Improv Olympic Los Angeles

After losing the Finals, the stakes for the Lakers are even higher this year. The Lakers had a relatively quiet offseason ... but with the return of Andrew Bynum healthy and Trevor Ariza and Pau Gasol have two and Ariza for the full season, many are picking the Lakers as the favorites to win the title.

The only loss on the Laker list this offseason was Ronny Turiaf. Ronny was a great excitement and Guy energy on the bench who would come, get some rebounds and block shots. But it was wise for the Lakers do not match the salary he signed for. It is simply not worth it (especially with the Lakers being over the cap), as its loss should not be important anyway with Bynum back. The Lakers will look to the 6-9 Sport, Josh Powell £ 240 to fill the role Turiaf, who will be significantly less this year anyway. The Lakers also resigned DJ Mbenga for more depth at C.

At the guard position, Sasha Vujacic Lakers resigned, and drafted Sun Yue (2007) and Joe Crawford (6-5, 207 pounds of Kentucky guard) and pick Dwayne Mitchell, Brandon Heath and CJ Giles. Sun Yue is a fascinating perspective on the road but it is simply a draft at this stage and should have no effect on this year. Joe Crawford is a solid player in Kentucky (17.9 pts, 3.6 reb, 2.1 ast). He had a very nice movement in the summer league .... I do not expect to see one of these so this year. But until he shows he can play solid defense and hit the three, he has a small chance to make the list. Dwayne Mitchell is a very interesting prospect. At 6-5 220 pounds guards of Louisiana Lafayette. It was a D-League all-star before shipment to play in Germany. Mitchell was actually taken after impressive during training Kupchak Josh Powell. He keeps a very athletic and explosive. Something the Lakers could certainly use. His outside shooting and decision-making seems to be suspect, but the athletic and explosive upside is Nice.

With the season approaching, the big questions of the team are:

Andrew Bynum is 100%?

All indications are that Bynum knee is 100%. Bynum seems especially confident and excited about the upcoming season. For me, it was a real shame to see Bynum down last year. He was really improving every day and under our eyes ... and then he gets hurt. This year, Phil said he would like to get Bynum more involved in the offense .... To develop his game to where it can contribute to the facilitation of the offense rather than simply going on an individual basis or to take a lob dunk for scores.

Is Kobe pinky be OK?

It should be fine. Kobe's stats were essentially the same before and after the injury. The rose can not be worse than its just completely torn ligament, and it seems Kobe has made a habit of playing with him. The only problem is that it can sometimes cause pain when someone types in it. This would not be a big problem ... except perhaps in a playoff game where a night off can affect a series. But I agree with his decision to forgo surgery. After seeing how ridiculously competitive the West was last season, losing Kobe for two months would be too costly. More than pink, Phil seems more concerned about Kobe minutes. After playing in the playoffs and play deep in the Olympic Games, Phil has said he will try to limit the minutes of Kobe. But with the competitive West, I do not expect a significant decrease in minutes of Kobe.

How the return of Andrew Bynum affect the rotations and roles?

The question seems to be the obvious role of Lamar Odom. Initally about a "huge" lineup of Bynum, Pau and Lamar Lamar has changed or not should come from the bench. I actually like the idea of Lamar coming off the bench. They do not really need Odom as a marker in the starting li.