L.A. Lakers Are Championship Team with Ramon Sessions Running the Show

The Los Angeles Lakers acquired Ramon Sessions at the trade deadline, and it was an acquisition that could brig the Lakers a championship. Sessions might not be an All-Star, but he's a legitimate starting-caliber NBA point guard, and that's all the Lakers need to be a championship-caliber team. 

The key here isn't so much that the Lakers are a better team because Sessions is a better scorer than Steve Blake or Derek Fisher, but that he's a better facilitator, and that he is going to make Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol better players—or perhaps more accurately, do a better job of allowing them to be as good as they are.

The early return on the numbers, while limited, is compelling. Bynum's field goal percentage with Sessions on the court jumps from 56 percent to 64 percent, and he's getting 3.7 more attempts per 48 minutes. His plus/minus with Sessions on the court goes from a plus-2.2 to a plus-13.8. 

The Lakers as a whole have been a plus-10.3 with Sessions on the court. Their team field goal percentage is 1.7 percent better. They are making 5.5 more three-point shots per 48 minutes. Their three-point percentage is a hefty 47.1 percent. Their net rating, which is their point differential per 100 possessions, is 8.9 points per better with Sessions on the court. 

Certainly Sessions is bringing something to the table on his own. His numbers per 36 minutes are 14.6 points and 9.4 assists per game, similar to what he was producing in Cleveland. The 14.6 points looks great, but the 9.4 assists look better. 

Sessions' assists are also efficient assists, with 64 percent of his assists with the Lakers coming at the rim. He's getting the ball inside. The other assists have gone to either Matt Barnes or Kobe Bryant on the perimeter. He's getting the ball inside, but not exclusively inside.

All of this together shows that the Lakers are more of an inside-out team with Sessions on the court. They are going to be less reliant on Bryant, and as a result they are going to be a more efficient, more complete team. 

The Lakers have two things that make them championship contenders. First, they have Bryant. Second, they have two incredibly skilled 7-footers. What they've lacked is a player who can bring those two disparate things together. Sessions does that. 

The one qualifier here is whether Bryant will allow it to happen. If he is willing to let the offense be a team approach, with Bryant still the leader of the team, albeit with a few less shots per game and a few more going to the inside, then the Lakers will be a championship-caliber team.