Will Pau Gasol Stunt Andrew Bynum's Growth?

[Lakersfan23]

Bynum was on the brink of 20-10 numbers before his injury...

With Gasol putting up 20-10 routinely on any given night, will Bynum be able to get his touches and rebounds? Or will Bynum be a 14-8 kind of guy for a while until Gasol retires?

Gasol's skill set is also 100x as advanced as Bynum's, and Bynum won't be as skilled as Gasol for another 4-5 years.

[rsavaj]

Suns fans hope so

In reality, I don't think they'll have any problem working Bynum back in. They're going to be ridiculously loaded come playoff time.

[miller31time]

Whether Bynum's or Gasol's stats will take a hit is not really important. The thing to remember is that they both compliment each other's respective games. They are going to play better when on the floor together, even though their per-minute/per-game numbers aren't going to be as impressive.

The only thing Laker fans should be looking at is the win/loss column, because it's going to be full of "W"s.

[magicfan4life05]

well not that it matters or is any indication im sure, i dropped bynum in my fantasy leagues because even if he comes back on time, i don't think he'll put up the same production with gasol there...

i think for him the biggest thing he can provide the lakers when he comes back is just the defensive presence they'll have with gasol/bynum

[B-Scott]

No because Gaosl can play away from the basket. They wont be in each others way.

Bynum plays close to the basket and Gasol can operate 12 to 15 feet away

[kno]

The great thing about it, which m31t alluded to, was that they arent the same type of big.

Where Gasol is a man-type defender, Bynum is able to rebound anything and swat shots as a weak-side defender (which will make Gasol's D look better).

On offense, Gasol has the ability to step out and drain the mindrange jumper. This will open up so much for Bynum, who is strong enough and quick enough to score on almost anyone on a 1v1 situation.

I just cant see how they will possibly hurt eachother's game. I mean, yeah, their overall production wont be as good as they are now, but im sure their efficiency will improve, resulting in more Laker wins.

[kooldude]

ok guys, let's just crown the Lakers now.

[NetsForce]

I think the two actually complement one another very nicely... And this isn't some fake Zach Randolph - Eddy Curry type complementation either, what a lot of people forget is that both Bynum and Gasol are great passing big men.

[SactownHrtBrks8]

I think that injuryand Gasol will make him not look so impressive this year but he'll be fine

[crackjack]

what a lot of people forget is that both Bynum and Gasol are great passing big men.

I'm a huge fan of the center position. I would be ecstatic if the league went back to the glory days of the 90s where there were a dozen all-star centers roaming the league.

With that in mind, I'm a huge Bynum fan.

However to call his passing abilities "great" is just downright wrong. He's good. He's not great.