Tweaks for the Los Angeles Lakers to Be One of NBA's Best Again

There has been a lot of talk lately around Lakers camp that Pau Gasol is still on the table.

However, most of the talk, especially by Kobe Bryant, is that the Lakers don't need a home-run trade.

They have the foundation in Kobe, Bynum, and Pau, and while most Lakers fans are worried that they need to prepare for the future (sans Kobe) and get younger, all the fans in LA also know that this group could win another title or two if the pieces around the big three come together.

This group will not come together. Not now. Not in a shortened lockout season. Not ever. Too old. Too soft. And simply put, just not good enough.

I think Coach Brown has also screwed up some of the talent. While Troy Murphy WAS a solid double-double guy every night, he isn't that guy anymore, and even if he was, he wouldn't be because he isn't going to get the minutes with Pau and Andrew hogging most of them.

Murphy should play 5/6 minutes a night. The backup minutes to Pau and Andrew should go to Josh McRoberts. He is an energy guy and the Lakers need an energy guy. He does a little bit of everything.

Devin Ebanks should be getting some solid minutes at the 3 spot. Matt Barnes is playing great off the bench, and Artest's defense has been almost perfect over the last couple of games, but Ebanks again brings youth and energy.

He doesn't have to play 15 minutes...even 10 a night will do. But he needs to come in and get some game time so he can improve. Then he will fit comfortably into the offense, or teams will see what he can do so that Mitch can trade him away for something that will work.

But even with those rotation changes, this team still is not championship-worthy unless Kobe, Pau, Bynum, and Fish get back to that level and can somehow sneak to the finals. But Ron will have to be Indiana Ron (The man he continues to Tweet that he is...you aren't...not yet at least.)

So minor roster changes have to be made. The first is going have Michael Beasley. Some people are worried that his character is a huge issue, and it is. but he has never played with someone has fired up like Kobe Bryant (including Dwayne Wade).

Kobe is a leader that we haven't seen since Michael Jordan. He can work with Beasley and turn him into the great scorer that he is.

The Lakers might not even have to give up too much to get him. Odom's trade exception and maybe Metta World Peace (Artest) would be enough.

Minnesota can Amnesty Metta and clear cap space for a big free-agent signing in the summer that just may get them over the hump to being a threat in the West.

Secondly, the Lakers DO NEED TO PULL the trigger on trading for Ramon Sessions. I don't know what Cleveland is asking for, but giving them one of our point guards and a second-round pick might do it.

A Ramon for Blake and pick trade sounds good to me. Blake has been the better PG over Derek Fisher, but Fish has done too many good things for the Lakers and he shines in playoff time. Ramon would play most of the minutes, but Fisher would still start.

And finally, the rumblings in Atlanta have been there for weeks. Marvin Williams wants out of Atlanta because he isn't getting enough playing time; he isn't getting enough shots.

While he wouldn't get many more in LA, he would probably be happier knowing that he is on a championship contender. He would bring the Lakers the outside shooting it needs to take pressure of Kobe and the big men and he is a younger guy than Metta, Walton and Barnes.

Trade Barnes and Walton and maybe another second-rounder for Williams and you have a better bench player than Barnes and Metta.

The Lakers would have the same looking team...but an entirely different looking team at the same time. They would be fresh, young, energetic, and exciting.

Starters: Derek Fisher, Kobe Bryant, Michael Beasley, Pau Gasol, Andrew Bynum

ROLE PLAYERS: Ramon Sessions, Andrew Goudelock, Marvin Williams, Josh McRoberts, Troy Murphy

BENCH: Darius Morris, Jason Kapono, Devin Ebanks

They would still be a little weak at the Power Forward position when Gasol moves to Center or rotates out of the game, but Beasley can play power forward. He isn't as long as Odom, but he would bring a lot of the same game to the table.

He can handle the ball, create for himself, hit the long 3 and pass. He just isn't as great a rebounder as Odom, but that's only because he has been lazy. On this team, he would be motivated.

The Lakers would be able to compete with anyone. Their perimeter defense would slack off just a bit with Metta and Barnes gone, but Mike Brown would be the perfect coach for it. He would convince Williams and Beasley to play defense and they would be great at it.

I'm not sure if the Lakers are thinking about these moves, but I do hope they realize that unless they bring in Dwight Howard or Deron Williams, or another young ALL STAR, they DO NOT need to get rid of Pau Gasol, and the definitely do not need to get rid of BOTH Paul Gasol and Andrew Bynum.

The pieces are there. The foundation is there. They just need to exchange some of the bricks in the wall to rebuild a championship team.