Why the Lakers Need To Restructure Their Roster After 4-0 Mavs Series Defeat

The Lakers lost in humiliating fashion on Sunday 122-86 in Phil Jackson's final game as Lakers head coach. It was the second worst defeat for this Lakers core, probably only trailing the 39 point loss in the championship clinching Game 6 in the 2008 Finals against the rival Celtics. The Lakers' weaknesses of the past four years were finally exposed by a determined and dominant Mavs team in the Semis. The following are the main reasons why the Lakers need to restructure their roster:

1. Age

Look, everybody knows the Lakers are old. As Jerry West said in January, the Lakers are getting a little long in the tooth. 10 of their players are 30 or older, including rotation stalwarts Artest [32 in November], Gasol [31 in July], Odom [32 in November] and of course Bryant [33 in August]. The only guys part of the rotation who are really young are Bynum and Brown. That needs to change next season.

Depending on the labor situation and the offseason decisions by the Lakers' front office, acquiring free agents or trade bait to be such as a Marvin Williams, DJ Augustin or Shawne Williams can infuse the Lakers with some much needed youth.

2. Lack of three-point shooting

While the Mavs were shooting a scorching 62.5 percent and converting on 20 shots from the three-point line in Game 4 (a playoff record), the Lakers shot a horrid 20.8 percent from beyond the arc.

The Los Angeles Lakers are an average three-point shooting team. They shot 35 percent from three-point land, which is the exact average for the league. Average is not what you aspire for when you're playing for championships. LA needs a three-point shooter that can help keep the team in games when they are trailing by a large deficit and/or are facing a three-point shooting team [aka Dallas Mavericks]. A player like Tayshaun Prince or Shawne Williams [40 percent three-point shooters] would cure these woes.

3. The rotation and transition defense

How did the Mavericks set numerous three-point shooting records other than the fact that they have sharpshooters such as Peja and Jason Terry?

The Lakers' terrible rotating defense. This has been a problem of theirs since the '08 run as Phil has repeatedly chewed out the team for their lack of proper rotation. A lot of it has to do with Derek Fisher not being able to keep up with speedy PGs, therefore needing a helpside defender. But it's not just Fisher, it's the entire team, including Kobe.

The transition defense is another problem because of the old legs. If you watch the entire tape of the Game 4 beating at the hands of the Mavs, Kidd and Barea were pushing the ball up the court immediately. This wore down the legs of the Lakers and caught them off balance defensively. This made the Lakers not only bad on defense, but stagnant and tired on offense when they ran back up the court.

In a worst case scenario where the Lakers don't acquire a big-name player on the market such as the highly coveted Dwight Howard to cure their toughness woes, or even Deron Williams to cure their dreadful PG situation, the Lakers can still remain a contender in the West if they cure these three main issues.

They can be solved by acquiring under the radar players who will fit the triangle offense, know their roles and provide youth, speed and athleticism to a Lakers' roster that was sorely lacking in those departments during the 10-11 season.