers) instead of playing more out of the low and/or high posts, which Lakers fans are more accustomed to seeing.

Gasol is an above-average mid-range shooter, but he is averaging a career low in points (16).

Gasol had his best game of the season against Miami on Thursday, scoring a team-high 26 points.

It’s hard to say Gasol is going to decline anymore than the little bit he already has. But I also don’t see him improving by leaps and bounds.

2. Andrew Bynum: Rising

After missing the first four games of the season due to suspension, Andrew Bynum has played All-Star-quality basketball in his first 11 games back, averaging 17 points and 14  rebounds, including eight double-doubles.

Now the only question surrounding Bynum, besides the dreaded “H” word (health), is if he can do it for 60 to 66 games instead of 25 or 30.

1. Kobe Bryant: Rising

Kobe Bryant has arguably been the league MVP through the Los Angeles Lakers’ first 15 games of the season, averaging a league-best 30.2 points per game, including a four-game stretch of scoring 40 or more points.

The Lakers beat the Dallas Mavericks on Monday night with Kobe playing more of a facilitator role, scoring 14 points but dishing seven dimes.

The Lakers also suffered an ugly loss to the Miami Heat on Thursday with Kobe playing an underwhelming game.

Right now, the Lakers are simultaneously trying to run a new offense while trying to figure out whether Kobe wants/needs to dominate the scoring each game.

Hopefully, this will work itself out as the team becomes more familiar with its new offense, which, to this point, has been painfully hard to watch at times.