Smack / Jun 23, 2010 / 12:02 am

Lakers Rehab Tour; LeBron Gets His Own Baseball Team

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Andrew Bynum (photo. Jeff Forney)

Now that the parade is over and the euphoria has settled, it’s time for the Lakers to take care of business and tend to their aching bodies. The post-’chip injury report out of L.A. begins with Andrew Bynum, who pretty much played on one leg throughout the playoffs. AB had his right knee drained again yesterday (about 2.5 ounces of fluid), and will have surgery this summer. Luke Walton is weighing whether he should have back surgery, Lamar Odom has a bum left shoulder, and Adam Morrison missed almost the entire season with a — oh wait, he wasn’t hurt … And as you already know, Kobe Bryant‘s limbs are being held together with electrical tape and grocery-store brand sticky soda right now. He probably needs a surgery or two this summer, which likely puts him out of the World Championships. Now you see why it’s so hard to three-peat. A whole team staying healthy for three straight runs of 100 or so games is nearly impossible in this League … After that, L.A.’s biggest issue is shoring up the point guard spot. As usual, everybody forgot Derek Fisher‘s warts and fell in love with him during the most crucial part of the playoffs, but he’s 35 years old and really is a defensive liability 85 percent of the time. Fisher is a free agent, Jordan Farmar is a free agent (and really wants to be a starter), and Shannon Brown has an opt-out clause. What do you do if you’re running the Lakers? Bring back the PG’s you have, make some trades, get into the free-agent mix, or see what you can get from tomorrow’s Draft? The defending champs have two second-round picks which they could flip into a higher pick, or hope to land a sleeper like Greivis Vasquez or Dominique Jones … You’re familiar with the big names by now — John Wall, Evan Turner, Derrick Favors, etc. — but what about the lesser-known guys who could wind up in the Lottery? Fresno State wing Paul George and Marshall center Hassan Whiteside are moving up the board, potentially into the Top-10 by tomorrow. Click the links to check out recent Dime profiles on George and Whiteside … It looks like the Raptors are warming up to Cole Aldrich at the No. 13 spot. They need a true center to allow Andrea Bargnani to play more on the perimeter, but is anybody else seeing Cole in a Toronto uni and having Rafael Araujo flashbacks? … Corey Maggette is on the move, having been dealt from Golden State to Milwaukee yesterday. The Bucks get a (single-minded) scorer, and the Warriors get, well, Charlie Bell and Dan Gadzuric … While the Warriors continuing looking for a new owner and a front office with a collective clue, current GM Larry Riley said they’re going to focus on building the team around Stephen Curry. Should Monta Ellis feel like weekend BBQ leftovers? Absolutely. Riley tried to cover it by telling the San Francisco Chronicle, “You don’t build your team around a two-guard. You build around a point guard.” Yeah, except we’ve heard about some guys named Kobe Bryant, Michael Jordan, Reggie Miller, Clyde Drexler, Dwyane Wade and Brandon Roy who had teams built around them and managed to do alright … In other crappy franchise news, the Wolves are again being very active around the Draft: accumulating more picks than just about anyone else, pitching Jonny Flynn trades, and now we hear Minnesota is linked to a Hedo Turkoglu trade rumor. Purely as a dick move by the Raptors to get back at Hedo for being a bust, that would be awesome. “You didn’t like the big Turkish community and passionate fan base in Toronto? OK, have fun in Minnesota with your half-empty arena quarter-full of old KG jerseys, where somebody is bound to say, ‘Hey Hedo, meet Darko. He’s from Europe, too. You should talk.’” … And here’s your crazy LeBron free agency story of the day: The Lake Erie Crushers minor league baseball team is going to have a “Keep LeBron in the C-L-E Night” on June 30, the day before free agency begins. LeBron will be offered a maximum contract for the league (between $100,000 and $200,000 a year), the team will wear Cavs-colored unis with every player rocking No. 6, the field will be renamed LeBron James Field for the day, and anyone named “LeBron” gets free tickets. Even with the free ticket, we’re pretty sure ‘Bron won’t show up. They might hire the guy who won the LBJ look-alike contest instead … We’re out like Araujo …

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  • Mr.Wang

    I have NEVER met a person named “LeBron”, there prob isnt any that was born before 2003 anyways…

  • drew

    funny how dime always loves to take backhanded jabs at the lakers. no matter. time to add a solid backup pg (steve blake) and a shooter or 2 (raja bell, mike miller).

    lakeshow all the way!

  • the cynic

    farmer isn’t even a good backup

  • jmg

    please…no Steve Blake on my Lakers!!! sorry but he isnt the one we want. I’d rather make a run at Jarret Jack or someone in that mold…we need a defensive presence at the point.

  • Bruce

    Lakers needs a defensive presence in the paint too. One of these guys will do — Tyson Chandler, Nazr Mohammed, Theo Ratliff, and Brendan Haywood.

    Call it the Bynum insurance policy!

  • Bruce

    Bring back Mr. Fisher to provide veteran leadership and clutch shooting.

    What about Earl Watson, Raymond Felton, Acie Law, or Carlos Arroyo?

  • sh!tfaced

    What the fuck… Jordan FARMAR is already a two-time champion and still they call him FARMER?! Typo or not, ain’t that a bit offensive still? Even for a bench player who has earned his chops?

    Shit. I’m a Celtics fan and it’s still getting too damn
    annoying… LOL

    JORDAN FARMAR, Motherfuckers

  • http://twitter.com/PoppiGEE POPPI GEE

    yea I doubt anyone is named LeBron that is an adult beside LeBron himself.

    Kobe really needs to get the surgery stuff done.

    Lakers need to push D. Fish to the background and 4th quarter and let him mentor now.

    I am sure Monta said something only he and a select few could understand when told they are building around S.C.

    Hedo Minny is calling lol.

  • http://deleted dagwaller

    Dime, gotta say…you don’t build around a 2 guard. Franchise 2 guards that have won a chip in the last 20 years…Jordan, Kobe…yup, that’s it. PGs? I count Billups and Isiah Thomas. Centers (Shaq, Hakeem) and Power Forwards (Duncan, Gasol) and randomly a Small Forward (Paul Pierce). You can probably discount the 2 guards, too, since Jordan happened to be the best player of all time.

    Shooting Guards are pretty much a dime a dozen, to be honest. You don’t build around them or Small Forwards.

  • Raj Johnson

    Ok……..I was really into this smack until I saw Monta Ellis compared to; Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, Reggie Miller, Dwyane Wade, Clyde Drexler and Brandon Roy?????????
    Monta is nice but let’s be serious guys that call is beyond ridiculous!

    TJ

  • Scott

    I’ve been having Aruajo flashbacks ever since Aldrich began to be linked to the Raps… nightmares… NIIIIGHTMAAAARES!!!!

    I just pray it’s all a smoke screen… please please please let it be. The ghost of Araujo can’t haunt us forever…. noooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!

  • Three Stacks

    Everyone on the Lakers should get any and every surgery they need to in order to get healthy.

    Even with Morrison and Farmar’s contracts ending, the Lakers are too far above the cap to sign any significant free agents. I think offering Fish the vet minimum would be kind of insulting, but I definitely don’t think he’s worth a midlevel salary (the MLE doesn’t factor because we hold Fisher’s Bird rights, I’m just using the #s for comparison).

    And yes, Fisher needs a smaller role, but that’s not gonna happen unless we get a vet PG via trade. Phil is not gonna give PT to a 2nd round PG that we just drafted over Fisher. Assuming Phil comes back.

    Maybe a 3 yr, $9 million contract with a team option for the 3rd year, I would be okay w/ that for Fish. I’m hoping Shannon doesn’t opt out of his contract, but it’s not the end of the world if he does. I’d LOVE to have the entire MLE to work with to sign a veteran shooter, like Mike Miller.

    The Lakers need a PG that can play D and a shooter off the bench. Hoping we get a steal in the 2nd round with a PG, maybe Vasquez like Dime mentioned, or Mikhail Torrance? Best case scenario is that we trade for a PG (would love Hinrich) but that probably means someone gotta take Luke’s contract along w/ Sasha’s expiring contract. But hey, we got Pau for Kwame Brown, so who knows.

    Main thing is to get healthy though.

  • Raj Johnson

    and ps………no minor league baseball team is making a difference in the LBJ sweepstakes! It’s a waste of their limited money and their GM/Owner should be fired!

  • http://deleted dagwaller

    Not to mention the fact that an SG was the best player on the Finals loser squad exacltly 3 times in the last 20 years (Clyde Drexler, and Kobe, and Reggie Miller).

    Meanwhile a PG was the best player on the runner up on SIX teams (Billups, Payton, Kidd, Magic, Stockton, and Iverson).

    Yea, SG has been real important…

  • http://www.myspace.com/carlifrancis5 quest???

    @ bruce, i like your idea of carlos arroyo being in the lakers. If the Lakers have interest,I think Arroyo would be a good fit, he has a good basketball IQ, a solid jumper, court vision, is a great passer and he is a very good floor leader. He wont be asked to do much, just run the triangle offense.

  • john

    What ??

    So SG position players in the last 20 years have won 9 Finals MVP (6 Jordan, 1 Wade and 2 Kobe) and the other 4 positions 11 (Shaq 3 + Olajuwon 2) (Parker 1 + Billups 1) (Duncan 3) (Paul Pierce 1) and you don’t built around a SG ???

  • yoda

    farmar is restricted free agent. i know its a long shot, but i wouldn’t mind lakers getting ray allan for mle ( doubt he would take that) and some random pg. lakers will unload ammo (about 5,5 mill in upcoming season) and if they find a way to trade luke (also around 5,5 mill) lal should do fine

  • cdiz

    why don’t LA sign Felton with MLE if he becomes a F/A

  • Mike
  • alf (from melmak)

    Agree with those who said that Rayomond Felton is the most logical point guard acquisition of the Lakers for next season.

    Speaking of the Warriors, it would get very interesting if DeMarcus Cousins landed with them on draft day. Imagine the sideline drama with him and Don Nelson. And the pairing of a skinny Stephen Curry and an overweight Cousins is a perfect 10, literally.

    Top 100 reasons why Dime should hire me as one of its regular writers.

    78. I can sing the Alphabet Song while playing the piano like Billy Joel.

  • http://deleted dagwaller

    @john, try and follow me.

    When D Wade won, he won because of Shaq and Donaghy.

    When Kobe won his first 3, it was because of Shaq.

    Don’t get it twisted – Kobe was not a great player when the Lakers had their 3peat. D Wade wasn’t (and still isn’t) good enough to carry his team to the Finals. SHAQ is the reason those teams won.

    Pay attention to what I said. The best player on those teams was a Center, and his name is Shaquille O’Neal.

  • Celts Fan

    @John – pay attention bro, they openly said that unless it’s a Godly 2 guard (like MJ or Kobe, 8 of your 9 there) that you don’t build around a SG. When you get the 2 best SGs ever, of course that flips the script a bit.

    Though I don’t get what Larry Riley’s saying, cuz you also typically want a skilled big first since that’s the hardest position to fill, and they refuse to draft/pay for/play big men.

    @Drew – where are the backhand jabs at the Lakers? Grow up dude. What, cuz Morrison sucks? (not wrong) Cuz they still aren’t sipping the Fisher Kool-Aid? (he is clutch as hell, but they aren’t wrong about him being a liability 85% of the time, even Lakers fans were saying that most of the year!)

    @sh!tfaced – who cares. It’s a blog for the mag. I get what you’re saying, but it’s just like spelling “Dwyane” for DWade. you’re so used to doing it another way, it’ll happen just outta habit…

  • Heckler

    what reason is there to believe jordan farmar can handle a starting role? he is average at best. if he wants to start, LA should trade him to Indy for earl watson. done and done. WHO THE HELL GIVES A SHIT WHAT JORDAN FARMAR WANTS?!!?

    moving on…
    you can surely build a team around a 2 guard. its been done before. it’ll be done again. I say, dont build a team around a SF. but thats just me. I have no problem with anyone (or organization) that elects to build around a 2 guard.

    Hedo Turk was decent in orlando, but it just so happened to be the right situation. he aint that great. send his punk ass to Minny….

  • GayforRudy

    Dagwaller,

    Iverson was the SG on the Sixers. Eric Snow was the PG.

  • that’s what’s up

    Monta,
    You’re a jacker. No successful team builds around jackers. Jackers Jack, always, and that’s all they do.

    Happy Jackin’, Jacker

  • oo wee

    every time farmar had the ball these playoffs he made a mistake. he sucks as a backup point.

  • NTstateOFmind

    a good under-the-radar move that would be a major improvement would be for the Lakers to trade for Kirk Hinrich. He’s a scrappy defender who can guard other SGs (and severely irritate bigger 2s) in the league, his style of play is a perfect fit for the triangle offense, and he’ll prolong kobe’s health longer than D Fish would. you should think about it, take a second…

  • grinch

    who says three peats are tough.. ask the bulls who did it twice without any injuries to main players.. lakers did it back in 00-01-02 with minor injuries to shaq.. it’s not that these atheletes aren’t physically capable of doing it.. it’s a mental thing.

  • Dapro

    Shaquille was a distant second option on the Miami Heat in thier championship run. That’s was Dwade busting ass not Shaq what series did you watch?

    You can build around any position as long as he is a franchise player- All the other post about not building around 2s, 3s and whatever else is dumb the point is you don’t build around Monta Ellis!

  • karizmatic

    I would love it if the Lakers were able to snatch Vasquez, the other thing is I would love it if they could work out some type of deal to get Kirk Hinrich, I don’t think the Bulls are really that high on him and I think he is exactly the type of player that could be a great fit in LA’s triangle offense, big guard can play both positions, plays good defense, has a decent jumpshot, and he’s smart.

  • NTstateOFmind

    @30, they just got to convince the front office to take on Hinrich’s contract …i think that was the only thing stopping it from happening before the deadline

  • Celts Fan

    @Heckler – it CAN be done, but unless you have a GOD, you don’t want to build around a wing (2 or 3.) Those guys are typically volume scorers and defenders (easiest position to replace in the league.) Let’s look at the best wings in the league that could be considered the best players on their team.

    Kobe – one of the 10 best players ever – 3rd best guard ever behind MJ and Magic. He doesn’t count here since he clearly falls under the “if you have a God, you’re the exception” category

    Wade – Needed Shaq to get over the hump. Looks to be a great one. Definitely the exception to the rule, since he’s far from “Godly” status (yet?) but is the only other guy that’s good enough to be the best player on a title team that’s not comprised of 2 other HOFers.

    Melo – his teams win, but he’s yet to get to the Finals. A winner. He could definitely jump up to the Wade/Kobe level soon.

    LeBron – should be right up there w/ Wade and Kobe if Cleveland surrounded him w/ the right guys. He’ll get there soon probably. Again, he looks to end up in the “Godly” class though by the time all’s said and done.

    BRoy – see Melo but drop it down to yet to get to the Conference Finals

    Joe Johnson – same thing as Roy.

    Paul Pierce – took a team whose 2nd option was Antoine Walker and whose third option was either Eric Williams or Kenny Anderson to an Eastern Conference Finals one time. Needed KG and Ray Allen to get over the hump. Was probably the best player on that title team, but it was clearly a group effort.

    Ray Allen – see Paul Pierce, only he wasn’t the best player on that title team (though probably coulda/shoulda been Finals MVP.) THE MAN on those Bucks Big Dog/Jesus/Cassell teams, one of which got robbed against the Sixers from getting shat on by the Shaq/Kobe Lakers in the Finals.

    AI – yes he’s a 2, I know he’s done, but he’s gotta get mentioned here. Volume shooter/scorer that only succeeded on a team level when they surrounded him w/ “defense-first, second, and third” guys and let him take 30 shots a game. One Finals appearance.

    Iguodala/Gerald Wallace – Should be 2nd options on a real contender.

    Wince Carter – you guys saw the Magic this year. No heart whatsoever despite enough talent to be a sure-fire HOFer. What a waste.

    Tyreke Evans – First off, he’s a 2. Let’s save ourselves a few years of figuring that out. I don’t think he’s capable of being the best player on a title team.

    Kevin Durant – The sky’s the limit with this kid. Definitely possible that he could be. I’d build around him as THE GUY.

    Manu – he’s been a #2, but a daaaaaamn good one.

    I think that just about covers it. So we have 4 guys that have proven you can definitely build around as THE MAN who’ve at least gone to the Conf. Finals and are young enough to think they haven’t maxed out yet or have won chips already (Wade, Kobe, Melo, and LeBron) with one more (Durant) that seems to be well on the way to joining them as well as 4 guys that are/were def. capable of being a near-max guy on a contender that’ll get you over the hump (BRoy, Joe Johnson, Pierce, and Allen -the 2 Celtics obv. not anymore without another HOFer with them, but at one point) in addition to a guy I’m much lower on than others who could be in that group (Tyreke.)

    So that’s 4 wings that could be THE MAN on a title team, with one major X-Factor in Durant who may get there.

  • Ekstor

    I think Cole Aldrich will be much better than Araujo. I recall shaking my head at the Araujo pick as NO ONE had him projected as a lottery pick. He also possesses very short arms (6’10″ wingspan for a 6’11″ is not good especially when lacking athleticism). Cole is a legit center with a huge wingspan (7’5 wingspan for 6’11 height). He won’t be a star, but I’d be surprised if he doesn’t prove to be a solid middle man.

  • Ekstor

    As for the Shaq / DWade discussion… it wasn’t until DWade started to take the scoring load upon their shoulders that they started winning (so Shaq was definitely not the primary player on that team). Heck, I’d even argue that Shaq wasn’t the most important center on that Heat team during the finals victory… that honor belongs to Zo and his shotblocking (6 in game 6).

  • ha

    @ #2…Raja Bell to the Lakers? did I read that suggestion right?

  • http://deleted dagwaller

    CeltsFan, I’m way too hungover right now, so I love that you’re making all of these points for me. Carry on.

    Real quick though, anyone pointing to D Wade as the reason his team won the chip: how close did he get before Shaq was there? Don’t you also remember that it was one of the most unevenly called series of all time? D Wade going to the line constantly? Do you remember that coincidentally, Tim Donaghy officiated in that series? No, D Wade was not the reason the Heat won that series.

    Iverson kinda proves my point, actually. 2s are SO so easy to find. As GayforRudy said, Iverson was the 2 on the team that went to the Finals. Debatable. I’m sure that if you asked Iverson, he would say he was the point guard on that team.

    More to the point, though: in the last 20 years, only one player remotely resembling a Shooting Guard has gone #1 in the draft: Allen Iverson. Just goes to show you that teams looking for franchise players know that they can find gunners anywhere in the draft, similar to Wide Receivers and Running Backs in the NFL.

  • Ekstor

    @dagwalker

    Finals 2006 averages
    DWade 34.7ppg, 7.8rebs, 4.3ast, 2.6stls, 1blks
    ONeal 13.4ppg, 10.2rebs, 2.8ast, 0.5sts, 0.8blks

    How far did Wade get without ONeal? He played ONE season prior to ONeal’s arrival and reached the 2nd round. They made it one round further the next year WITH ONeal when Wade was playing hurt. When they finally won it all, the numbers are so ridiculously tilted in Wade’s favor, that go argue that Wade was not a bigger factor than Shaq is sheer blindness… no matter how skewed you want to say the refereeing was.

  • http://deleted dagwaller

    @ Ekstor – D Wade shot the most FTs in the game in every game of those Finals but one. In one game, he shot as many FTs as the Mavs TEAM. Wade shot 97 FTs in the series.

    Do you think that it’s possible – just maybe – that all of his flopping and ref baiting MIGHT have had something to do with him scoring as many points as he did?

    Dallas scored 100 points just ONCE in the entire series (100 points, game 5). Do you think that perhaps Shaquille O’Neal could’ve affected the Heat’s team defense a little? Possibly more than your boy D Wade?

    Fact is, the Heat could’ve had you or me at SG that year and as long as we ran directly at a Mavs player and fell down when we got close, and still won the Finals. An elite SG is not all that important to NBA success, and as such, they are not drafted very highly nor are they the centerpiece of many (successful) teams.

  • Ekstor

    @dagwaller

    You’re discussing two different things with me. As to whether an SG is worth building around or not is a whole separate discussion. If you want to argue that point, be my guest, but to imply that Shaq was a more important piece than Wade is to give the officiating way too much credit.

    Fact #1: Wade was given all those free throw attempts, and not the rest of the Heat squad. If the officiating was really determined to hand the Heat the ring, then I believe you’d see a wide disparity across the team and not just one player.

    Fact #2: Wade has been one of the league leaders in FT’s attempted for many years now (he and LeBron are typically top 2). This isn’t a one time disparity for him. I believe you have to give some credit to his playing style in drawing those fouls.

    Fact #3: The Heat were down 0-2 and trailing double digits in the 3rd quarter of game 3 before Wade became very visibly more aggressive in taking on the offensive load. Wade averaged nearly 40ppg over the final four games (compared to about 25.5 over the first two games). Unless you have a convincing argument that Wade was in league with the refs about when he’d start taking over, it’s hard to argue the refs were determined to give the series to the Heat. Until Wade had bumped up his production, they were one quarter away from an 0-3 deficit.

    Fact #4: Wade won the Finals MVP in only his 3rd year in the league. It’s hard to argue “superstar” calls when he wasn’t yet a clear superstar.

    Go ahead and argue that SGs aren’t worth building around, but you’re better off explaining the Heat’s 2006 championship as an exception rather than trying to dismiss Wade’s value as being superficially inflated.

  • Ekstor

    One more fact to throw in…

    Fact #5: Even if you take away the points, Wade was statistically superior to Shaq in assists, steals, and blocks and only trailed Shaq in rebounds by 2.4. I find it hard to argue the refs involvement in those numbers as well.

    That said, even if the refs cut the foul calls on Wade in half, he’d still have contributed far more points than Shaq did.

  • sid

    The missing piece here is a 2 WAY Shooting Guard is required to build around. Kobe and MJ definitely fit that bill. Bigs are important because they can control the paint ala Duncan and pre-Fat Shaq, but Kobe and MJ have 20 all NBA Defense awards between them and light it up on the other end as well. Shooting guards score so if you have one who can get his and shut down the other team’s that’s a 20 point swing.

    And any Laker fans know that just handing the first 3 peat to Shaq alone is a joke. Teams with Bigs – like Portland, San Antonio, and Sacramento were shutting Shaq down while Kobe killed them while Shaq’s fat butt was on the bench because he couldn’t shoot free throws in crunch time. It wasn’t until the Lakers got out of the West and played the inferior Eastern teams with their weak centers that Shaq was most dominant.

    Monta Ellis, not so much.

  • chris

    cole aldrich is NOT 6’11″. he is 6’9″. he does not jump. his offensive skills as a college senior are limited. he will be a turrible pro, and the craptors need to look elsewhere.
    i am sure stephen curry is very happy to learn he will be playing with gadzuric and charlie bell, neither of whom will prevent the defense from collapsing on curry bigtime, which didn’t happen with pop a shot bad porn corey.
    lakers payroll was the league wide highest at 91 MILLION last year….i am betting it will be over 100 MILLION next year, so the real question is, who is the best point guard you can get for about 10 million? carlos arroyo? LMFAO!

  • dagwaller

    Wow. Ekstor, very well argued.

    I maintain, though, that Shaq was the difference maker on that squad. If Shaq was so unimportant, why is it that the Heat haven’t returned to the Finals since then? Or even sniffed the Conference Finals?

    It goes back to my larger argument. A shooting guard can’t consistently deliver wins the way that really any other position can.

    @ sid – I would love to argue against you, too, but unfortunately I’m at work and can’t open more than one window at once to look at Shaq’s stats those years haha. I’d be willing to bet, though, that Shaq’s numbers were dominant those years. I just read an article on RealGM about “Big 3s” throughout the years, and Shaq was far and away the number one player on those Lakers teams.

    I’m not saying that a shooting guard isn’t IMPORTANT; I’m just saying that usually, unless your 2 is approaching GOAT status, you shouldn’t BUILD AROUND him. Players like Wade are showing why that’s the case.

    Really, look at it. Shaq plays in Finals with Orlando. He leaves, team loses. He plays in the Finals with the Lakers. He leaves so that they can build around “franchise shooting guard” Kobe, then they don’t win til they get another dominant BIG man. When he left, he went to Miami, where he went to the Finals. After he left, the Heat haven’t been back to the Finals, despite “franchise shooting guard” (laugh) Dwyane Wade. Notice the pattern?

  • dagwaller

    Sorry, should’ve included in that last paragraph, “Shaq plays in Finals with Orlando. He leaves, the team loses despite “franchise shooting guards” Steve Francis and Tracy MacGrady.”

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