LAKERS

The Los Angeles Lakers have won 14 titles in their history and they have held a supreme edge over the in-town Clippers as the top team in the city but things could be changing sooner than later in the city of angels as the Lakers were quite active in the off-season and the team they had in 2004 will be dramatically different than the team they’ll put on the floor this season. The team has made the playoffs 27 of the 28 years and hasn’t finished lower than second in the division since the 1995 season. Last year’s team made it to the NBA Finals but fell in five games to the Detroit Pistons. After the surprising defeat, the fallout was evident when Coach Phil Jackson wasn’t brought back and was replaced by Rudy Tomjanovich. Tomjanovich played in the league for many years back in the day and coached the Houston Rockets to the NBA title in 1994 and 1995. He has a career record of 473-381 (.554 winning percentage) including a record of 50-36 in the playoffs. Tomjanovich will take over a revamped lineup that will need to gel together to make a run in the playoffs like they’ve done in recent years.

After the loss to the Pistons in the finals, the organization and the city knew that there would be massive changes involved with the Lakers. Phil Jackson was given his walking papers and many people that it was because of his relationship with Kobe Bryant. Bryant was a free agent and the team realized that they couldn’t have Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe together again for another season so they traded O’Neal to Miami for Lamar Odom, Brian Grant, and Caron Butler. Odom could be an all-star and Grant and Butler will also help in the transition process for the team. It still wasn’t a certainty that Kobe would resign with the team (the Clippers were trying as well) but in the end, he resigned. The team also traded point guard Gary Payton and small forward Rick Fox to the Celtics for Chris Mihm, Chucky Atkins, and Marcus Banks while managing to lure Vlade Divac out of Sacramento. Derek Fisher left the team to sign with Golden State and Karl Malone isn’t sure if he’ll return to the team, sign with someone else, or retire.

The Lakers are in the Pacific Division with the Clippers, the Sacramento Kings, the Phoenix Suns, and the Golden State Warriors. The Kings have given the Lakers a run for their money over the last few seasons and with the departure of O’Neal, they might be the team to beat. The Suns, Clippers, and Warriors all improved in the off-season so the Lakers know they will need to be at their best the entire season to make a strong run in the playoffs. In the draft, they picked point guard Sasha Vujacic with the 27th overall pick and Marcus Douthit, a power forward out of Providence, with the 56th overall pick. Both players are expected to compete for playing time in training camp and could see minutes in games this season.
For years, the Lakers starting five had been Kobe, Shaq, and three other space fillers before last season. Hall of fame players Gary Payton and Karl Malone left their teams and took less money in the hopes of winning a championship. Now it was four future hall of fame players and another guy to stand around. Now that three of those four players are gone, Kobe will definitely have the team to himself but no one knows if he can play as well without the big man in the middle clearing the lane for him. He’ll start at the shooting guard position with Chucky Atkins playing the point until Vujacic becomes more acclimated to the NBA game. Vlade Divac will likely start at center for the team but he’ll split time with Brian Grant and Slava Medvadenko as well. Luke Walton and Lamar Odom will see a lot of time at small forward and power forward and Karl Malone will start at the power forward position if he decides to return to the team. If he leaves or retires, Odom and Walton will play more of the three while Grant moves over to the four.

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