Draft Day Has Arrived

As usual, Lakers aren't expected to be big players at the draft.

They have no first round picks again.

But they have been trying to trade up to get into the Top 5.

And yesterday a rumor surfaced that they had made an offer for the second pick.

That pick is held by Minnesota who is expected to take Arizona forward Derrick Williams.

The rumored offer was Lamar Odom for Kevin Love and the pick.

As of right now, it looks like it's not happening.

However, trading Odom might not be a bad idea because he has a very attractive contract.

And if it meant getting Love and drafting Williams?

Well, that could fill two holes created by moving Odom.

One other rumor worth mentioning...

Odom and Ron Artest for Andre Iguodala. Would you do that one?

For now, Lakers have four second round picks (41, 46, 56 & 58).

My guess is that will be the extent of their night.

**********

Other tidbits...

Brian Shaw has been named Associate Head Coach of Indiana Pacers.

Matt Barnes has exercised his option and will return next season.

Bill Macdonald and John Ireland headline new Lakers broadcast teams.

Macdonald joins Stu Lantz as TV play-by-play guy, replacing Joel Myers.

Ireland replaces Spero Dedes on radio and will team up with Mychal Thompson.

Former Laker Center Shaquille O'Neal has retired after 19 seasons.

We Have a New Champion

Congratulations to the Dallas Mavericks on a job well done as they defeated the Miami Heat tonight 105-95 to clinch the 2011 NBA Championship in six games and earn their first ever NBA title.

Dirk Nowitzki was named series MVP.

I gained a lot of respect for this Mavs team as they had to go through the two-time defending champion Lakers to get this far. The Mavs earned this title.

My congrats also go out to all the Mavs fans out there here in DFW. As a relatively new resident here (four years) transplanted from L.A., I've come to know plenty of Mavs fans and they are some of the best fans in the world. So enjoy the win and the championship, and enjoy the parade in a couple of days. And as a reminder, from a Laker fan who didn't celebrate like a fool in 2000, 2001, 2002, 2009 or 2010, please celebrate peacefully with class and dignity! In other words, don't burn down your city!

This Just Totally Irks Me

You know, I somehow expected this from Lebron James.

He already comes across as an arrogant, immature, pompous ass.

No wonder people are losing all respect for the guy!

But Dwayne Wade, too? I expected better from him...

Beautiful sportsmanship. Seriously...

This just exemplifies why I'm rooting hard for Dallas to win this thing.

One more win!

Two and a Half Months

Ok, so I stole that title from the CBS hit sitcom. So sue me!

But yes, it's been a while, so let's get right to it and recap from where we left off...

We knew the Lakers got the two-seed and drew New Orleans in first round.

We knew they lost Game 1 at home.

They won the series in six.

They drew Dallas in the next round, and got slammed.

Dallas swept them in four games, and it wasn't pretty.

Andrew Bynum and Lamar Odom committed stupid, ugly fouls in Game 4.

Bynum has been suspended for start of next season.

Pau Gasol simply didn't show up at all in the playoffs.

Quest for Three-peat Part II came to a crashing end.

Dallas is now playing Miami for the NBA title.

Series is tied 2-2, and the series has been closer than that!

Dirk Nowitzki is in "beastmode"; Lebron James has been MIA.

Phil Jackson retired; Mike Brown (yes, really, that Mike Brown!) was hired to replace him.

So long, triangle offense.

Moving forward in the off-season, here are five things the Lakers need...

• Kobe healthy
• Younger and quicker point guard (Chris Paul or Deron Williams, anyone?)
• Shooters who can make their shots
• More consistent bench play
• Dwight Howard

All that said, everything is peachy in Laker-land.

In the meantime, we wait for a new champion, free agency and a possible league work-stoppage.

And the Sixth Man Award Goes to...?

Lamar Odom! Congratulations, L.O.!

You've had a great season, so far!

Ugly Loss

Well that wasn't very pretty now, was it?

But not to worry, these things happen. At least that's what Phil says.

Kobe did his part. Chris Paul did his too.

The rest of the Lakers didn't.

Pau was absent and took the day off.

So did the bench.

And so did the defense, especially in transition.

Ok, Hornets got their one road win.

Game 2 should be much different Wednesday night.

It better be or the two-time defending champs are in deep trouble.

Weird End to Regular Season

After rolling through 17 of their first 18 after the break, Lakers went on a five-game skid.

They finished season winning last two against San Antonio and Sacramento to equate last year's 57-25 mark.

Along the way, Pau Gasol had a knee scare, but is fine. Just a bone bruise.

Andrew Bynum hyper-extended his knee, but is fine too.

Steve Blake came down with the chicken pox.

And Kobe was dinged $100k after making a racially sensitive slur to a referee in the aforementioned San Antonio game.

So, the two-time defending champs "earned" the two-seed and get CP3 and the Hornets in round one.

Game one is Sunday.

Quick Note

Lakers are an NBA-best 15-1 since the All-Star Break.

Any questions?

I didn't think so.

And that triple-overtime 139-135 win last week against Phoenix was insane!

Seriously, insane!

Ok that's all. You may carry on...

Rocked in Cleveland

So much for that 55-point blowout win two weeks ago against the Cavs at Staples...

Gasol's 30 & 20 not enough tonight.

Lakers finish trip 4-3 after starting 4-0.

All-Star Break this weekend at Staples.

Kobe, Pau and Blake Griffin to rep the local teams.

Ouch, That Hurt!

Another ugly loss. But is anyone surprised they lost in Charlotte?

There was no magic in Orlando yesterday either.

One more stop on the seven-game roadie Wednesday.

Time to rock Cleveland!

Should We Just Call Them the Lakerbockers?

Because the Lakers just simply own the Knicks at MSG. Or shall we call it, KSG:

Kobe Square Garden.

Season sweep complete against Knicks.

Kobe blew up for 19 in first; finished with 33 in rout.

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Cavs ended an NBA-record 26-game losing streak tonight with an overtime win against the Clippers in Cleveland. Had the Cavs lost again tonight, they would have surpassed the 1973 & 1974 Tampa Bay Buccaneers for the longest losing streak by any North American team sport among the four major sports.

Beantown Beatdown

It's gotta be the throwbacks! Strangely, they wore their 1971-72 home throwbacks on the road, and still won.

Five Lakers scored in double-figures lead by Kobe's 23.

Ray Allen passed Reggie Miller for most career three-pointers made.

On to take a bite out of the Big Apple tomorrow night.

**********

One other hoops note... Utah head coach Jerry Sloan retired today after 23 seasons.

One Week

The Lakers lost to Boston and San Antonio at home last week, two teams with the top records in their respective conferences, but needed overtime to beat Houston at Staples and barely got by New Orleans on the road.

They played pretty good hoops in all four games but they had their lapses. Life doesn't get any easier for them.

The New Orleans win started a seven-game road trip that includes Memphis tonight, where they typically don't play well, Boston and New York on back-to-back nights Thursday and Friday, and Orlando Sunday afternoon. The trip concludes with a stop in Charlotte next Monday, another place they don't generally play well, and Cleveland next Wednesday, against a Cavs team they walloped by 55 points last month at Staples.

They will need to play better than they have been if they even want to consider finishing above .500 on the trip.

The time is now! Let's rock!

A Common Problem

Another ugly loss. They earned it. Kobe's 41 not enough.

Kings of Staples

And it's not the Lakers. (And I'm not talking pucks either.)

So much for that beating they gave the Jazz the other night.

Ugly loss. Not for lack of trying. But ugly nonetheless.

This team's inconsistencies still make me cringe.

The C's arrive at Staples tomorrow. Should be uh... interesting.

Kobe passes "The Dream" for eighth all-time in scoring.

He's also starting another All-Star Game. Thirteen in a row!

Five Years Ago Today

Kobe dumped 81 points on Toronto.

It was January 22, 2006. Lakers had a Sunday night home game against the Raptors, and little did anyone know that Kobe was about to make history. He finished with the most points ever scored by a Laker in a game, and second most ever in NBA history since Wilt Chamberlain dropped 100 points on the Knicks on March 2, 1962 while playing for the Philadelphia Warriors.

My how time flies.

Meanwhile, after losing to the Clippers last Sunday as the road team at Staples, the Lakers beat Oklahoma City the following night at Staples. They then took to the road and lost to a struggling Mavs team Wednesday night in Dallas, but rebounded nicely to beat the Nuggets in Denver last night.

Next up: The Jazz at Staples on Tuesday night.

And the Winning Streak...

Goes bye-bye.

The Clippers halt the Lakers streak at seven today with a solid 99-92 win at Staples. This time, it wasn't Kobe or the Lakers that stepped it up in the fourth quarter. Instead, they showed their frustration at the end of the game, and two players from each team were tossed after a minor altercation ensued.

Lamar Odom, Ron-Ron, Blake Griffin and Baron Davis were all ejected. And Phil Jackson had some choice words for the refs afterwards.

In any case, both teams have home games tomorrow at Staples: the Clippers vs Indiana with a matinee affair, and the Lakers vs Oklahoma City in the nightcap.

Seventh Heaven

That's where the win streak is at now after wins over the Warriors and Nets. They struggled in both games but Kobe came up big in the fourth quarter in both games, as usual.

They get another good test tomorrow: a red-hot Blake Griffin and the cross-arena Clippers.

112-57

No, that score is not a typo. That was last night's final. A rather historical night to say the least.

Most lopsided win in Laker history: 55 points; third most in NBA history.

Fewest points allowed by Lakers in shot-clock era.

Fewest points ever scored by Cavs.

Had Lakers scored just one point in second half, they would have still won 58-57.

Ouch!

Hope they saved room for the Warriors tonight...

Back in the Saddle Again

Ron-Ron setting the tone early with a P.J. Carlesimo-like hand-to-the-neck move, check.

Stellar defense shutting down prolific offense, check.

Bynum with his best game of the season, check.

"What can Brown do for you?" with the exclamation point three-pointer and dunk, check.

Rout of the Knicks, check.

Four-game winning streak, check.

And That, My Friends...

Is a winning streak! Three in a row.

So Much For That

Another ugly loss last night to Memphis. Horrible effort all around. Very disappointing.

Breaking News?

Lakers snapped their three-game skid last night with a 103-88 win in New Orleans. Well, that was easy.

Awful

Merry Christmas to you too, Lakers. What a horrible game, effort, performance, whatever... you name it.

Bastards...

Trade

The Lakers have agreed to trade Sasha "The Machine" Vujacic to New Jersey in a three-team deal that would net the Lakers Joe Smith from Houston. Because Smith can't be traded until tomorrow, the 15th, the deal can't become official until then. Houston will get Terrence Williams from Jersey in the deal, which could include other elements once the deal is completed.

The Lakers are probably making this deal for two reasons: one, to rid themselves of Sasha's contract, and two, they're probably concern enough about Theo Ratliff's injury that they felt they needed to add more depth in the middle.

Meanwhile, Andrew Bynum made his season debut tonight in the Lakers win in Washington after a long recovery from a knee injury he suffered in the middle of last season. Bynum didn't start tonight, and he will probably be eased slowly back into the rotation.