Lets all sit down and take a good hard look at this......

[second_coming32]

Obviously we are all concerned about the state of Andrew Bynum's knee, and we all have fears that me might not ever realize his enormous upside because of potential chronic knee problems. So what do we do with him now? He becomes an unrestricted free agent after next season, and we risk pissing him off by not awarding him with some form of extension this off-season. Do we tell him, "We want to keep you around, but not if your knee sucks". Or, do we give him an extension of maybe two or three years, with salary escalators based on the number of games he averages during the length of his contract? Is that even allowed with the current CBA?

I know it might be sacrilegious but should we consider trading him, since Pau and Odom have meshed so well, and Bynum's upside potentially may never be higher than it is now? It would be my dream that his knee heals, he takes the 5 next year, Pau shifts to the 4, and Bynum, Pau, Odom, and Kobe form the fiercest foursome in NBA history. But HYPOTHETICALLY speaking, if Bynum's knee doesn't cooperate, whats the next step?

[Slava]

Risk assessment! The Lakers organization is known to be very conservative so this is a really interesting situation imo. The suns invested faith in Amare and were rewarded for that so I think the Lakers will take a similar path, especially knowing that they need that elite Big man to face the likes of NO and Portland in the future.

[Erik Eleven]

I wouldn't worry that much about Bynum's knee or him being injury prone nor his contract just yet. Even if he does have the surgery, he'll come back to the Lakers. He's here to stay. I don't think he'll ask for too much either at this point. His thought process seems very sound and mature.

[EHL]

He hasn't ever been injured in 2.5 years as an NBA player until a freak knee injury halfway through this season. He didn't need surgery and despite setbacks still doesn't need it right now. Not even needing the surgery to begin with says a lot about the likelyhood of his knee injury being all that bad (i.e. it isn't). And even if he has a scope, it's not something that anyone should worry about. Remember, this isn't Grant Hill we're talking about. Who, um, btw, didn't really play this postseason. Brilliant medical staff they got over there in Phoenix. *cough*

[hermes]

So what do we do with him now?

focus everything on getting him healthy

[TruSkool]

this is a very good thread...the first thing that popped into my mind was "well, greg oden is hurt, and theyre waiting on him to still play a single nba game, which means we might as well wait on bynum whose actually a bit younger and has nba experience"

the other side tells me that maybe we trade bynum which allows us to keep the odom gasol kobe trio together, and go after a big power forward/center like elton brand, emeka okafor etc?

in that case, gasol can easily be switched to the center spot.

[LAKESHOW]

he aint goin anywhere. and if you look at the future, not the future of the LAKERs persay, but the future of this division and conference, portland is on the rise. and they havent even gotten oden in there. so we are going to need more bigs to counter the younger teams who are rising in the conference. the west is stacked. and with duncan, although older, oden in portland. an old shaq. all of these things are pressing, and we already have an answer for those challenges, and its bynum. he will be resigned without a doubt.

[Erik Eleven]

greg oden is hurt, and theyre waiting on him to still play a single nba game, which means we might as well wait on bynum whose actually a bit younger and has nba experience"

Haha, yeah, about 18 years younger. Stern, please, check the authenticity of his birth certificate.

the other side tells me that maybe we trade bynum which allows us to keep the odom gasol kobe trio together, and go after a big power forward/center like elton brand, emeka okafor etc?

in that case, gasol can easily be switched to the center spot.

Gasol at center <<<<<<<<< Bynum at center

Gasol at PF and Bynum at C is a match made in basketball heaven.

[LLcoleJ]

Wont he be a RFA after the end of next season if we dont extend him this summer?

[LAKESHOW]

theres an obvious point to watch in these playoffs. theres actually tons of points. but heres one. the teams with deep, deep, deeep talent and benches are overpowering and out-manning, and overmatching teams.

the celtics for example, have tons of guys to throw at lebron. they are stacked. and that is beyond the big3. posey, powe, perkins, pj brown, glen "bigbaby" davis. they just come at you in waves. and there is no way lebron can get his game off. the cavs are outmanned period.

the magic are good, but they are also thin. once you get past that lineup, they are done. why? detroit is also deep and have the manpower.

this is what the LAKERs have in their aresenal right now. we have the manpower and depth to matchup with those teams who can throw out mismatches on other teams. but against us, we can power with them. we can finesse with those teams. we can run with those teams. we can slow it down. right now we have that with bynum. pound on our inside, we can bring this 7footer in, end of story. if teams want to run, pull him out and bring in farmar and ariza, lamar and get the speed goin. want to get into a jumpshot shooting contest. bring in the machine, get radmans high archer goin.

depth is king!

we have it, and i truly believe he will be resigned . . . now with all that said, none of us actually sign the checks. and none of us have to take care of the cap penalty. but hey, the aresenal is there.

[Erik Eleven]

I'd be absolutely shocked if the Lakers don't extend him.

[Tommy Trojan]

I'd be absolutely shocked if the Lakers don't extend him.

I think we will, but not for max deal

[DEEP3CL]

Good post second_coming32, but you musta forgot Greg Oden is in this conference for like his career ? Don't worry family the franchise will figure this all out by being patience.