Next move for the Lakers is to trade Gasol for 2 or 3 solid depth players. The bench with Jamison won't hold up. Would love to see Pau traded to the Rockets for a package that includes Kevin Martin and two of their young players ( Lamb and Terrence Jones maybe). The Rockets would do well to pair him Jeremy Lin up with an elite big man.
Next move for the Lakers is to trade Gasol for 2 or 3 solid depth players. The bench with Jamison won't hold up. Would love to see Pau traded to the Rockets for a package that includes Kevin Martin and two of their young players ( Lamb and Terrence Jones maybe). The Rockets would do well to pair him Jeremy Lin up with an elite big man.
Would Bryant, Nash and Howard be enough to dethrone the Heat ?
Would Bryant, Nash and Howard be enough to dethrone the Heat ?
there is a reason they play the games instead of crowning favs. anything can happen and there is a long road ahead for both sides before wondering too much.
Glad the saga is over, unreal the Magic lost two monster players to the Lakers, but I like the return...I think. think little to nothing of Howard, but whatever, I'm not a basketball fan.
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Would Bryant, Nash and Howard be enough to dethrone the Heat ?
Bryant, Nash, Howard, and Gasol won't even be enough to dethrone the Heat.
Quote:
Originally Posted by KaylaJ
there is a reason they play the games instead of crowning favs. anything can happen and there is a long road ahead for both sides before wondering too much.
There is a long road ahead because there are still 82 regular season games and a bunch of playoff games to play but I think that road will be pretty easy for Miami. Boston is the only team that is even somewhat close to Miami and Miami has beaten the last two years. They'll be in the finals.
It's a bit tougher for LA because they have to go through OKC in the West.
Anything can happen but there are only a couple of teams that can win it all in the NBA.
With Bryant, Nash, Gasol and Howard, there likely isn't enough lineup flexibility. Sub in someone like Martin for Gasol, and it gives the Lakers tons of flexibility. Imagine both Kobe and Nash on the bench. Brown could roll out a lineup of Blake, Martin, Artest, Jamison and Howard. It's still a very solid lineup with two of their stars on the bench. Run the offense through Howard, and surround him with some decent shooters. It'll be like shootaround. Open looks everywhere.
There is a long road ahead because there are still 82 regular season games and a bunch of playoff games to play but I think that road will be pretty easy for Miami. Boston is the only team that is even somewhat close to Miami and Miami has beaten the last two years. They'll be in the finals.
It's a bit tougher for LA because they have to go through OKC in the West.
Anything can happen but there are only a couple of teams that can win it all in the NBA.
Miami just has to stay the course, but also not get too static. Their questions will be more like Bosh & Wade coming back from surgery, Lebron's long summer, and of course Allen's spot.
LA though is gonna be like Miami was. Who is gonna be who (i.e. who do you give the ball to in the closing seconds, learning the game plan, Brown making them all happy), dealing with Kobe's long summer and Nash's bad back all along while dealing with the rest of the West.
Miami just has to stay the course, but also not get too static. Their questions will be more like Bosh & Wade coming back from surgery, Lebron's long summer, and of course Allen's spot.
LA though is gonna be like Miami was. Who is gonna be who (i.e. who do you give the ball to in the closing seconds, learning the game plan, Brown making them all happy), dealing with Kobe's long summer and Nash's bad back all along while dealing with the rest of the West.
But then again, crazier things have happened...
Who do you give the ball to in the closing seconds? The same guy you've been giving the ball to for the last 10+ years and won 5 championships with. I think Nash and Howard will understand that. Finding everyone a clear-role in both th eoffense and the defense, now, that's a challenge.
Miami just has to stay the course, but also not get too static. Their questions will be more like Bosh & Wade coming back from surgery, Lebron's long summer, and of course Allen's spot.
LA though is gonna be like Miami was. Who is gonna be who (i.e. who do you give the ball to in the closing seconds, learning the game plan, Brown making them all happy), dealing with Kobe's long summer and Nash's bad back all along while dealing with the rest of the West.
Howards actually never been comfortable as the crunch time scorer. Hedo took care of that. The key is keeping Howard involved the rest of the game without pissing Kobe off.
Having Nash really makes it all simpler though.
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Miami just has to stay the course, but also not get too static. Their questions will be more like Bosh & Wade coming back from surgery, Lebron's long summer, and of course Allen's spot.
LA though is gonna be like Miami was. Who is gonna be who (i.e. who do you give the ball to in the closing seconds, learning the game plan, Brown making them all happy), dealing with Kobe's long summer and Nash's bad back all along while dealing with the rest of the West.
But then again, crazier things have happened...
Really nice trade all around, each team gets benefits. Lakers team is crazy as hell, run the pick and roll with Howard being your go-to big guy and Nash being the distributer. Gotta like what Sixers did too, replacing Iguodala with a potential franchise player in Bynum. Hell, even Nuggets made out well with an underrated player in Iguodala.
I do see making the finals, Kobe is aging rapidly. Nashs' playstyle might not mesh with Kobe. Howard has never been a player I would want to count in when it matters and he is coming off back surgery.
Will be interesting to watch. Can Orlando be contracted now or sent to Seattle with a new management team
This whole thing reminds me of that "Big 4" talk with the Lakers some years ago. They got Payton and Malone and that was supposed to guarantee a title. Obviously adding Howard >>>> adding an aging Malone and Payton, but the window for this team to win is tight. If there is no title in the first couple of years, I could see Howard watching Nash and Kobe on the way out and trying to push his way out again.
Despite my skepticism, I really hope this team can stop another Miami championship. If theyre all thats standing in the way of that, then god bless them.
And once again, Kupchack and the Lakers con another horrible GM and moribund franchise to build a championship contender. I feel so sorry for Magic fans that THIS is the best possible result for them.
Take down the Heat? The Lakers' old, no-depth roster won't even be able to stay with the Thunder. May not even take down the Spurs or Mavericks. The West is damn good.
The window for that Lakers squad is 2 years max, which is the same timeframe young squads like OKC, Denver, LAC, Memphis, etc. are entering their primes.
Lakers will deal off Gasol and Artest for depth. Only way it extends LA's window.
BTW, Mitch Kupchak, thank you for keeping DH out of NJ. DH, Deron Williams, Gerald Wallace and Joe Johnson was a scarier proposition.
