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My former boss, huge LAL fan, now plagued living in No Cal with the Kings, this comes from his desk...

"Since Yao's out and Shaq's now in the East, who's the West's All Star center next year? With Timmy and Amare listed as forwards. Is this Bynum's chance to back his way in? "

Hmm...He almost made it this year, injuries aside. AB17 said himself he was going to be an all star year 4, he was just off one year due solely to injury. I would say healthy he's in before the season starts .

I guess somebody has to go the All Star game out of the West at C.

If bynum stays healthy this year then a lot of good things will happen for him. He'll gain more confidence, and so will his teammates in him. There is a good shot at him making the all star game just because, well.. Who else would make it over him? There's already a lack of legit centers in the league today. But now that Shaq has gone east, and Yao is out. There's a really good shot at bynum making it. Basically by default if he still doesn't produce.

Bynum needs to stay healthy this year. Enough's Enough. Two years in a row is unacceptable. We put a lot of money into this kid it's time he started making a name for himself. One thing I've noticed with Bynum is that he needs like 20 games under his belt before he starts getting the rhythm and comfortability down to start beasting. He didn't start beasting this past year until he had like 20 games in. Then after that 20 game point he figures it out almost, and just starts going crazy. THe same thing happened a year before also. It's just that both times he started to go crazy they were cut short by injuries.

So this year he has to stay healthy. Especially if we lose Lamar. Because their won't be any insurance for us anymore. Which is why I think Buss is ok with letting Lamar walk and not paying him the extra money. Because from a business standpoint, we put a lot of money into this kid Bynum. Who is supposed to be our stud future and present dynasty center. But now we have to pay Lamar 10 a year as insurance for Bynum in case he goes down? I think Buss' feelings are that, "we paid this kid to be the franchise center. Now let's give him the opportunity to be one" Especially if we have Lamar on the bench, Phil is going to always choose lamar over Bynum. He's just more comfortable with him. It doesn't make much "cents" also to pay your 6th man 10 mil a year. Regardless of who it is, if you're making double digit millions per year you should be starting.

I still hope we bring Lamar back. Our frontcourt of Lamar Pau and Bynum is ridiculous. But I have a feeling that this is going to be the year of Andrew Bynum. We just need to give him the damn ball.

meh.. maybe. ( if healthy) That is just a sorry way to make an ASG. I would prefer him earn it as opposed to get it by default.

amare should be listed as a center

If Amare and Duncan are listed as Centers, AB17 may not be an All Star by year 5.

Next season will be The Year Of The Drew. This is when it all happens. This is when blind will finally start to see clearly what some have been talking about all along. There is no doubt in my mind that Andrew Bynum will explode on the league next season. He will dominate. Book it!

22PPG - 12RPG - 2.8BPG - 2.5APG

Aside from injury, the only thing that can stop him is he himself, by possibly not working his arse off every day already now. Outwork them all, Drew! Including Kobe.

See sig.

Al Jefferson would put up about 25/11.
Biedrin from Golden State should have another fine season with close to 13/11.
Timmy Duncan will probably count as a Center this year. So will Amare.

All Star is possible for Bynum. But Guarenteed is far from it.

I dont know, Oden is a beast.........

Erik Eleven wrote:Next season will be The Year Of The Drew. This is when it all happens. This is when blind will finally start to see clearly what some have been talking about all along. There is no doubt in my mind that Andrew Bynum will explode on the league next season. He will dominate. Book it!

22PPG - 12RPG - 2.8BPG - 2.5APG

Aside from injury, the only thing that can stop him is he himself, by possibly not working his arse off every day already now. Outwork them all, Drew! Including Kobe.

See sig.

How many basketball is the Lakers planning on playing with next year?

Lets assume Kobe puts up his usual 28PPG.
Pau Gasol chips in 20PPG.
Artest puts up 16PPG.
Lamar Odom contributes with 14PPG.
Andrew Bynum averages 22PPG.

Thats like 100 Points between 5 players....

Simply not possible. As the 4th(or 5th) scoring option, there is absolutely NO way Andrew Bynum scores anywhere close to 22PPG. I think even 16PPG is stretching it...

Guy986 wrote:

Erik Eleven wrote:Next season will be The Year Of The Drew. This is when it all happens. This is when blind will finally start to see clearly what some have been talking about all along. There is no doubt in my mind that Andrew Bynum will explode on the league next season. He will dominate. Book it!

22PPG - 12RPG - 2.8BPG - 2.5APG

Aside from injury, the only thing that can stop him is he himself, by possibly not working his arse off every day already now. Outwork them all, Drew! Including Kobe.

See sig.

How many basketball is the Lakers planning on playing with next year?

Lets assume Kobe puts up his usual 28PPG.
Pau Gasol chips in 20PPG.
Artest puts up 16PPG.
Lamar Odom contributes with 14PPG.
Andrew Bynum averages 22PPG.

Thats like 100 Points between 5 players....

Simply not possible. As the 4th(or 5th) scoring option, there is absolutely NO way Andrew Bynum scores anywhere close to 22PPG. I think even 16PPG is stretching it...

He averaged over 14 ppg last season, to say 16 is a stretch is to assume a 21 year old won't improve over a offseason which to me is a bit foolish.

Of course with your numbers 22 ppg wouldn't be possible, but your numbers are only guesses and if Bynum is productive his teammates will pass it to him to force double teams. That would mean decreases in the others scoring numbers but I highly doubt any of them would care as long as the Ws pile up. Now 22ppg is a bit high(he'd be a near lock for starting all star center spot if the Lakers are in first place with those numbers) but I could see him somewhere closer to 18ppg if he gets off to a good start.

One thing I haven't seen discussed much is Artest's post entry passing. Ariza is a pretty horrible post entry passer and often in the triangle offense the 3 is asked to get it in to the center who is posting up. Instead he would often opt to swing it around the outside to the other side(or dribble off a screen), if Artest is a better post entry passer then we could see Bynum's numbers go up just from getting more opportunities to work early in the shot clock down low.

Forgot about Al Jeff. If they go with a Love at PF and Al at C lineup that is another one to knock Bynum down - but how will Al's repaired knee hold up? Could be midseason until he's 100%..

Bynum may improve over the summer but that doesn't mean he's going to score more points especially with less shot attempts to go around. Ariza is a low volume type shooter. He averaged 7 Field Goal Attempts a game. Artest ,on the other hand, has averaged 15 shots per game SINCE 2003. Now Artest's shot attempt will very likely go down as a member of the Lakers but he will still shoot about 12 times a game. Artest will find a way to take 12 shots during the course of a basketball game.

With fewer shots and more offensive talents on the team, how will Bynum average 22PPG? I think 16- 17PPG is the max that Bynum will get next year.(provided he's healthy and made huge strides during the summer)

daddyfivestar wrote:Forgot about Al Jeff. If they go with a Love at PF and Al at C lineup that is another one to knock Bynum down - but how will Al's repaired knee hold up? Could be midseason until he's 100%..

Big Al is apparently ahead of schedule and will be ready for opening night.

al jefferson will never be voted in, so he's no threat as far as starting is concerned.

Ya I guess he could go to the all star game. It would be ok. Not sure he will get the starting spot due to his youth and being behind KB, LO, Ron, Pau all could be getting votes. Only so many can go, so it could happen. Center might be some 6'10 PF just to get the best players to the game.

If Bynum plays like us faithful laker fans have seen in the past, he should make it. I think Bynum will average 16/9. If LO doesn take all the ******** rebounds (per Drew)

Drew's chance at making the ASG is completely up to.....HIM. If he is dominating or just aggressive he will get the ball. In the finals he tried to get going and had 8 shots in about 3 minutes of play. IN THE FINALS. The rest of the Lakers had no problem going to him because one of those shots was a really nice move over D12. He is a different player when healthy and it's shown the last 2 years. If he gets a full training camp he'll start the season as a priority on offense.

If Lamar Odom comes back..

Drew: 14.5 PPG, 9.5 RPG, 2.5 BPG, 1.8 APG

If LO doesn't come back..

Drew: 17.5 PPG, 10.5 RPG, 2.8 BPG, 2.0 APG

This is how I see the statistics playing out next year.

Kobe Bryant: 25.5 PPG, 5.5 RPG, 5.8 APG, 1.5 SPG
Pau Gasol: 18.2 PPG, 9.2 RPG, 3.5 APG, 1.2 BPG
Ron Artest: 14.0 PPG, 4.5 RPG, 3.5 APG, 1.8 SPG, 43.5% FG, 39% 3PT
Andrew Bynum: 14.5 PPG, 9.5 RPG, 2.5 BPG, 1.8 APG
Lamar Odom: 9.0 PPG, 8.2 RPG, 4.0 APG - I think he'll play a lot more point forward minutes.
Derek Fisher: 8.5 PPG, 2.0 APG
Shannon Brown: 8.0 PPG, 2.2 APG, 3.1 RPG, 1.2 SPG
Sasha Vujacic: 7.5 PPG, 1.5 APG, 1.8 RPG, 39% 3PT - Loss of Trevor Ariza could mean a few more minutes a game for Sasha. I think Kobe will get a lot of rest for the playoffs.
Luke Walton: 5.0 PPG, 2.5 APG, 2.2 RPG

That will be the rotation.

PG: Derek Fisher [26]/ Shannon Brown [22]/
SG: Kobe Bryant [30]/ Sasha Vujacic [18]/
SF: Ron Artest [32]/ Luke Walton [16]/
PF: Pau Gasol [24]/ Lamar Odom [24]/
C: Andrew Bynum [34]/ Pau Gasol [14]/

Now, obviously Kobe will play a little more than 30 minutes a game. But he'll slide down and play SF some with Sasha. So I imagine Kobe will average around 35 minutes a game. I think Lamar will average about 28 minutes per game, but he'll also play some small forward.

I think Shannon Brown will have a year like Trevor did last year. Bring that hustle, excitement, etc. I think our defense could be tops in the league, because with a player like Artest.. I think it could make internal competition between a lot of our players, especially Kobe. They'll want to have that label as "best defensive player on the team," and it will all be in good fun especially between Ron and Bryant.

I think Vujacic will slightly regain his form. I'm not sure if they can rely on Luke/Adam as the backup to the SF for too long of periods. That 16 minutes is the max I see Luke averaging. I could actually see Morrison taking those minutes and I've said that since the moment he was a throw in for Shannon Brown (errr...), lol. Summer league is not a great indicator.. we'll see how he meshes in training camp, when I'm sure he'll be given every opportunity to make something of his career.

bynum was the 3rd highest center vote getter behind yao and shaq