On another note, I agree with the guys at the OC register that the Lakers “should” give Livingston a look. The problem is that – if he has good advisors – he will be looking for a guaranteeed deal and I don’t know if the Lakers are willing to take that chance. Still, playing for the Lakers carries a lot of spotlight should at least talk to him and invite him to camp. The pitch is that if he does well (say beats out Farmer for the backup spot or he becomes a starter) then next season he is going to cash in bigtime while at the same time proving that he still haa it.

Before you burn your monitors, Yes, I’m saying the Lakers need a third option at the point. If Fish or Farmar get injured for a few weeks, we are going to be paper thin at that position. Fish has 2 more highly productive years left at most and, although I like Farmar, I don’t see him being a starter. Sorry. Jordan is good, but he struggles against young and quick point guards – which are the wave of the future in the NBA. I think this severly limits him because of his small size. Sorry, folks, but thats the way I see it. Also, II think Farmar did better when he had Javaris knipping at his heels for playing time.

Also, thanks for all the suggestions. Not sure I can do all of them, but I got some great ideas to try to pull off.

The Lakers at this point are not only balanced, but may have backups available to sign to restore balance in case of injury. There are some Laker fans that have lost confidence in one or more of our returning players–but not me.

Those Laker bloggers who wish to call Luke “*uke” should wash their mouths out with soap. Last season, Luke played through injuries and changing roles in an apparent confused state. It will be interesting to find out about his mobility and three point shot in the preseason. I expect to see Walton regularly in certain combinations at the small forward and I expect him to make important contributions.

VladRad had a decent season last year, but still battled nagging injuries. His role is likely to shift from the small forward to the power forward–with more emphasis and opportunity as a scorer. I expect his role to also be better defined than last year and be another bright spot on the Laker team.

Derek Fisher played the last games and the playoffs with a significant injury. It will be interesting how healthy he is when he reappears in the preseason, and it will be interesting how many minutes he will play each game during the regular season.

I’m sure that Jordon Farmar is working on his three, but many of us are hoping that he gets to the hoop more often and rotates better on defense. It will be interesting to see if another Laker is added to the point guard rotation.

The Machine should expect an enhanced role on the Lakers to go with his substantially enhanced salary. I’m sure that there will be various strategies to make his scoring more efficient and his defense more acceptable.

Lamar had his best season as a Laker during 2007-2008, and he is as healthy as he ever has been. This season, his versatility will be challenged as never before.

The real treat will be to see Trevor Ariza and Andrew Bynum going through an entire preseason with Pau Gasol. There are many adjustments to work out. So far, the only Laker surgery on the horizon is for Kobe Bean, but he’ll be ready and rested by the time the season starts–I hope. If not, the early season absence will be a good test for the rest of the team.

Then there are three or four members of the newby squad to be added in:

Here comes the Sun (Sun Yue) seems signed, sealed, and soon delivered–ready to find the first dim sum place near Staples (hint: it’s not too far away!).

Josh Powell has apparently been swiped from the Clippers for the “Ronny Turiaf” slot–a slot that may have to be redefined to suit Josh.

I’m convinced that the Lakers will fill only one more slot (#14), unless they sign Mbenga (#15).

That slot should go to Coby Karl, and it may, but he may overlap too much with Sun Yue. I’m speculating (with no knowledge at all) that the slot will go to lightning fast Dwayne Mitchell in the hope that he can be a point guard defensive stopper. Why else would they even hold on to a 26 year old this long?

I find it least likely that they will select Crawford, but there are still a few other players that might be asked to training camp, and other strange things could happen. Slots 14 and 15 may not be completely determined until the start of the season.

http://lakers.topbuzz.com/PNphpBB2-viewtopic-t-18763.html#222446

http://www.littlewhitestatistics.com/?cat=7

http://www.contracostatimes.com/warriors/ci_10339116?nclick_check=1

Right now I imagine the Lakers are happy w/their rotation players and just want to add depth at the 4/5. But if somebody makes them an offer they can’t refuse…well,they ain’t gonna refuse it.

Also, this move plays more to some of the strenghts that Odom displayed this past season which were cutting off the ball from the weakside and displaying the ability to catch and either finish (career high FG%) or make the interior pass when he receives the ball after cutting. Also, realize that Odom (though he likes to have the ball in his hands) would operate better on the weakside (like he did a lot this past season as the PF) where there is more spacing and he can use his long stride to try and attack the basket (when he does have the ball in his hands) and not have to navigate through as many defenders to do so. Odom playing SG would also benefit the offense as a whole because it would have Kobe and Fisher operating on the strong side and would provide more spacing to the post man when he operates in the hub of the offense. Imagine when the ball goes into the post on the strong side and Bynum (or Gasol on occasion) is flanked by Fisher and Kobe. Having those guys as shooters on that side means that the post player is going to have that extra second to operate in the post because defenders are not going to leave those guys to help down. And then when that strongside motion is run and Kobe and Fisher run that scissor cut off of the post, Kobe can get open on the backside when the PF screens his man and he would be available for the pass on a ball reversal (check “sideline triangle” info at the 3:15 min mark of this clip and watch til the end).

There are a ton of options out of the Triangle anyway, but puting players in positions where they can be most successful is what Phil stresses the most in his coaching style. Right now we want to put our strongest and best players on the court to start the game. Odom is one of those 5 players. But to maximize him, I think a key thing the coaching staff can do is try to play to his strengths and put him in the positions on the court where he can contribute the most and use his skill set the best to compliment the other 4 players. I think that would be on the weakside at the SG position where he can be paired with Gasol more.