I think they will go to the conference finals with OKC. They will probably have a 50+ season this year. However, there are some problems.... Kobe - it would be interesting to see, kobe is best with ball in his hand. Reads defenders well and has good killer instincts. Teams have to Double him. Nash - great distributor good at causing Defenses to collapse and making the best pass to the open man. Teams have to double him. Needs the ball in his hand. I don't think they will be great on the floor together because Kobe is more of a black hole. However, the Lakers are at their best when Kobe started trusting his team more. With Nash he has no choice to trust him because he respects him. If they can find a way to make it work, it would add years to Kobes career and Nash's. With Nash everyone is going to have a high % in the 12-13 season but Kobe is going to have a lower scoring average. Just a thought... A team with Kobe and crappy role players - they couldn't make the play offs and he requested a trade. A team with Nash with crappy role players - he took them to the play offs....
At this point, they would be stupid not to trade for Howard. Bynum may be younger, and on a longer contract, but Gasol/Bryant/Nash maybe have a 2 year window. Not to mention Ron Artest who is in decline.
With this acquisition, Lakers went from being a 5-6 seed to getting everyone's attention. IMO, OKC will clearly be better. The Clippers, Grizzlies and Spurs might also be better. If the Lakers don't add a decent backup to Nash and some legit depth, they will have a hard time contending. Steve Blake and Josh McRoberts as 6th/7th men just don't measure up. Grant Hill could help but they would be too old on the perimeter. I remember one play late in the season where Kobe blew by Grant Hill like he was standing still (and Kobe wasn't blowing by anybody late in the season). Starting next season, Kobe will be 34, Nash 38, Pau 32, Artest 33, Blake 32. (Grant Hill is 39 and he slipped badly last season. Not much tread left on tire). Everything will have to go right for them to slog through 82 games and be at their best for 4 playoffs series. Anything is possible but I don't see it happening. Even if the Lakers get Dwight Howard, I'm still not sure it makes them the favorite in the West. They need shooters.
They will also have Maynor running the 2nd unit which will be a huge relief for Harden. Cook's 3-point shooting will go back up to where it belongs. No more watching Reggie Jackson or Derek Fisher do nothing more than dribble the ball up, hand it over to Harden and get out of the way.
good enough to finish 2nd in the west and possibly take the thunder to 7 games. Westbrook is going to TORCH Nash though.....
Nash will make Bynum the best center, stats wise, in the league. They still won't be able to beat the Thunder though.
This is spot on. Unless they get that long physical athletic swingman to slow down LeBron or Durant they're toast again. Artest doesn't cut it anymore and he hasn't for about 5 years now.
Nash would automatically improve Bynum and Gasol without blinking. But then Kobe will start getting jealous and start jacking 30 shots a game to guarantee no one contributes but him.
Nash's presence means Kobe will not have to do as much as before. Kobe / Gasol / World Peace will get many more open shots. convenient parroting on your part.
Parroting maybe, but Kobe's reaction to Nash getting Bynum and Gasol more touches in scoring position is a legit point of discussion. If Kobe insists on leading the NBA again in FGAs, Nash is a waste of time. You probably disagree, but Kobe taking 23 FGAs/game and shooting 43% last year was ridiculous. Early in the season when he carried them it was necessary, but common sense should have taken over when his shooting came back down to earth. This will be the first time in Kobe's career a true ball-control PG will be playing next to him. The adjustment won't be as simple as you think.
Still not that good. 40 year old Nash doesnt change Kobe from also being in his mid 30's as well. Maybe at best almost as good as Spurs/Celtics but too old still.
Celtics were a home game away from beating the Heat, I would take that. Spurs were 2 - 0 up on the Thunder before the Thunder got just insanely hot.
ESPN was talking about how Nash had never played with 'real' bigs before. He did, with Shaq. It didn't go well. Terry Porter also tried to bring a less up tempo, more defensive focus to the Suns, just like Mike Brown will try to do - again, it didn't go well. And then you have Bryant thinking he's still the best player on the team. I think they could be great, but it's really all up to Bryant.
