We know two things: 1) The Lakers are going to send a couple of players down to the D-League to start the season; 2) there are six players on the Laker roster now who qualify (in their first two years in the league).
So, who gets sent down?
Tony Bobbit?
Andrew Bynum?
Devin Green?
Adam Parada?
Sasha Vujacic?
Von Wafer?
In reality, that is only five as Parada will not make the team (and I’d be surprised if Bobbit did as well). Phil Jackson said in the LA Times Saturday that Sasha was a possibility, but that may be as much to light a fire under him as it being a serious chance (always hard to tell these things with Phil, he loves to use the media to pass along motivational messages). If Sasha does go down where does that leave the surprisingly solid Green — on the roster or on the street? After missing much of camp with an abdominal strain (he is cleared to practice again now), do the Lakers send Bynum down for a while to get some game experience or keep him on the roster to work with Kareem?
Who said there was no intrigue in camp with just 10 days left until the first game?
Update: By Tuesday Phil Jackson had told area papers that Von Wafer and Andrew Bynum will be up with the team to start the season. If that’s the case, Green is likely bound for the NDBL and the big question is what happens to Sasha?
john says
i think bynum’s a definite send-down, since he missed training camp and all. give him a month or two to work back into shape, get some more inferior competition experience. have kareem fly out to practice with him once or twice a week and give him lots of homework.
i’m getting tired of the sasha experiment, but i would say keep him on because who knows how the point guard position is going to hold up once the season starts.
green does look ok, but he’s useless unless there are injuries to the other small forwards.
bobbit, wafer, keep them if you can because of the need for a shooter as well.
how about that exhibition game last night? man, the bobcats made the lakers look…a little bit better than them. considering how many injuries the bobcats had that game was just as frightening as the previous one.
i came away with at least feeling positive about one thing, a la chris mihm. not his defense, since he didn’t have to guard anybody and he still got some dumbassed fouls. but his offense… it seems improved. i remember stu pointing out last year that he only had like one move in the post… looks like he has a few in his arsenal now.
did you see how odom came out in the first few possessions crazy-agressive, almost a little bit too much? where the hell did that go? sigh.
Gatinho says
Bynum would benefit simlply by playing against bigger players in the D league. Having come from high school as a center, he has not had any experience playing against bigger comp. I like D Green’s game and Sasha has given us little to hang our hats on.
Starting at guard for your Fort Worth Flyers, out of Slovenia, Sasha Vujacic!
Brian says
I think Sasha is pretty solid. In the few games where he received more than 1 or 2 minutes last year, he impressed with his three point shooting and Free-Throw accuracy.
And I’m sad to say, last year’s squad had it rough – even at the free throw line.
We made a lot of three pointers, though – with Kobe, Chucky, and Cook gunning at every opportunity!!
Let’s not be so quick to judge Sasha until we see him play more than 2-5 minutes in a meaningful game.
Renato Afonso says
I haven’t seen a single Bynum game, but the factalone that he came from high school without facing guys his size, means that he really needs some experience down-low. Send him down to develop…
Yes, there’s no depth at C or even PF, but the Lakers can (and I bet they will) go small on occasion. And it could work! (Remember the Heat before the Shaq trade?)
About the second guy going down, maybe it should be Green. You say he is solid, but since he won’t have enough minutes to develop if he stays in the roster, then get him some playing time.
Sasha will be needed to play point…
john says
at the beginning of each of the fourth quarters of the two games i’ve watched has been the only times i’ve been very impressed with the commitment to defense by the team.
i notice it before it even has an effect, which it has. they just look so alert and ready to react. if they played like that for long stretches i’d feel five times better about them.
why this intensity has only showed up at the start of the fourth is quite the mystery.