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They can still win it.
Roundtable: Bynum injury fallout
SI.com NBA writers analyze the latest news and address hot topics from around the league each week. (All stats and records are through Monday's games.)
1. Andrew Bynum is expected to miss 8-12 weeks with a torn knee ligament. Do the Lakers need to make a trade or signing in the wake of Bynum's injury?
Ian Thomsen: I guess the case can be made that San Antonio will be chasing the Lakers for the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference. But right now the Spurs are into the worst road stretch of any team this season -- they play one game at home over one month -- and they're going to be more concerned with maintaining their two-game lead over No. 3 Denver than with trying to overtake the five-game lead of the Lakers. And even if the Lakers should finish No. 2 in the West, Kobe Bryant will go into any playoff series believing they can win.
Instead of shopping for help, the Lakers should look within their team for the answers. By not making a trade, they're telling Pau Gasol they believe in him to lead the frontcourt. They'll also be showing Bynum his importance to the team. If they brought in another big man to replace him for the short term, they'd be telling Bynum they don't believe he can make it back. But by refusing to make a deal, they're reinforcing that he's no longer a young project; instead, he's a highly valuable player who simply can't be replaced and they're counting on him, so he needs to do everything he can to rehab and return as soon as possible.
Jack McCallum: The franchise's answer is a definitive no. Kobe is already on record as saying that L.A. is "better prepared" for the postseason than it was last year, but perhaps what he means is, "The door is now open for me to get 61 every night," as he did Monday against the Knicks. But I'll accept the party line for this reason: There is a clear expectation that Bynum, who will not be getting surgery, will be back at least a week or two before the end of the regular season. It will not be a replay of last season when a kind of he's-coming-back-no-he's-not-ready ambiguity took hold. So, my guess is that the Purple and Gold will stay the course with this aggregation, set their sights on winning the West without him, and pick up at full strength in the postseason, rather than threaten the status quo with a trade.
Chris Mannix: Yes, but it doesn't have to be as significant as last year's trade for Gasol. The Lakers like to point out that they made the Finals without Bynum last season. But L.A. also beat up a wounded San Antonio team in the conference finals and didn't have to face the dangerous Hornets in a playoff series. Add the fact that this year's Denver team is markedly better, and the path to the NBA Finals is a lot rockier for the Lakers. Any deal would have to bring back a serviceable big man (no, Chris Mihm is not that) who can play at least 10-15 minutes. Joe Smith? Add the Lakers to that wish list.
Steve Aschburner: No deal. It would be nice if the Lakers could catch lightning in a bottle -- or rather, relampago en el frasco -- in another Gasol trade, landing an impact player midseason without tearing up their rotation. But soliciting another such "donation'' will be very unlikely, which means GM Mitch Kupchak would have to send back some real value this time. That could wrench the team's chemistry and balance as severely as Bynum's knee.
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2. If the Lakers stand pat and Bynum doesn't return to form in the playoffs, can L.A. win the NBA championship?
Ian Thomsen: Kobe's job is to galvanize the team defensively. What will be the Lakers' iden y over the next two months? Will they be waiting for Bynum's return, or will they be a hardworking team defensively? They can definitely win a championship without Bynum, but only if defense becomes the priority. They have to defend as a team as if he isn't going to be coming back, as if this is now the lineup that must carry them to a le.
The Celtics always looked like they were playing harder than the Lakers in last year's Finals. The Lakers can win if they shift that advantage their way. That was true before Bynum's injury and it's true now.
Jack McCallum: We get to the "can" and "will" issue. I can't definitively say that they can't win the le without him -- that would be ludicrous; we're not talking about Wilt Chamberlain here -- but they won't. True, Bynum is young and makes youthful mistakes, but he's more predictable than Lamar Odom, whose minutes will now be going up. The Lakers have more of a classically defined team with Bynum, who started all 46 games at center before he got injured, than they do with Odom, who's some kind of strange amalgam of shooting guard/small forward/power forward/center. Though Bryant says the Lakers will be better prepared for the late rounds of the postseason, and specifically mentioned Gasol, they will need the young big man to go all the way. Bynum averages 14 points, 8.2 rebounds and 1.87 blocks and shoots 56 percent from the floor and, just as important, 70 percent from the line, so teams can't play bash-a-Bynum at the end of games. Those numbers would be hard to replace.
Chris Mannix: Probably not. Without Bynum, the Lakers are still a highly skilled but doughy-soft team. They may not have enough to get out of the West, but if they did reach the Finals, I couldn't envision a scenario in which they defeat Boston or Cleveland in a seven-game series. Maybe they get lucky and Orlando comes out of the East. That might be the only one of the three East contenders that the Lakers can beat.
Steve Aschburner: Sure they can. A team that made it all the way to Game 6 of last year's Finals -- OK, Game 5 compe ively, then that lopsided clincher -- has enough talent to win twice more this June. Remember how many of us were picking the Lakers as the playoffs began in 2008? The key will be whether Bynum's loss is crushing psychologically, as well as damaging to their frontcourt maneuvers.
They can still win it.
All the grumblings today on ESPN was that he would be out only 4 weeks.
Rehab is 4 weeks. Drew said that during yesterdays pre-game on KCAL.
So he will be back in 4 weeks then.
No way.
don't it need to heal first before he can go into rehab?
I meant to say Bynum's rehab will start in 4 weeks if all is well.
2 bummed knees already....man thats bad
No way can they beat Boston or Cleveland without Bynum. I'm not even sure they can beat them WITH Bynum.
IF Bynum isnt either fully healthy or isnt back if the Lakers play the Spurs in the playoffs....i expect the Spurs to beat them.
I didnt say that 1 week ago. I knew as long as Bynum was there the Spurs were gonna get beat in 5-6 games.
Even if Bynum is only 80% by the WCF the Lakers will still beat the Spurs.
They don't need Bynum's offense, they just need his defense.
When/if Bynum comes back I expect Phil Jackson to have Gasol continue to be the primary post player with Bynum relegated to setting screens and getting garbage points on offense.
Well to be honest knee ligament tear is becoming less and less a problem in modern sports. Modern health technology seems to have advanced quite a bit in that regard. Look at Amare, who had the worst possible knee operation, and yet he is completely back to where he was before. Oden seems like he is recovering as well.
So I wouldn't be that worried about this issue. This is not the 70s or 80s anymore.
Bynums defense wasnt the main problem against the Spurs. It was his offense. If Bynum isnt as offensively good as he has been so far this season then i can see the Spurs winning the series.
His defense is good but hes still young. He has a lot of learning to do when it comes to defending the paint. I can see the Spurs getting to the basket still with Bynum in the middle.
Especially if hes not 100%
I dont think they can beat Boston, Cleveland or Orlando without Bynum. But they have can still beat the Spurs.
With Bynum, i think the only team that could beat the Lakers is Boston, and maybe Cleveland.
I believe this will be the 4th knee surgery in Bynum's life: one as a teenager, two last year, and now this one. It has to be worrisome to the Laker organization.
Spur fans thought they were getting a raw deal with Manu & Parker earlier this year, but now with the cir stances surrounding Jameer Nelson and Bynum, you have to think the Spurs have actually been pretty lucky so far this season.
Now Lakerfan can pull their own 'Manu' excuse when the Spurs sweep them.
No question Bynum is Mr. Glass. I would hope the Lakers aren't banking the future of this franchise on him. He will have knee problems his entire career IMHO.
They are very fortunate to have enough talent to sustain his absence. IMHO they shouldn't even play this kid for the 1st half of the season.
What makes you believe the Spurs can do that?
At full strength the Lakers obliterated the Spurs so badly Pop didn't even bother playing the Big 3 in the 4th.
These
Only memories of the 2009 LA Lakers will be on the Spurs 2009 Championship DVD.
These
Only memories of the 2009 LA Lakers will be on the Spurs 2009 Championship DVD.
Is that you Allanon ?
Don't forget, the Lakers beat the Celtics last year by 40 points in the Finals to win the championship. That's how good they are even without Bynum. oooops, is it the other way around? hahahahaha
What does this have to do with anything you moron?
We saw how the tables turned when the Celtics played the Lakers with a fully healthy Ariza and Bynum. They lost.
And why are you trying to take credit for what the Celtics did loser. Focus on your own team's double-digit loss to the Lakers.
He'll be back by 2nd week of March.
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