Lakers with an impressive off-season

[Venti Quattro]

mitch did a terrible job. he didnt resign me

lmao congo cash

[HarlemHeat37]

Fandom aside, its damn impressive what LA did.

Armed with nothing but the MLE and a couple of 2nd round picks they brought in:

Blake
Barnes
Ratliff
Caracter
Ebanks

And solidified their bench at every position with guys who fit and all can play D.

Mitch with the pimphand, had a foodstamp, came back with a cart of Lobster and Ribeyes.

Blake skills are perfect for the triangle.

Caracter was one of the most talented players in his HS class and showed that this summer. Ebanks is a year or 2 away.

LA actually has a bench now.

Blake, Barnes, Ebanks, Odom, Caracter, Ratliff. Sasha and Walton - once starters on the Finals team in 08 - now at the end of the bench.

Defense. Defense. and more Defense. We just shut down 3 HOFers in the Finals - holding them to 79 points to cut down the nets. Now we've upgraded our bench tremendously. Here are the defenders we can throw at the Miami Hype:

Wade: Kobe, Barnes, Artest
LeHype: Artest, LO, Kobe
Bosh: Pau, LO, Rat
Mike Miller: Kobe, Barnes, Artest
Big Z: Bynum, Rat, Pau, LO
Chalmers: Blake, Kobe, Fisher

I mean... wtf they gonna do against us? If Wade or LeHype get by their initial defenders we have quality swatters backing them up in Bynum, Pau, and now Rat (who could give us 15 mpg). It's good to be the champs.

It's the bench! Nothing more. They improved their bench. Simple as that. They consistently gave up leads last year and they went with a more defensive minded upgrade. Nothing huge but an improvement none the less.

Dusting off a spot for #17...

With the added pieces we got this summer, I say the le is ours to lose for the next three years. As Kobe slows down, guys like Bynum and Pau will pick up. We have no weaknesses at any position.

3 years... solid contenders. Our le to loose. Then Bynum and Pau take over and Lebron, Wade, and company take the last step of shame and make excellent 4th or 5th options for the Dynasty.

They will need to wait their turn. Lakers aren't done yet.

Ratliff will barely play in LA but at least when he does, he'll bring more than what DJ did the last 2 years. Upgrade.

As for 2nd round picks - Caracter turned a lot of heads. This guy was then 2nd rated player out of HS (behind Greg Oden) so talent was never a question.

But I'll let David Thorpe of ESPN (who hates the Lakers) and a side from SA's own Blair speak on it.

2Cleva..
ty poster masquerading as a basketball connoisseur..
Caracter and Ebanks, 2 of the worst players in the NBA..
Steve Blake, ugly pussy..
delusional Laker fans..

[WildcardManu]

[SpurOutofTownFan]

Lol

[crc21209]

Lakers are sttttaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaccccccckkkkkkkkeeeeeee ddddddd!

[baseline bum]

I liked the post talking about how teams would regret not picking Caracter in the first round best.

[Muser]

People arent seeing this. Almost every move was with a defensive mindset. 2008 taught the Lakers a lot. They have all the scoring they need. Shutting down the few contenders is what will win #17, 18, 19...

This has to be one of the tiest posts of Spurstalk history

Blake/Barnes/2 Scrub ass players being defensive moves