Why the Los Angeles Lakers Had the Worst Offseason in the NBA

Much of the media attention in Los Angeles right now has been shifted from the Lakers to the Clippers, and with good reason.

Not only have the Clippers had a great offseason in acquiring Chris Paul, Chauncey Billups and Caron Butler, but they made a great first impression last night in beating down the Lakers, 114-95, in the first preseason test for both teams.

While the Clippers are the team that's likely had the best offseason, the Lakers likely had the worst.

Does that mean that the Lakers aren't a good team or can't compete? Certainly not. They still have a good bit of talent. But they've done the least of any team in the NBA to improve for this season and could be the team that's lost the most.

Looking at the total body of work, not only did the Lakers not get Paul or another superstar to pair with Kobe Bryant, they've lost a lot more than they've gained.

The losses will turn out to be big. The additions won't help much at all.

The Lakers lost two big parts of teams that won championships in Lamar Odom and Shannon Brown.

Odom was dealt to a contender in the defending NBA champions Dallas Mavericks for next to nothing, and Brown signed with the Phoenix Suns.

They may be able to get by for a while with Matt Barnes, Metta World Peace and Devin Ebanks splitting time at the three, but combined, they don't give you everything Odom brought to the table, especially from a ball-handling perspective.

They will miss Brown as well at both ends of the floor. Newly signed Jason Kapono may give you better shooting, but this Lakers team is built on defense and toughness, and Brown brought that.

In addition to Kapono, the Lakers also added Josh McRoberts and Troy Murphy. Both are big bodies that can give coach Mike Brown a few minutes a night, but neither will make an impact.

For a team that clearly needed to get better following last season's playoff exit to the Mavericks, they didn't come close.

The Lakers will be a good team, but judging by the offseason to date, they are the biggest losers so far.