Los Angeles Lakers: Former Champs Must Tweak Roster After Loss to Dallas
The Los Angeles Lakers were completely humiliated in the playoffs.
In the first round, they let the New Orleans Hornets, a team missing their top scorer, play a competitive series and almost take important games from the Lakers at home.
The second round was the end of their journey to a three-peat.
Dirk Nowitzki proved to be too much for the Lakers to handle. His presence left his teammates with easy shots.
Role players Jason Terry, Jason Kidd, Peja Stojakovic and J.J. Barea won Dallas the series.
There is a lot of work to be done in LA to make them contenders again.
Get a Real Starting Point Guard
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The Lakers need a real point guard to start for them.
Fisher is just way too old and way too slow to compete with other point guards.
It was sad watching Barea and Chris Paul run circles around him and getting into the paint due to his lack of speed and defense.
The Lakers should look to the draft to find a solid point guard who I believe could fit their style of play effectively (more on that later).
Someone who can defend and shoot is needed, and it needs to be someone young.
Use Lamar Odom as Trade Bait
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The picture to your left sums up Odom's post season. He was just completely dominated by everyone he went up against.
After winning Sixth Man of the Year for the season, Odom didn't even show up in the playoffs.
He still has high trade value due to his regular season performance.
The Los Angeles Lakers would be smart to package Odom and a role player like Steve Blake to get another pick in this year's draft.
Hey, it shouldn't be too hard to convince Minnesota into coughing up their pick.
Lakers need to start a youth movement, and moving Odom and Fisher could be the start to it.
Either Bynum or Gasol Needs to Leave
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Even though I am not a fan of Andrew Bynum, he actually performed really well in the playoffs (but his elbow to Barea in Game 4 of the second round was totally uncalled for and I see him being suspended for a game or two to start off next season).
On the other hand Gasol, well let's put it like this, made it look like Memphis actually won the trade a couple years ago, as his younger brother Marc just completely outplayed him.
One of the two has to go, and I believe it may be the end of Pau's run in LA.
Pau could be packaged with Artest to be sent off to Orlando.
Orlando's desperate to get something in return for Howard, as they are scared he is going to leave in next year's free agency.
Getting Pau and Artest in return could actually help the Magic, giving them a defensive presence and big man to help mask the loss of Howard.
Assign Brian Shaw as the Head Coach
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Not only has Brian Shaw taught the triangle offense as an assistant coach for the Lakers, he actually played in it during his run with the team as well.
Shaw also has a close relationship with Kobe Bryant, something any coach that comes to LA needs to have.
Due to his knowledge of how the offense works and runs, combined with his relationship with the players already serving as an assistant, Shaw should be able to take over the head coaching job for the Lakers.
It's hard to see Phil Jackson leave, but everyone's time comes to an end.
Use the Draft to Add Depth and Talent
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Let's say the Lakers trick Minnesota out of their first-round pick and use their own pick to move up a little more in the draft. That would give LA a top-five pick and a mid first-round pick.
If Kyrie Irving is still on the board, that should be the Laker's number one choice.
There are rumors of Chris Paul wanting to join the Lake Show, but why not just get Irving, who would come with a way cheaper salary as a rookie and is already compared to Chris Paul.
From his first game, Kyrie could be taught all their is to learn about the triangle offense, giving him an advantage over Paul, who is used to running pick and rolls.
Should Irving be taken, LA could add depth to their front court by selecting either Enes Kanter, Jan Vesely,Tristan Thompson or Donatas Motiejunas. They can even take a shot at young combo guard Brandon Knight out of Kentucky, but Knight might be too much of a one on one player for the Laker's liking (they already have plenty of that with Kobe).
With their mid first-round pick, the Lakers should set their eyes on picking either Nolan Smith or Shelvin Mack, to fill their void at point guard if Irving is unavailable, or to pick either shot blocking phenom Bismack Biyombo, athletic forward/center Jajuan Johnson or the leading NCAA rebounder, Kenneth Faried. These picks would help boost the front court, should Irving be picked up instead of one of the big men mentioned before.
Chris Singleton could be an option as well to bring some more defense to the team in case Ron Artest is traded in the Dwight Howard trade mentioned before.
The NBA Draft could be the perfect time to rework the roster and bring in some youth.
Conclusion
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It will be sad to see Phil Jackson leave in such an embarrassing fashion, but there is much work to do in LA.
Like Magic Johnson said yesterday, there is a problem in the locker room, and this team needs to be blown up and reworked this offseason, and Kobe Bryant is basically the only untradeable player on the team.
Every other player could have a new home this coming season, if the lockout is avoided.
