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.

Sweet 16!

It's been two weeks since the Lakers clinched their 16th NBA title against Boston in seven games. Kobe earned his second straight NBA Finals MVP. The L.A. riots were in full force that night, as if right on cue. The parade has already come and gone. Phil Jackson has already announced he'll be back for one more year. And the free agency drama is already in full swing.

The Finals were certainly very entertaining, that is, if you enjoy watching the refs control them. But still, it was very entertaining. It was a see-saw battle throughout. The Lakers won Game One at home, then got beat in Game Two. The series shifted to Boston and Derek Fisher took over in Game three. The Celtics won the next two games in Boston, playing solid defense to stifle the Lakers. But Lakers returned the favor in the final two games back in L.A. with two insane defensive efforts to keep the Celtics at bay, at win their 16th NBA title, second most in NBA history behind Boston's 17, second in a row, and third win over the Celtics in their last four meetings head-to-head.

With all that behind them, the Lakers are looking forward to next season. The off-season drama began with the annual Phil Jackson watch. After meeting with doctors, he was cleared to resume his coaching duties, and elected to return for one more final year.

As for the players, Shannon Brown opted out of his contract, and Fisher, Jordan Farmar and Adam Morrison all became free agents, as well. They've already agreed to a four-year deal with guard Steve Blake, essentially marking the end of Farmar's Laker stay, at the very least. Blake can officially sign his contract on July 8th.

The Lakers and Fisher would like to continue their relationship, but Fisher wants a multi-year deal worth about $5MM per year, while the Lakers are only willing to go as high as $2.5 or $3MM per year. Is their a compromise somewhere in the middle? Sure. I'm pretty sure both would like to find some sort of resolution to this sooner rather than later.

The Lakers had been linked to guard-forward Mike Miller the day before signing Blake, but Blake's signing all but takes the Lakers out of the running for Miller. A sign-and-trade is always possible, but highly unlikely. Earlier in the off-season, it had been reported that the Lakers were very interested in guard Raja Bell, and they could very well still be interested. Bell has stated his first choice is Miami, so this is still in a wait-and-see mode until all the other top free agents find homes.

Aside from Fisher, the starting lineup figures to remain intact, assuming they don't trade Andrew Bynum. The bench appears to have been thinned out, and depending on how they fill out the bottom end of the roster, Sasha Vujacic and Luke Walton will probably be given more playing time next year than this. Both struggled immensely this season off the bench, Walton in large part due to an injury-plagued season, and Vujacic also battled nagging ailments, as well.

At least one of the Lakers draft picks this year is likely to make the roster. West Virginia small forward Devin Ebanks has a very good chance of not only making the team, but of becoming an key bench player for the Lakers. His biggest upside is his defense, and that's why the Lakers drafted him.

At this point regardless of how the off-season plays out for everyone, Lakers included, it would be foolish and hard-pressed to bet against the Lakers winning their third NBA title in a row next season. With so many key players on the market right now, and teams such as Miami, Chicago, New York, New Jersey and Cleveland all in play to not only bring back their key players, but also to add to them, it's still too early to tell who the Lakers primary opposition will be.

But one thing is for certain, the Lakers are the back-to-back defending NBA Champions!!

No Kobe, No Problem!

The Lakers are 4-0 with Kobe sitting out the past four games due to a bad ankle. One had to wonder if the Lakers would go into a panic mode not knowing how long Kobe would be out and make a trade before today's deadline, but it came and went and the Lakers stood pat.

The Lakers were tied to several trade rumors, including one that would have netted them Chicago's Kirk Hinrich. The sticking point to that potential deal, and frankly, any deal, was their inability to find a taker for Sasha Vujacic. The Lakers have grown more and more weary of Sasha's inconsistencies in recent weeks and started shopping him several weeks ago. But the Lakers were not looking to add any more payroll, so in order to take on the remaining two years, $17MM of Hinrich's contract, it had to be offset with a similar contract going the other way, and that contract was Vujacic. So the beat goes on. Hinrich is still in Chicago, and Vujacic in L.A.

The Lakers have beaten Portland, Utah and Golden State on the road, three teams that give the Lakers trouble in their buildings, and San Antonio at home without Kobe. Andrew Bynum missed the first three of those games, but Lamar Odom and Pau Gasol have stepped up nicely in all four games, and Bynum had a solid game on Tuesday in Golden State while playing in pain. Shannon Brown has played well in Kobe's absence, as well.

So the Lakers forward with the same team they've had all season as they host the Celtics tonight at Staples. And once again, Kobe will not play. There's no telling when he'll play, but if the rest of the team continues to step and play with the sense of urgency they've had over the past four games, they have a legit chance tonight. And it will give Kobe even more time for his ankle to heal.

Summer News

Ever since Lamar Odom finally re-signed with the Lakers last month, I was hoping things would quiet down for the Lakers until camp started, but lo and behold, it's been anything but for the World Champions. That said, here's a brief chronological rundown/recap on some of the key news items since Odom's signing:

• The Lakers waived guard Sun Yue. I don't think anyone will miss him.
• Guard Sasha Vujacic underwent minor knee surgery following a minor injury suffered while playing for Slovenia's national team this summer. He has since fully recovered and has resumed full basketball activities. Barring any setbacks, he'll be ready for camp.
• Former Laker forward and assistant coach Kurt Rambis was named head coach of the Timberwolves. Congratulations, and good luck in Minnesota! You'll need it.
• Forward Pau Gasol broke his left middle finger (his non-shooting hand) while practicing with the Spanish national team. The injury required surgery but it's not considered a serious injury and he was expected to miss only three weeks. This timetable means Gasol should be more than ready when camp opens up in October, but to be safe, Lakers trainer Gary Vitti is flying later this month to Spain to check on Gasol, and to make sure the reports of the three-week setback are accurate.

That should about cover it. This space is now current and up-to-date!

Houston Has A Problem

I've obviously been slacking here, but for good reason. I'll leave it at that and get to the point. In the last three months, we know the Lakers clinched the best record in the West, and then dismantled a very good Utah team in five games in what I thought would be the Lakers toughest opponent in the playoffs based on match-ups. Now, before I get dive into what has become a very touchy and physical series between the Purple & Gold and the Rockets, keep in mind everything I know about this series is what I've seen of the highlights and read up on the game recaps online. I have not been able to watch a game in over a week for various reasons.

Here's what we know: the Lakers have a two-games-to-one series lead heading into Game Four tomorrow afternoon in Houston. But it hasn't been pretty. They looked lost in a Game One loss at Staples. Tensions began to boil over in this game when Houston's Shane Battier took an inadvertent elbow from Sasha Vujacic.

The Lakers rebounded nicely in Game Two defending their home court, but with what seemed like a chip on their shoulder. Ron Artest was ejected late in the game for making a threatening gesture to Kobe from across the court, but not before Derek Fisher threw an unexpected elbow at Luis Scola and was eventually suspended for Game Three. There was plenty of jawing going on as Scola, Lamar Odom and Luke Walton were all given technical fouls. Kobe was assessed a technical foul which the league ruled a Flagrant Foul 1 the following day. Can someone please explain to me what the hell a Flagrant Foul 1 is?

The Lakers then marched into the Toyota Center in Houston and won back home-court with an impressive Game Three win over the Rockets, minus Derek Fisher. The game was a much cleaner, well played game on both ends by both teams in what seemed like see-saw battle in the middle of the game. But the end of the game turned testy, as it did in Game Two, and Artest was ejected for a hard foul on Pau Gasol. In the end, the Lakers kept their cool, and roll into tomorrow's Game Four with a chance to take a very commanding three-games-to-one lead heading back to L.A. for Game Five.

Stay tuned!

Pre-season Notes

First, and most important, Kobe Bryant's hyper-extended knee suffered in Tuesday night's pre-season game in San Diego against Charlotte is fine and he is expected to play in tonight's pre-season game, also against Charlotte.

Sasha Vujacic, who suffered a foot injury early in training camp, is expected to see a foot specialist to determine his availability for the final two pre-season games before next Tuesday's opening night game against Portland.

The Lakers waived 2008 second round draft pick Joe Crawford, and C.J. Giles yesterday, trimming the roster down to the required 15. All indications are Coby Karl has made the opening night roster.

As of today, the roster is as follows:

Forwards: Trevor Ariza, Pau Gasol, Lamar Odom, Josh Powell, Valdimir Radmanovic, Luke Walton and Sun Yue.
Guards: Kobe Bryant, Jordan Farmar, Derek Fisher, Coby Karl and Sasha Vujacic.
Centers: Andrew Bynum, DJ Mbenga and Chris Mihm.

Sasha...

Lakers signed reserve guard Sasha Vujacic to a three-year, $15 million contract today, about three years short of the length of contract he was looking for. Either way, this is good news for the Lakers, and a good contract for both sides. Lakers now have 11 players under contract for the upcoming season.

Vujacic And Turiaf Get Qualifying Offers

In a much anticipated and expected move, the Lakers have extended qualifying offers to both Sasha Vujacic and Rony Turiaf, making them restricted free agents. The Lakers now have a week to match any other offer each of the players receive.

Let The Rumors Begin

Here we go! The fun part of the off-season: the trade and free agent rumors before free agency. And the Lakers are right in the middle of it all.

Despite coming two wins shy of their 15th title in franchise history, the Lakers will obviously be looking to find ways to improve the roster. Here's what we know so far:

• Trevor Ariza exercised the option on his contract, and will return next season.
• Chris Mihm will not opt out of his contract, and will also be returning next season.
• Salary cap restrictions will make it difficult for the Lakers to be active in the free-agent market if they intend to re-sign restricted free agents Rony Turiaf and Sasha Vujacic.
• Lamar Odom could be on the trading block with one year left on his contract.

Now for the BIG rumor: word is circulating around Laker and Sacramento King-land that Kings forward Ron Artest will opt out of his contract to sign a mid-level exception contract with the Lakers. This hasn't been confirmed obviously, and Artest has already indicated he's 99.9% sure he won't opt out. Obviously he's not going to say anything else otherwise until he actually does opt out. But word is he wants to play with Lamar Odom (even though other rumors suggest he could be traded to clear salary cap space) and Kobe. Either way, adding a player of Artest's stature would certainly help the Lakers, primarily because he's a defensive specialist who also happens to average about 18 points a game. This could be a HUGE signing if everything falls into place. Stay tuned...

Lakers Dominate S.A. Heading to Texas

Talk about two games completely opposite of each other. The Lakers looked lost, confused and tired for about two and a half quarters in game one Wednesday, and found themselves trailing by 20 points with a little over five minutes left in the third quarter. Since then, the Lakers have outscored the Spurs by a whopping 54 points. They rallied to beat the Spurs in Game 1, 89-85, behind Kobe Bryant's 25 second half points, and then demolished the Spurs last night in Game 2, 101-71.

Last night's game was a pretty evenly matched game, until the Lakers broke a 37-37 tie with a 9-0 run to end the first half. They never looked back. They've been getting some expected contributions from the usual suspects: Kobe, Lamar Odom, Pau Gasol, Derek Fisher; and from the role players: Vladdy Radmanovic, Sasha Vujacic, Jordan Farmar, Luke Walton, Rony Turiaf. And it's generally been someone different stepping up with key baskets and big plays defensively. In Game 1, it was Sasha. Last night it was Farmar. And in the meantime, everyone else has been consistent offensively and defensively.

The series heads to San Antonio now for Games 3 (Sunday night at 7:30pm CT) and 4 (Tuesday night), and it's obviously extremely pertinent for the Lakers to maintain, and even increase their intensity. The Spurs won't be a pushover on their home court. Split on the road and come home and take care of business!

10 down, 6 wins to go to #15.

Lakers Clinch Top Seed in West; Kobe MVP?

Well, who would have thought this when the season started? After what was a tumultuous summer in which Kobe Bryant demanded a trade out of Lakerville, then rescinded the demand, then left it up to everyone to figure out, the Lakers played out their 82-game schedule in remarkable fashion that ended last night with a rout of Sacramento, pushing them to the top of the conference and giving them home-court advantage throughout the Western Conference playoffs. The Lakers finished the season 57-25 and head into the playoffs, which begin this weekend against either Dallas or Denver (to be determined tonight), having won 8 of their last 9 games. On top of all this, Kobe is on target to win his first MVP award in his career (although Chris Paul might still have a say in it).

Kobe should win the MVP this year for several reasons. One, after all he put the team and the fans through last summer, when it came down to playing the games, he kept his mouth shut once training camp started and maintained his focus on trying to help the Lakers win. Second, he might have had his most important season of his career because of what happened in the summer, and perhaps had his best all-around season of his career in spite of everything else that happened. Third, the team made a dramatic turnaround from last season's debacle and came out on top in a a very tough and grueling conference in large part because of Kobe's commitment and willingness, and several players became better players and improved drastically because of Kobe.

It should be noted that Lamar Odom had one of his best all-around seasons of his career, finishing with career highs in field goal percentage and total rebounds per game. Andrew Bynum was well on his way to having a stellar third season when he went down with that freak knee injury that has sidelined him since January. Sasha Vujacic and Jordan Farmar improved dramatically from last season. And Pau Gasol has been an offensive force (the Lakers were 22-4 with him in the lineup) since he was acquired from Memphis. All of these things can be attributed to Kobe's presence, and his willingness to make players around him better.

Kobe Bryant, congratulations on earning your first career regular season MVP award. Keep doing what you've been doing all season and the Lakers will win their 15th NBA title and you'll earn your first NBA Finals MVP, as well!

Lakers Rockin' 'n' Rollin' Again

Since acquiring Pau Gasol, the Lakers have gone an impressive 4-1 on the road trip (4-2 overall on the trip with three more to play), including an impressive 117-113 win tonight in Orlando. How impressive you might ask? Well, in two of the games, Kobe scored a total of 17 points (he injured a finger on his shooting hand against Jersey when he jammed the finger trying to steal the ball from Jason Kidd in the second quarter of that 105-90 win on Tuesday night, the first of those two games), and tonight, the Lakers gave up 44 points in the first quarter, and were down 11 after the quarter, and led by one at the half and by 11 after three quarters.

What's really surprising me is how quickly the team has turned it around after its little funk with Kwame Brown playing the bulk of the minutes at center before last week's trade. Even more amazing is the production the Lakers continue to get from the bench. One night it's Turiaf; another night it's Farmar; another night it's Radmanovic (when he isn't starting). Tonight, as it has been on several occassions, it was Sasha Vujacic, who scored 10 points off the bench. The bulk of tonight's scoring came from the starters, though. Kobe led the way with 36 while adding 11 boards and 6 assists. Pau added 30 and 9 boards and D-Fish, Odom and Radmanovic had 14 (and 7 assists), 12 and 10, respectively.

Next up for the Lakers is Miami on Sunday, an intriguing match-up for a couple of reasons. Two nights ago, the Heat and Phoenix Suns pulled off the second stunning trade in the league in a week when Miami sent former Laker superstar center Shaquille O'Neal to the Suns in exchange for Shawn Marion and Marcus Banks. My reaction? Why, Phoenix, why? They had the best record in the West. Everything was hunky-dory in Phoenix. Why mess with something if it isn't broken? Shaq is a soon-to-be 36-year old over-the-hill, overweight log who can't run anymore, isn't very mobile anymore, still can't shoot free throws and he can barely get his feet off the floor when he jumps. Oh, not too mention he's injury-prone. And let's not forget... Phoenix LOVES to run! So basically they just traded arguably their most athletic player and pure scorer in Marion, for an aging guy who can't get up and down the floor anymore in a run-and-gun offense. Good luck Phoenix!

Lakers Get Bullish...

And pull out an impressive road win in Chicago. Once again the Lakers get all sorts of help from guys like Andrew Bynum and Lamar Odom, who both posted impressive double-doubles again. Bynum is quickly turning into a real force in the middle. Some are already starting to compare him to what Dwight Howard looked like two years ago (and we all know how important he's become to the Magic over the past few seasons as he's become the best center in the East). And how about the bench?! Sasha led all Lakers with 19 points. Kobe had a quiet 18 as he struggled, fighting off his groin injury.

Obviously this game would have been more intriguing if the Bulls were playing to their full potential, but outside of Luol Deng, the rest of the Bulls struggled. Ben Gordon had just eight points and two assists. They need him to get going soon if they want any shot at the playoffs in the East...

Next up for the Lakers, probably their toughest match of the road trip: LeBron and the Cavs Thursday night on TNT. Should be a good one!