<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">DALLAS ? The injury bug can wreck any NBA roster, but the big names on the Lakers managed to avoid it last season: Lamar Odom sat out only two games and Kobe Bryant didn't miss any because of injuries, a nearly flawless escape by NBA standards. But the Lakers aren't as fortunate 22 games into the 2006-07 season, hit with the news Wednesday that Odom will be out at least four weeks, possibly as many as eight, because of a sprained medial collateral ligament in his right knee. They are already without Chris Mihm the rest of the season because of another ankle surgery, and Bryant has missed three games because of knee and ankle troubles. If Odom returns four weeks from today, he will have missed 15 games. If it's eight weeks, he will have missed 28 games. "These are the cards that we've been dealt," Bryant said. "We'll have to play the best hand of Texas hold-'em that we can with, like, a pair of 10s." Their team depth is markedly better than last season. It will be put to the test quickly. "It's a bit of a challenge," Bryant acknowledged. "If this happened last year, we'd be in big trouble. We're deeper now, though. [Vladimir] Radmanovic is getting a chance to get some more minutes out there. When Lamar comes back, we'll be a better team."</div> Source
^^ I love your username. Welcome to the site. I'm confident in our bench, but I feel the team needs to add two more pieces and make use of the expiring contract of Mihm and McKie. We really need a defensive SG/SF with some length and athleticism. I love Mo Evans, but he can't matchup defensively against most SFs in the league, and Luke isn't the lockdown defender this team could use. When Kobe goes to the bench, there's a huge dropoff defensively for us. I also want the team to add another big man. It never hurts to have more size, and with Mihm out for the season, the team has to consider bringing in another backup center. Both Kwame and Bynum have a tendency to get into early foul trouble, and if either suffers an injury our season is pretty much over.
