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.

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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.

Pre-season Winding Down...

Opening night is just three days away. Championship banner number 15 will be raised to the Staples Center rafters that night, against their in-house, in-town rival Clippers, with number one pick Blake Griffin making his official pro debut for the Clippers.

So many storylines heading into the 2009-2010 season.

For the Lakers, the big question is, can they repeat? Many people they can, and a lot of people think they will. Some don't think Ron Artest will make them anymore better than Trevor Ariza, and those same people don't think they can repeat. Either way, it won't be easy. And it looks like they'll have to start their quest to repeat without the services of Pau Gasol, who is still nursing a nagging hamstring injury that has kept him out of the last six pre-season games.

Back to the task at hand: repeating.

The West is loaded again. Denver still appears to be their biggest challengers, but Utah is still there, Dallas has gotten better with the addition of Shawn Marion, Portland is a year older and experienced, San Antonio is another year older but added Richard Jefferson, and just to throw them into the mix, the Clippers might contend for a playoff spot if they stay healthy.

The East still has its three beasts: The Celtics, who are a year older but added Rasheed Wallace to the mix, the Cavs, who added Shaq, and Orlando. All three teams have 60 wins written all over them.

All but the Clippers are serious contenders, and any one of them (minus the Clippers) can dethrone the Lakers. But really, the only team that can really beat the Lakers, is the Lakers. They've got to stay healthy. Artest has to be on his best behavior. (He's been seeing a sports psychologist for the past year to work on his anger management issues front he past.) Lamar Odom needs to stay focused and be accept his role off the bench. If all that happens, there's no reason the Lakers won't repeat.

The roster is virtually the same with the exception of Artest. And you can't help but think that the former Defensive Player of the Year and four-time All-Defensive Team can only help. And not to mention his 17-point career average is a little more intriguing than Ariza's eight-point average.

So let's get the banner up and defend that title.

More on Shaq Trade

The deal is supposedly done. Cleveland also sent $500K in cash and their 46th pick in the second round of today's draft to Phoenix. As for the Suns, this was a straight up salary dump. Ben Wallace is expected to accept a buy-out of the final year of his contract and then retire, and Sasha Pavlovic is likely to be waived before camp begins with only $1.5MM of his $4.8MM contract guaranteed making him a free agent. Could he re-sign with the Cavs if this all plays out?

Meanwhile, Shaq also has one year left on his contract, so the Cavs decided to go for all the marbles now, and then when Shaq's contract expires after this coming season, the Cavs could make a run at Chris Bosh.

Shaq Traded Again

BREAKING NEWS: This just came across the wire moments ago...

According to ESPN and ESPN.com, sources say the Phoenix Suns have agreed in principle on a pre-draft deal that would send former Laker center Shaquille O'Neal to the Cleveland Cavaliers in exchange for Ben Wallace and Sasha Pavlovic, pending ownership and league approval. The deal is expected to be finalized Thursday. The Cavaliers would be Shaq's fifth team. He previously played for Orlando, the Lakers and Miami.

All I can say about this is, "Wow!" Cleveland is serious about winning now.

More on this as it become available tomorrow morning.

Kobe, Shaq & P-Jax Reunited

Well, for nostalgia purposes anyway. The Big Three, as Shaq might have once called them, reunited on the same team for a one night only affair tonight, and it was apparently a rousing success! Of course, nothing could possibly top the pre-game Kazaam-like performance by Shaq as he danced, and razzled and dazzled a raucous Phoenix crowd. Shaq, the class clown of the NBA, did not disappoint in entertaining the fans, before, during, and after the game.

So could this all lead to one last hoorah for the Big Three as the Lakers make their run towards their possible 15th NBA title this June? Maybe, maybe not. There's no indication the Lakers are interested in Shaq's services with Andrew Bynum ahead of schedule in his recovery (and rehab?) from a torn MCL in his right knee. But one thing we do know, Kobe and Shaq, like they did for eight years together until five seasons ago, dominated tonight's All-Star Game in Phoenix, where Shaq calls his NBA home these days, and took home the co-MVP honors.

In the end, Kobe finished with a game-high 27 points on 12-23 shooting (very Kobe-like) along with four rebounds, assists and steals apiece. Shaq finished with 17 points and five boards and dominated the middle in his 15th All-Star Game appearance, second most in NBA history. The West All-Stars routed their East counterparts 146-119, blowing the game open in the third quarter. Amare Stoudemire added 19 points, while four others, including the Lakers' Pau Gasol, chimed in with 14 apiece for the West. The East was led by LeBron James' 20 points, with Paul Pierce and Dwayne Wade each adding 18 each.

And while Shaq said he missed the old times the two, or three if you include Phil Jackson, had together, Kobe was particularly ho-hum about it, saying it was fun for the one night while it lasted. It was quite obvious after hearing Kobe talk about it afterwards, even after Shaq had plenty of compliments to pass around about Kobe, labeling him as the best player in the league, that this was, indeed, just a one-night stand.

The Lakers will continue their title quest Tuesday at Staples against Atlanta. And with the trade deadline this Thursday, all eyes are on Phoenix as rumors have been swirling around the league that Shaq and/or Stoudemire could be on the move. Just don't expect Mitch Kupchak and the Lakers to be calling Steve Kerr.

Radmanovic Traded

Purple & Gold have shipped out struggling forward Vladimir Radmanovic to the Charlotte Bobcats in exchange for forward Adam Morrison and reserve point guard Shannon Brown. Morrison's mustache is expected to provide some perimeter shooting depth for the Lakers and should slide into the starting lineup at the 3. More on this later.

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Also, rumors have surfaced that former Laker center Shaquille O'Neal, who is being shopped by Phoenix along with power forward Amare Stoudemire, has hinted that he'd like one last hoorah with the Lakeshow. With Andrew Bynum likely out for at least two months, maybe three with a torn MCL, this one does carry some weight. Stay tuned to this one, too...

Lakers Pass First Test

In what might've been the best game in the NBA all season, the Lakers beat the Suns in Phoenix, 130-124, behind Kobe's 41 points on 16 of 25 shooting (what pinky, injury?). Pau added 29 and Odom poured in 22 with his 11 boards in the win. The game marked former Lakers center Shaquille O'Neal's first with the Suns since being traded last week from Miami. Shaq wasn't very productive offensively, although he managed 15 points, most in the 4th quarter, and 9 boards. But he showed no signs of a hip injury he'd been battling recently as he was hustling and diving for loose balls all over the court all night. Of course, I don't expect this to last too long. Shaq has a tendency to turn it up a notch when he joins a new team to prove people wrong, but don't be surprised if it doesn't last either. By the way, with the win, the Lakers pulled even in the division standings at 37-17 atop of the Pacific with Phoenix. Meanwhile, New Orleans lost last night, while Phoenix won. So the top of the conference standings now has Phoenix and New Orleans in a dead heat tie, with the Lakers holding the 3rd seed just 1/2 game back.

Lakers return home tonight against the Clippers, although it's technically a Clippers home game.

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!