It has been well documented how well stacked the Lakers are this season with the addition of Pau Gasol. This moved Odom to third in the pecking order, the ideal place for him to best shine. He’s playing like a poor man’s Magic. Yeah. You heard me right.
It has also been well documented about how young this team is and how bright their future looks with Bynum, Farmar and potentially Ariza all young budding stars. The Lakers look set to compete for championships for years to come, even beyond Kobe’s prime. Besides, with his fire and winner’s mentality, Farmar is the poor man’s point guard, big-eared version of Kobe.
Of course there are some minor problems. A potential logjam at SF is one. As mentioned above, Odom is playing magically, but how will he play when Bynum is entered into the equation. One potential is having Bynum be the sixth man. Have him come off the bench with the second unit (which they will probably do when he comes back this season). It worked extremely well at the beginning of the season before Drew was inserted into the starting lineup.
But then there’s Vladimir Radmanovic. I’ve been saying that Vlade is an ideal player in the triangle. He’s 6-10, has plus handles, is an adept passer, and, oh yeah, he’s shooting a scalding 41 percent from beyond the arc. He’s also locked in for the next four years. So, hopefully he lives up to that billing.
Surely it hasn’t been that long that we can’t remember his days as a Sonics. He’s only 27 for god’s sake. He just needs to stay focused and stay healthy. Okay, so maybe he’s not the ideal player. But he could be. Ariza would be his perfect compliment.
And then there’s Luuuuuuke. The Walton signing which looked like a reasonable and necessary addition this past summer, now looks rather horrible due to his injury-plagued season at the ripe old age of 27. Walton only has five more years left on his deal.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m a fan of Luke’s game when he’s on, but in what should have been the year that he stepped up to his potential after last season’s improvement, he has instead regressed to the no confidence, can’t-find-my-place type version he was two seasons ago. His turnovers are up in ten less minutes and he’s shooting 44.7 and 34 percent from the field and three respectively—down from his career high 47.4 and 38.7 last year. He’s played better of late, finding a way to fight through his myriad of injuries.
The thing is, I’m sure the injuries are the reason he’s not playing well. He’s hurt all over with ankle, hip, lower back and knee pain. So sure, when you’ve got injuries, especially that many, you’re going to have inconsistency. But, another reason the deal looks bad is because injuries are Walton’s modus operandi. A true a poor man’s version of his dad. Bill Walton’s career went south at around 27 due to injuries. Let’s hope history doesn’t repeat itself. On the bright side, Luuuuuuuuuke shouted out by 20,000 fans sounds the same as booooo.
I mean, everybody’s got some sort of injury at this point in the season. Pau’s got back pain. Kobe’s got a torn ligament in his pinkie that two professional doctors advised him not to play with.
Facts is facts.
Problem number two is free agents. Ariza, Ronny Turiaf, and Sasha Vujacic are all free agents next season. With all the SFs already on the roster, who to keep? Sasha's shooting and feisty D, or all the talents that Ariza brings? Which reflects what could, depending on how Buss wants to handle his finances, be another problem.
Luxury tax. Even after dropping the aforementioned players plus Chris Mihm and DJ Mbenga, the Lakers will still be around $8 million over. That’s extreme luxury tax by itself. But if they plan on resigning Ariza or Turiaf or Vujacic, two guys who are playing exceptional basketball, that number could balloon.
Turiaf will be getting calls. He’ll be getting lots of suitors. The Phoenix Suns for one thing. He’ll get calls from the Celtics. The Spurs. The Mavs. Any number of championship caliber teams. For these teams, it’s "go now" time. That’s what trading for Shaq and Kidd and KG for half your team means. So it would be insane if they didn’t want to spend money next season to try again.
And Turiaf will be worth his weight in gold. He has a 15.91 PER. His per 40 minute averages are 15 ppg, 8.5 rpg, 3 apg 2.7 bpg and 1.2 spg. A less athletic K-Mart. He’d be a darling in Phoenix, a revelation in Dallas playing with Nash or Kidd.
Of course, let’s not forget the frontline challenged Warriors.
Then there’s my mans Sasha. I swear he’s a skinny, little-boy looking version of Sampson. You know, of Sampson and Delilah fame (for those who don’t know your Bible stories, forget this metaphor). He’s grown his hair out and it’s given him super powers. He’s riding a 15.95 PER, shooting a nifty 47 percent overall and a silky 43 percent from downtown with a 61.8 true shooting percentage. He’d be averaging at least 20 points per game if he got forty minutes. He also has this attitude that makes him annoying to anyone playing against hiim. Add that to his in your crotch defense, and yeah, the same teams mentioned above are going to be wanting the Machine too.
And of course there is Ariza. His 16.29 PER doesn’t tell the tale of what else he brings. Like Turiaf, he brings waves of energy and pure hustle. He's on his stomach for every loose ball. He's attached to the guy’s hip he’s guarding. He flies to the hoop for offensive put backs. He streaks down the court for easy transition buckets. He goes up and contests every shot he can. He looks for and gets alleyoops. He makes things happen.
It’s cool if you believe I’m “falsely” building up Ariza’s talent and potential. Making him out to be a Gerald Wallace-type despite him being more like a poor-man’s version of Kirilenko.
The Lakers are better off if everyone thinks like the Knicks and Magic. That they can’t use Ariza. That he isn’t that good.
Part 2, The Real Deal tomorrow
