Sasha

Today marks the first official day of the offseason. Free agency is wide open. Last night, Baron Davis and Etlon Brand both opted out of their contracs creating league-wide speculation (mostly westcoast interest, with a little bit of South Beach and brotherly love). 

The Lakers have two significant free agents in Sasha Vujacic and Ronny Turiaf. I will be starting with these two players and working my way through the entire Lakers roster giving them grades one their performances this year. 

The first entry is Sasha. 

There is that faction of people that will “diss” Sasha for getting “burned” by Ray Allen in game 4, the game that effectively sunk the Lakers championship hopes.

While he did get fooled by Jesus (“burned” is in quotes because Sasha played in-your-grill defense for 20 seconds, and then misjudged one juke. Let’s not forget, as I did before the Finals, Jesus Shuttlesworth, yeah, he got game.), it wasn’t that one play that cost the Lakers a championship.

Try…a lack of interior defense. An unwillingness from Lakers guards (yeah, that includes Kobe Bryant) and small forwards to even attempt to box out or go for rebounds. The inability for the team to collectively step up for more than a quarter or two offensively or defensively.

So, let’s forget that one play and focus on Sasha’s emergence as a crunch time performer. Once Mo Evans and Brian Cook were moved for Trevor Ariza, it was placed on Sasha’s shoulders to be Kobe’s primary backup. It’s funny how Kobe’s backups the past couple of years have been shoot-first guys. Evans would gun at every opportunity, and we all know about Sasha’s penchant for shooting.    

The Machine, as Lakers play-by-play man Joel Meyers dubbed him, finally started to make all those shots that he used to just barely miss. Before this past season, my memories of Sasha included a paper thin, 12-year-old looking dude shooting at every opportunity and always just missing—but always missing. I remembered thinking, if this kid could just make those shots. Well, this year, all those shots started falling.

The tenacious, albeit, annoying, defense that he plays, though not elite has definitely given the Lakers a great option off the bench and helped alleviate the load for Kobe. His in-your-face, I don't-give-a-fill-in-the-blank attitude is vaguely reminiscent of Rick Fox when he tried to be the Lakers bad boy—right down to the greasy long hair.

Sasha’s got a killer instinct, and you can see the determination in his eyes when he plays. He was a welcome addition to the squad helping to space the floor and create room for Odom, Pau and Kobe to work inside.

All indications are that the Lakers are going to resign him. Probably for most, if not all of the midlevel exception. I feel he has become a solid core to the Lakers rotation.

He might be able to get more money elsewhere, but there aren’t too many teams this offseason with significant cap room. Memphis has cap room, but they need another guard like Hemingway needed another drink.

The Sixers have space, and they need a shooter, but they’d have to offer Sasha major money for him to walk away from pretty much a top three situation in all of the NBA. This Lakers squad is primed for another championship run. I doubt the Sixers or anybody else would offer Sasha $6 million plus. But, hell, anything is possible.

Still, it’s hard for me to see that scenario playing out and Sixers fans embracing it. Not with Sasha’s mediocre handle and penchant for driving into traffic with no real plan.

He is, however, a great shooter, and might be able to average 15-18 on another team. And he’s only 24, so it isn’t outside the realm of possibility that he could live up to a $6-8 million salary.

Still, he’s vastly unproven for that kind of money, and he loves the Lakers. I fully expect him to be back next season.

Grade: B+
I’m giving Sasha a B+ grade because of his unexpected rise to relevance as well as the countless hours he put in to improve his game. If he keeps working hard, who knows how good he can be?

What he should do in the offseason:
Work on his handle. Keep shooting. Master the triangle.