Please god, yes. That would be perfect. A HUGE blow to the Lakers! Not to mention it would make Miami a legitimate threat in the East especially if the trade for Boozer. That's not a bad team: PG Chalmers SG Wade SF Odom PF Boozer C O'neal (or did he expire yet?)
That would be a big blow to the Lakers and would pull them back to the pack a bit. Get ready for a lot more Luke Walton!
I think if Lamar goes to Miami then preseason favorites for the West have to be San Antonio. Obviously this is not factoring in health problems or any number of things to go wrong for San Antonio's aging lineup, but it'd be a blow to the Lakers no doubt.
I disagree. Duncan seemed to be struggling in the playoffs, and knees don't tend to just get a lot better when they have those many miles on them. As Duncan goes, so go the Spurs, and I think Duncan is starting a decline.
They'll still be the preseason favorites in my eyes in the West even if they lose Odom. Kobe and Gasol are just too good, and Artest is a big wild card. I hate them but they're still the best team with the best player until proven otherwise
Artest is saying all the right things, talking about being fine with being a 3rd/4th option and talking about his #1 focus being defense. If he stays in line and does that, I don't see losing Odom as being a major hit. Plus Kobe and Gasol. If we lose Odom, we're banking on Big Drew. If he can step it up and stay healthy and be consistent, I think we improve with Drew + Artest, even if we lose Odom and Ariza.
Losing Odom would bring them back to the pack and put them pretty close to fully-healthy San Antonio, with Portland and Denver not far behind. I would note, though, that if Bynum is fully healthy all season, he'll mitigate the loss of Odom. I don't agree that Artest does. Artest replaces Ariza. He does nothing to mitigate an Odom loss. I really hope Odom signs in Miami.
Basically, losing Odom gives them one less player who can create good shots for himself. That's a fairly significant loss, IMO, even if Bynum improves. It puts a lot of pressure on Bryant, and although Artest has an OK handle, he threw up some shots off of the dribble in the Portland series that made me cringe, and I was hoping Houston would fail. Artest shot under 40% for the playoffs and under 28% from 3PT. Is he even an upgrade over Ariza?
Artest shot nearly 40% from 3 during the regular season. I'll take a sample size of a full season rather than two rounds of the playoffs, for Artest. Plus, he was a 1st option in the Houston series. He won't be that in LA. Also, Odom can create? Huh? Yeah, maybe going to his left he can. Going to his right he is worthless. Getting his own shot on the perimeter? Most of the time that doesn't do much for him either. His thing is going to the left, which is predictable, but it does work for him. I wouldn't say he can necessarily create for himself, though. And I think Artest does help mitigate the loss of Odom, if we do lose him. Is he a full replacement? No. But he is good enough that he covers the loss of Ariza and helps ease the "pain" of losing Odom.
Definitely agree with you there. If we lose Odom, our bench really goes down a couple notches. It will be interesting to see how that gets countered by Mitch.
That's over the top they still have Bynum, Kobe and Gasol and whatever they get from Artest and the supporting cast. LA's achilles heel is at PG.
I think Davis is restricted. I'm willing to bet Boston would match that. Even in case they wouldn't if it was another team, with the Lakers, I'm sure they would in a heartbeat (or more likely, in 7 days). They would most likely have to make do with Joe Smith. Oh and I think Artest used up all or most of their MLE.
Are there seriously NO regulations against posting giant pictures in signatures? And no, I'm not mad. Christ. fuck get off my lawn
