Ramon Sessions to Lakers: With Sessions, Are Lakers Favorite to Win the West?

Ramon Sessions is finally a member of the Los Angeles Lakers. But does that make Kobe Bryant’s team a favorite to win the Western Conference?

It was discussed and discussed to death. The idea that Sessions would end up with the Lakers was on everyone’s mind, and apparently that included Lakers’ General Manager Mitch Kupchak, who pulled the trigger on the deal Thursday.

Right now, the Lakers are 5.5 games behind Oklahoma City for the best record in the Western Conference and just two games behind San Antonio for second-best.

They probably could already be considered “a” favorite for winning the West, but does the acquisition of Sessions make them “the” favorite?

The answer is no.

The Spurs, Thunder, and possibly a few other teams are all better contenders for the West right now than the Lakers, even with the acquisition of Sessions.

Sessions is a nice player who will help the Lakers greatly, but he isn’t an All-Star or anything. He’s averaging 10 points and five assists per game, very solid numbers for a guy coming off the bench.

However, those aren’t numbers that will turn the Lakers into the powerhouse that they have been in years past.

Don’t get me wrong, they are definitely a favorite to win the West. I just mean that they aren’t the prohibitive favorite over everyone else.

The addition of Sessions to their roster helps solve their lingering point guard issues. Unfortunately, it doesn’t do much for their bench. That’s the Lakers’ biggest problem right now.

When you have a bench full of guys like Steve Blake, Matt Barnes, Andrew Goudelock, Troy Murphy and Josh McRoberts, you aren’t going to be able to rest your starters much, if at all.

According to Fox Sports’ Sam Amico, the Lakers are not done yet in regards to deadline deals. He reported that they are also very close on landing forward Michael Beasley from the Minnesota Timberwolves.

It’s clear that the Lakers aren’t messing around and want to become better fast. The interesting part will be whether they can get Beasley without having to give up Pau Gasol.

Beasley would be a great guy to have come off the bench and would make the Lakers’ second unit much, much better. If they were to get him, in addition to Sessions, they would be right up there with Oklahoma City in terms of contending for the West.

Right now, though, the Lakers are still the third-best contender in the West, and even that's generous. They still have major bench issues, which will force them to play older starters like Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol for too many minutes.

That could, in turn, cause major injuries that no team needs during the home stretch into the playoffs. Beasley could put this team there if they can get him.

The Lakers are close, but they aren’t there yet. They might be, though, by the end of the day.