Tallest Frontline in NBA History...

[second_coming32]

As has been hashed and rehashed in previous topics, I'm just going to say this. I don't think the Lakers will win the title this year. There is simply not enough time to get everyone acclimated with one another, and we simply do not have the playoff experience (other than kobe and fish) to advance in the playoffs. I hope I'm wrong, but I won't be upset if we don't make it.

What we will accomplish this season is answering some real questions about what to do with Lamar Odom. The Lakers as assembled will have the biggest front line in the history of the NBA (7'1, 7'0, 6'11). I don't think Gasol will be the defensive liability he was in Memphis for this simple reason....have you ever tried to drive the lane against 3 players 6'11 and taller? Neither has anyone else in the NBA. The Lakers will force teams to adjust to their big bodies and take teams right out of their comfort zone offensively. We'll make Phoenix feel like little kids playing against their dad. This is going to be fascinating to see how this plays out on the court.

With that being said, Odom is not a very good wing defender. He's much better at the 4 where he can take advantage of slower power forwards. If Odom doesn't demonstate that he can be the perfect compliment to the triumverant of Kobe, Gasol, and Bynum, we can move his contract next year (which will be expiring) for an above average 3 who can defend on the wings.

Defensively we're gonna have to figure it out in the post, Bynum is going to have to amp his defense up even more, and it will be interesting to see how Gasol defends while playing along such a strong defensive presence in Bynum. My guess is that he will surprise a lot of people with his improved defensive play.

So here's the game plan: We don't move Odom this year, give this squad the rest of the season to see how we do with our projected starting 5. If Odom can't defend on the wings, trade him for a 3 who can get it done. We don't need his rebounding anymore. Oh yeah....and next year, anything less than 65+ wins and a championship will be disappointment.

[slifersd]

I think it is a foregone conclusion that Odom will not be moved this season. His contract is undesirable for teams who are losing; and we wouldn't want to make any potential contender better by giving him up. I do think he will and should be traded by next season. He is going to need quite a bit of money to keep around after he expires, and since we already have Gasol and Kobe as well as the upcoming extension to Bynum, he will likely be moved for salary purposes. I think we should trade him for a lottery pick in the near future. We get great talent in return to help us compete for the title without having to pay a lot of money.

[KobeFan]

The concept of "playoff experience" is overrated. Other than that, I like your post.

[Sofa King]

We are going to win it all.

[bobobolas1]

Well, utah also has a big triple post with AK47, boozer and okur... It is not the same that bynum,pau and Odom.....but they are also big bigs!

[tkb]

Pretty tall lineup for Utah too, but a bit shorter than ours.

Okur 6'11"
Boozer 6'9"
Kirilenko 6'9"

We're at

Bynum 7'1"
Gasol 7'0"
Odom 6'10"

[KobeFan]

"a bit" ?

Our least tall (Odom) would be competitive with their most tall (Okur).

[EiRON]

We will make it to the finals this year. I don't think we will win it this year but next year we will win it all. =)

[Tommy Trojan]

We are going to win it all.

efff yeah we are

[The Prodigy]

Having the tallest front court in the NBA doesn't mean a thing. LO isn't a very good fit at SF with Bynum and Gasol. However, due to the reasons that have already been stated in this thread, in addition to the fact that we need LO's rebounding until Bynum gets back, we still need to keep LO this season. Next year I'd love to trade him for a SF who can shoot the 3 and guard the wing. Is his contract really expiring after next year?

[vtime]

Odom isnt now and has never been 6'11. Not even close. Also, during Tim Duncan's rookie year, the Spurs sported what they called the Triple towers with Robinson, Duncan, and Will Perdue starting with Jaren Jackson and Avery Johnson in the backcourt. Sean Elliott was injured.

[KobeFan]

Having the tallest front court in the NBA doesn't mean a thing. LO isn't a very good fit at SF with Bynum and Gasol. However, due to the reasons that have already been stated in this thread, in addition to the fact that we need LO's rebounding until Bynum gets back, we still need to keep LO this season. Next year I'd love to trade him for a SF who can shoot the 3 and guard the wing. Is his contract really expiring after next year?

We have a wing defender in Ariza. We have somebody who can spread the floor: Vladi

Can you explain to me, how Odom can't play or compliment Gasol, or Bynum when they've never played a game together?

[xX_BabyBoy_Xx]

Bird, Mchale, Parrish

[feoekells2]

Odom won't be moved. We're the ones that want the expiring contract if anything so that we can pay Bynum. Mitch said himself in the Adande piece that Odom could potentially be the guy who racks up the triples. If he pans out, we're solid for this season and next. We're still a championship-calibre team either way because he doesn't need to score. The worst case scenario is that we just let his contract run out and we have more cap space. It's a win-win situation to not trade him. I have a feeling that if we're winning titles, Odom will come back for less (it happens on basically every championship team).

Also, I don't like him guarding 4's (David West killed him and even Zach Randolph beat a few times), he gets pounded. It's really ok if a quicker 3 gets by him once in a while because ideally we would have Drew waiting for him.

One more thing, it's becoming more and more evident that Bynum may be done for the season. They aren't saying it, but there are a lot of IF's coming from the organization. Hope I'm wrong.

[critical_beatdown]

Lamar is not as bad defensively as the 3 as people make out, and we can mask his weaknesses anyway with two 7-footers behind him. Also, most of the damage done to us early in the year from the likes of Paul Pierce and Richard Jefferson actually came when Lamar was switched off of them or out of the game.

Also, the team as constructed is now a perfect fit for Lamar's all-around talents and versatility. Look for his assists to go way up, even more than Kobe's will go up, and I expect both of them to be putting up 7 assists per the rest of the way.

Our front line will be dominant, and with Kobe at the 2, well, pick your poison. Pau will put up at least 18 and 8, Drew will put up 16 and 11, and Lamar will probably balance out around 14-7-7 (strangely enough, Lamar's scoring could actually go up now too with the attention mostly on Kobe and Pau now).

[EHL]

^ LO has pretty much 0 shot at averaging 7 apg. For one, he's not nearly that good of a passer on a consistent basis. Secondly, he won't get the touches for it to begin with, as Kobe, Pau, and Bynum will by far be the primary options on O, in the post, etc. He could average 5 a game, though. But his scoring is going to go way down, maybe as low as 12 a game, as he lacks any consistent jumper, and that'll kill him at the 3. He'd have to improve his jumper a lot to get back to 14-15 ppg with Gasol now on the team.

[ock]

lamar is a defensive (Please Use More Appropriate Word).

however, i actually think that he may do better than we expect with pau and bynum. for one thing, he is the worst 2nd option in the world, but a decent 3rd option, and an awesome 4th option. he doesn't do well when pressure is on him, he does well by rebounding, getting offensive putbacks, and interior passing to others.

his defensive liabilities will be covered by the others.

we can win it all.

[EHL]

Just look at how he has done since Bynum went down, averaging 4.8 apg. That's with a ton more touches/opportunities, with him passing much more than usual because his shot has been off. And before Bynum was out he was averaging 2.4 apg on the season, with Bynum dominating. Touches matter a lot for Lamar. So as good as Gasol is, there is only so much basketball to go around, you can't just plug in random numbers. Not like Kobe's apg went way up with Payton and Malone.

[Erik Eleven]

Good first thread. Welcome to the board, man.

I agree on all counts but the notion to keep Odom.

I've defended Odom fiercley here in the past, always worrying about losing him because of all that he does. I like Odom because he's such a good team player (especially defensively). However, I don't think that he's the perfect fit anymore. With the addition of Pau's defensive rebounding, we can now look to trade Odom for a Rick Fox.

Butler or Battier would be better fits than Odom on this team, in my opinion. Let's face it, if we go to the finals, we're likely going to have to face the Celtics. We don't have an answer for Paul Pierce. Think Odom can stop him? I don't. Will Odom make him work on defense? I don't think so.

Butler and Songaila for Odom. Battier and James (third team swap to avoid James) for Odom. Do it Mitch!

EDIT: I know that Butler is pipe, but we have to try to find a way to get it done. Involve a third team, involve five teams. Work your magic, Mitch. Do it while the iron is stull hot and the trading gods are smiling at us.

A Rick Fox would be the final piece to this puzzle

[J Rob]

Bird, Mchale, Parrish

SF.) Bird 6'9"
25-10-6.5

PF.) McHale 6'10"
18-7.5

C.) Parrish 7'1"
19-11

(Circa mid 80's)

Damn they were good.

I hope Bynum and Gasol will eventually put up similar numbers to McHale and Parish with Bynum becoming an even bigger defensive presence.

Kobe then can put up 25 and 7 with a renewed focus on defense.