I know its late, but the Lakers missed out on an opportune moment to get a defensive stopper and good offensive player.  They didn't want to give up Odom to get him, but seeing who he was traded for I know that the Lakers could have easily gotten him for Ariza, Radmanovic, and the 58th pick, Joe Crawford or a future 2nd round pick.  As you probably know by now, the person they missed out on is Ron Artest.  The Rockets got Artest from the Kings for Bobby Jackson, who won't help them much, a 1st round pick in 2009, and Donte Green, the Rockets first round pick this year.  The only good thing about Jackson is that he was a fan favorite and his contract is expring, but I don't think the Kings will be making an major signings next offseason.  Donte Green is young, but so is Ariza, but Ariza is already like a (really) poor man's Artest and he is only 23.  The first round pick in 2009 was the deal maker, but the players the Lakers could have traded are a lot better than the players the Rockets offered, and the Lakers could have given them Joe Crawford or a future 2nd round pick also.  I think that the Lakers should have tried harder to get Artest from the Kings.  With him the Lakers would have a Big 5, but since none of them are a point guard they could just have Lamar Odom coming off the bench with the bench mob.  In last years Finals, the Lakers lost in 6 games, but if they had Artest and if Kobe, Fisher, Ariza, Bynum, Mihm, and Odom were completely healthy then the Lakers probably would have won in 4 or 5 games.  But now back to the trade, if the Kings didn't want Radmanovic's contract then the Lakers could have just given them Luke Walton instead if they wanted to do that.  I don't think they would, but Radmanovic would help them and Ariza would develop into a good defensive stopper for them.  I really think that the Lakers missed out on a chance to become instant favorite to win title, along with being the best offensive team, the deepest team, and one of the best defensive teams next season.

Many people think that Kobe's defense is overrated, but when he is trying his hardest its hard for a perimeter player to score on him.  Kobe doesn't get to focus on defense that much because he was the only offensive weapon for the Lakers in recent years.  But now with Bynum, Gasol, and Odom able to score a lot a points he can focus on defense.  Since Bynum, Gasol, and Odom will probably average 15 ppg, 17 ppg, and 13 ppg respectively Kobe will be able to lay off on scoring so many points and focus on locking down the other teams best player on offense.  Kobe has probably the 2nd best overall athleticsm in the league (behind Lebron James) which helps him to be able to play good defense.  No one can deny that Kobe is one of the best man to man defenders in the league behind such players like Bruce Bowen, Shane Battier, and James Posey.  I beleive that Kobe Bryant is a serious contender for defensive player of the year.

So far this offseason the Lakers have re-signed Sasha Vujacic, and signed Josh Powell, Dwayne Mitchell, Joe Crawford, and Sun Yue.  Most Lakers fan want Luke Walton and Vladimir Radmanovic gone, and they don't care for who either as long as it isn't someone with a worse contract.  More than half of all Lakers fans want Lamar Odom traded for Ron Artest, Tayshaun Prince, Shawn Marion, or Carmelo Anthony.  I wouldn't mind having any of those players on the Lakers, except I wouldn't want to have to give up Odom to get Prince.  I think that if we were to trade anyone it would be Luke Walton because his contract still has 5 years on it.  So he will be under contract for over 6 million a year when he will be completely worthless.  Vladimir Radmanovic's contract runs out the same year as Pau Gasol, Sasha Vujacic, and Kobe Bryant (if he doesn't opt out and get a different contract this year).  And we will probably have more people who's contract run out that year too.  Since Pau and Kobe will be older and won't be asking for a bigger contract we don't really need the cap room we get from Space Cadet's contract running out.  But with Kobe and Pau getting a smaller contract and Radmanovic's expiring we will be able to sign a really good free agent.  Even if Luke has a good season in 08-09 the Lakers will need to trade him because his contract goes way too long.  That Lakers were rumored to be trying to get Shaun Livingston, Ron Artest, Shawn Marion, Udonis Haslem, and James Posey among others this offseason.  Since the Heat have a logjam at forward it might be possible for the Lakers to get Udonis Haslem without having to give up a starter.  Maybe Vladimir Radmanovic and Chris Mihm for Udonis Haslem would work, but only if the Heat were desperate for another center.  The Lakers have 8 guards on their training camp roster so far.  Kobe Bryant, Jordan Farmar, Derek Fisher, Sasha Vujacic, and Sun Yue are already on the team.  Coby Karl, Dwayne Mitchell, and Joe Crawford are fighting for a roster spot.  The Lakers only have 5 big men under contract right now (Lamar Odom, Pau Gasol, Andrew Bynum, Josh Powell, and Chris Mihm).  Vladimir Radmanovic is 6-10 and can play power forward, but he isn't really considered a big man.  DJ MBenga is a free agent right now, but the Lakers have shown interest in re-signing him.  If the Lakers re-sign DJ MBenga and Mihm returns to his old self then they should be good at the center position as long as Bynum and Mihm stay healthy.  Next offseason Jordan Farmar, Trevor Ariza, and Andrew Bynum will all be wanting more money.  Kobe Bryant has the option to opt out of his contract or not opt out and get paid 23 million the next season and 24 million the one after that.  In order to pay Bynum, Ariza, and Farmar more and keep the key players on the team Lamar Odom will have to be resigned for about 7 million, and Kobe will have to opt out and be paid a couple million dollars less per year.  The Lakers biggest problem is defense and the lack of good big men.  Getting Udonis Haslem would solve the power forward issue because we would have Pau Gasol starting, Udonis Haslem on the bench, and Lamar Odom and Josh Powell can play a lot of minutes if needed.  At center the Lakers have Andrew Bynum and Chris Mihm, but Pau Gasol can also play center if needed.  If Andrew Bynum comes back healthy then he will be one of the best centers in the league and would probably make the All-star team as a backup center.  Chris Mihm is a starting quality center when healthy, but when unhealthy like he was during the playoffs he is pretty much useless.  The Lakers should and need to sign another center.  DJ MBenga did good for the Lakers last season in limited minutes, and thats all we would need him to do this season.  He is defensive minded and won't want a lot of money.  Alonzo Mourning would also be a good backup center if he is healthy.  The Lakers don't need to make any major trades unless the tall frontline of Pau, Lamar, and Bynum doesn't work.  In the case that the tall frontline doesn't work the person to go would be Odom.  He could be traded to the Heat for Marion, the Pistons for Prince, the Bulls for Nocioni, the Bucks for Jefferson, the Wizards for Jamison, or to another team that has players that the Lakers want that they would be willing to give up for Odom.  The Lakers should also try and get Tom Thibodeau away from the Celtics.  With him the Lakers defense would be majorly improved and their offense would be as good as it was last season since Phil Jackson could focus more on that with Thibodeau there.  The Lakers have a lot of money from merchandise and ticket sales so they will have a lot of money to spend on trying to lure Tom Thibodeau to the Lakers.  The Lakers are in a good position to be competing for championships for the next 10 years.

 Receive:
Darko Milicic
Kyle Lowry
Hakim Warrick
Marc Gasol
Channing Frye
Travis Outlaw

Outgoing Players: Luke Walton, Jordan Farmar, Chris Mihm, Vladimir Radmanovic, Trevor Ariza

  Receive:
Vladimir Radmanovic
Jordan Farmar
Trevor Ariza
Raef LaFrentz

Outgoing Players: Hakim Warrick, Darko Milicic, Mike Conley, Kyle Lowry, Marc Gasol, Darrell Arthur

Receive:
Chris Mihm
Mike Conley
Luke Walton
Darrell Arthur

Outgoing Players: Travis Outlaw, Channing Frye, Raef LaFrentz

It may seem like Memphis is getting screwed, but in this trade they are getting about 15 million dollars worth of expiring contracts, and they get some good, young talent. The Blazers get the point guard they've wanted, and the Lakers get a bunch of big men that they really need. The Lakers would be insanely deep. This trade works according to ESPN Trade Machine.

http://games.espn.go.com/nba/features/traderes
ult?players=2426~3002~549~1016~2027~2754~454~2015~
3413~3195~3206~3012~2171~2794&teams=29~29~22~29~22
~13~29~13~22~22~13~13~13~13&te=&cash=

The USA basketball team has been redeemed by winning its first gold since 2000.  Though some players surprised us, some were disappointments.

 Kobe Bryant - A+

Kobe played lockdown defense for most of every game in the Olympics, and he came up in the clutch against Spain.  If it wasn't for him the USA team might not have won.  His 4-point play which also fouled out Rudy Fernandez was the biggest play that secured their win.

 Lebron James - A+

Lebron did what he was expected to do.  He shot good shots, passed, rebounded, and played good defense.

 Dwyane Wade - A+

Wade was one of the surprises this Olympics.  He returned to his old, high-flying self.  He shot a high percentage and had a lot of highlights.  He also hit some clutch shots to secure their win against Spain.

 Chris Bosh - A

Bosh surprised everyone with how good he did.  He did better than Howard and led the team in rebounding off the bench.  He also shot over 90% from the line.

 Chris Paul - A

He played good defense, and got everyone involved offensively.  Not much else to say about him.

 Carmelo Anthony - A-

'Melo was one of the best shooters on the team this olympics.  He was one of the few people who actually did good from the free throw line and he played the best defense of his career.

 Tayshaun Prince - B+

Didn't get much playing time, but when he was in he made an impact.  He played good defense and knocked down a few shots when they were available.

 Deron Williams - B

Deron played well on the offensive team and led the team in assists, but on the defensive end of the court he didn't play as well.  Made a lot of 3's and didn't take stupid shots.

 Jason Kidd - B

Kidd's experience helped the young team win gold, and he also hit 6 of 7 shots during the whole tournament.  He passed the ball well, and he shot smart shots.

 Michael Redd - B

Didn't play much, but when he was in he played decent defense, made some 3's and even dunked it a couple times.  He didn't hurt us, but he didn't help us that much either.

 Dwight Howard - B-

Superman didn't dominate the paint against soft guys like the Brothers Gasol like everyone expected, but he go some dunks and blocked some shots.  His free throw shooting was a major problem and its a good thing it didn't come back to haunt us.

 Carlos Boozer - C

Boozer didn't play well on either end of the court.  He missed some pretty easy layups and wasn't a force on defense.  But he didn't really hurt us either.

 Overall Team - A

This team was the most cohesive one that there ever was so far.  They played team ball and kept their egos in check.

Today is Kobe Bryant's 30th Birthday!!!  Kobe has been in the league 12 years and he is only 30.  Hopefully the 30's don't mean that he will start declining.  I don't think it does because Kobe is the best!!!  NBA.com had some stuff about it so here it is.

Q & A with Kobe Bryant

August 23, 2008 -- Superstar Kobe Bryant turns 30 today. While that may be old by NBA standards, Bryant is showing no signs of slowing down. He capped a remarkable 2007-08 season by winning his first MVP award and leading the Los Angeles Lakers to The Finals. And he and the rest of the U.S. Olympic Team appear on the verge of a gold medal. This week, he spoke with John Schuhmann of NBA.com about reaching the big three-oh.

NBA.com: Your thoughts on turning 30?

Kobe Bryant: I made it.

NBA.com: Does it make you feel old?

Kobe Bryant: It's funny. I honestly feel younger now than I did last year or a couple of years ago. My legs feel great. I'm feeling great.

NBA.com: What are your plans for your birthday?

Kobe Bryant: Go watch Argentina and Nigeria play in the (men's soccer) finals and check out the women in the gold medal game.

NBA.com: How do you feel?

Kobe Bryant: I feel great. I'm in a great spot right now with the U.S. Team, and my team back home with the improvements that we made. I'm feeling good. I'm rolling at 30.

NBA.com: Do you think your teammates will tease you about being old?

Kobe Bryant: They know they gotta see me come October, so they're not gonna say too much.

SO HAPPY BIRTHDAY KOBE BRYANT AKA BLACK MAMBA AKA THE DOBERMAN!!!

I, like many other bloggers have made a couple blogs with trade ideas for Lamar Odom.  My favorite trade idea used to be Lamar Odom and Jordan Farmar for Kirk Hinrich and Andres Nocioni.  And before he was resigned, I thought that a signed and trade for Josh Smith would be the best.  But after hearing that Lamar Odom might be traded for this Tuesday it has made everyone think of who it might be for.  People have commented on by blogs with their ideas and the best one I have seen is Lamar Odom for Antawn Jamison.  Even if we have to throw in Jordan Farmar and they throw in Antonio Daniels it is still the best trade I've heard.  The best one for the Lakers would be to trade Odom for Jamison and Pecherov.

We don't need to make a complicated 4- way trade like I always want to do.  Just two teams and 4 players.  According to ESPN trade machine these trades work.

Lakers Trade:

Lamar Odom ($14,148,596), Jordan Farmar (1,080,000)

Wizards Trade:

Antawn Jamison (9,923,285), Antonio Daniels (6,200,000)

OR

Lakers Trade:

Lamar Odom ($14,148,596)

Wizards Trade:

Antawn Jamison (9,923,285), Oleksiy Pecherov (1,446,720)

Comparing Lamar Odom and Antawn Jamison:

I'm not going to put in the stats because it always gets messed up for me.  Antawn Jamison averaged 20 and 10 last year while Lamar Odom average 14 and 10.  Lamar Odom is a 6-10 Foward who can bring the ball up court and pass well.  He can't shoot very well and isn't very aggresive.  Antawn Jamison is a 6-9 Foward who can shoot really well, rebounds well, but can't bring the ball upcourt and isn't known for his passing.  They both play mediocre defense.  Antawn Jamison was one of the only 20 and 10 guys last year.  He has better stats than future hall of famers Tim Duncan and Kevin Garnett.  He did all that while being the 2nd option on his team.  Lamar Odom was the 3rd option for most of the year, but he had similar stats to when he was the 2nd option on a not very good team.

LG Reports:

"I have been an intern working for the Lakers during my last three years at UCLA. I graduated in June, and the Lakers have offered me a position within the organization. My job deals with marketing and designing.  Anyway, today was my first day on the job, and I was told by my boss to begin to create advertisements for all of the Lakers, except for Lamar Odom. He said Odom has been traded and it will be official by next Tuesday. He didn't tell me who he was traded for."

Just passing on what I was told...

Too be announced on Tuesday if it is true.

Unless it is a really good trade for the Lakers I hope that they didn't do it.

When I first started writing blogs on Foxsports it seemed like there was at least 2 new blogs every time I looked, but now there is only 1 new blog about every 5 times I come on.  Whenever I go on a computer I look to see if there is new blogs or new comments on my blogs.  I don't know if it is because the NBA season is over, or people are just on the computer less during the summer.  It could be because everyone is not having any ideas for a blog like me.  Usually when I can't think of a blog to write I just write one with trade ideas, but I have already written enough of those and I have used all my good ideas.  There hasn't been any big trades to blog about either and when one person writes about a trade there is no point in writing one that says the same thing.  I'm not into baseball at all and I don't really watch football or know anything about it so I don't read those blogs.  I like football, but I'm not a fan.  After every Olympic basketball game there is always one or two blogs that talk about the game, but that doesn't interest me as much as a blog with trade ideas or one where a blogger is giving their opinion on something in the NBA.  I wasn't blogging on Foxsports last season when Kobe Bryant demanded to be traded, but I bet there was probably a lot of blogs with trade ideas or bloggers hating on him.  This offseason there is no superstar demanding a trade or even being widely shopped around the league.  The Pistons said they want to change their team, but I haven't heard of them getting close to a blockbuster deal.  All the big free agents are gone too so there is no rumors about where they will sign.  I hope that once the season rolls around that there will be more blogs being written.

I will use a points system to determine who is the best perimeter player in the NBA.

     Shooting        Passing       Rebounding       Defense        Inside Game        Playmaking

Lebron James:          6  -  7  -  7  -  8  -  10  -  7

Kobe Bryant:              9  -  7  -  7  -  8  -  10  -  7

Dwyane Wade:          7  -  7  -  6  -  7  -  10  -  7

Michael Redd:           10  -  5  -  5  -  5  -  6  -  5

Paul Pierce:                8  -  5  -  5  -  6  -  7  -  5

Ron Artest:                  7  -  4  -  6  -  10  -  6  -  5

Tracy McGrady:          8  -  7  -  6  -  7  -  10  -  6

Steve Nash:                 9  -  10  -  3  -  3  -  3  -  10

Jason Kidd:                 5  -  10  -  6  -  6  -  4  -  10

Chris Paul:                  6  -  10  -  5  -  6  -  7  -  10

Deron Williams:         7  -  10  -  4  -  5  -  7  -  10

Allen Iverson:              7  -  7  -  4  -  5  -  7  -  8

Carmelo Anthony:      8  -  4  -  7  -  6  -  10  -  6

     Shooting       Passing        Rebounding        Defense        Inside Game          Playmaking

Grand Totals:

1) Kobe Bryant - 48 points

2) Lebron James - 45 points

3) Dwyane Wade, Tracy McGrady, Chris Paul - 44 points

4) Deron Williams - 43 points

5) Jason Kidd, Carmelo Anthony - 41 points

6) Steve Nash, Allen Iverson, Ron Artest - 38 points

7) Michael Redd, Paul Pierce - 36 points

I read a blog that ranked the NBA teams using a points system and now I am going to that, but instead I will be using a points system to find who is the best player in the NBA.

 Inside Game (IG)    Shooting (S)   Passing (P)    Defense (D)    Clutch (C)     Rebounding (R)

Kobe Bryant-

           10 - 8 - 7 - 8 - 10 - 6

Lebron James-

           10 - 6 - 7 - 7 - 8 - 7

Paul Pierce-

           8 - 7 - 4 - 6 - 6 - 5

Chris Paul-

          10 - 6 - 10 - 6 - 6 - 5

Tim Duncan-

          10 - 3 - 5 - 10 - 8 - 10

Kevin Garnett-

           10 - 4 - 10 - 5 - 10

Dwyane Wade-

           10 - 6 - 7 - 7 - 8 - 6

Carmelo Anthony-

           10 - 7 - 4 - 5 - 10 - 6

Allen Iverson-

           10 - 7 - 7 - 5 - 10 - 4

Dwight Howard-

           10 - 1 - 3 - 10 - 6 - 10

Grand Totals:

1) Kobe Bryant - 49 points

2) Tim Duncan - 46 points

3) Lebron James - 45 points

4) Dwyane Wade - 44 points

5) Chris Paul, Allen Iverson, Kevin Garnett - 43 points

6) Carmelo Anthony - 42 points

7) Dwight Howard - 40 points

8) Paul Pierce - 36 points

I have already made predictions for the next season, but as more trades happen I am changing my predictions.  So there will probably be another NBA prediction by me near the start of the season.

REGULAR SEASON RANKINGS

West:

1 - Los Angeles Lakers

2 - New Orleans Hornets

3 - San Antonio Spurs

4 - Houston Rockets

5 - Utah Jazz

6 - Portland Trailblazers

7 - Dallas Mavericks

8 - Phoenix Suns

East:

1 - Boston Celtics

2 - Orlando Magic

3 - Detroit Pistons

4 - Philadelphia 76ers

5 - Miami Heat

6 - Cleveland Cavaliers

7 - Washington Wizards

8 - Toronto Raptors

PLAYOFFS

West:

First Round

1 Lakers (4) - 8 Suns (0)

2 Hornets (4) - 7 Mavericks (1)

3 Spurs (4) - 6 Blazers (3)

4 Rockets (4) - Jazz (3)

Second Round

1 Lakers (4) - 4 Rockets (2)

2 Hornets (4) - 3 Spurs (3)

Conference Finals

Lakers (4) - Hornets (3)

East:

First Round

1 Celtics (4) - 8 Raptors (2)

2 Magic (4) - 7 Wizards (1)

3 Pistons (4) - 6 Cavaliers (3)

4 76ers (2) - 5 Heat (4)

Second Round

1 Celtics (4) - 4 Heat (2)

2 Magic (4) - 3 Pistons (2)

Conference Finals

Celtics (4) - Magic (3)

FINALS

Lakers - Celtics

Game 1: Lakers

Game 2: Lakers

Game 3: Celtics

Game 4: Celtics

Game 5: Lakers

Game 6: Lakers

NBA Champions - Los Angeles Lakers

Finals MVP - Kobe Bryant

AWARDS

MVP - Chris Paul, Hornets

Rookie of the Year - Michael Beasley, Heat

Defensive Player of the Year - Kobe Bryant, Lakers

Coach of the Year - Nate McMillan, Blazers

Executative of the Year - Joe Dumars, Pistons

6th Man of the Year - Lamar Odom, Lakers

First Team All-NBA - Chris Paul, Kobe Bryant, Lebron James, Tim Duncan, Dwight Howard

Second Team All-NBA - Deron Williams, Dwyane Wade, Carmelo Anthony, Kevin Garnett, Yao Ming

Third Team All-NBA - Jason Kidd, Brandon Roy, Paul Pierce, Chris Bosh, Andrew Bynum

First Team All Defense - Kobe Bryant, Bruce Bowen, Shane Battier, Tim Duncan, Dwight Howard

Since the Lakers, Nuggets, Pistons, and Mavericks all want and need to change their roster in some way, I used ESPN trade machine to come up with a trade which would be one of the biggest in NBA history if it happened.

LAKERS TRADE: Lamar Odom, Luke Walton, Jordan Farmar, Vladimir Radmanovic, 1st round draft pick, cash

LAKERS RECEIVE: Carmelo Anthony, Antonio McDyess, Eddie Jones

_____________________________________

NUGGETS TRADE: Carmelo Anthony, Allen Iverson, Kenyon Martin, Nene Hilario, two 1st round draft picks, two 2nd round draft picks, (rights to Xue Yuyang, Axel Hervelle, and Sani Becirovic)

NUGGETS RECEIVE: Rasheed Wallace, Lamar Odom, Chauncey Billups, Josh Howard, Luke Walton, cash

____________________________________

PISTONS TRADE: Rasheed Wallace, Chauncey Billups, Rodney Stuckey, Jason Maxiell, Antonio McDyess, cash, (rights to Trent Plaisted)

PISTONS RECEIVE: Allen Iverson, Kenyon Martin, Jerry Stackhouse, 1st round draft pick, Jordan Farmar, 2nd round pick

*Allen Iverson's 20 million dollar contract is expiring, so if it doesn't work out they can sign someone else and if it does work then they can sign him for less.

____________________________________

MAVERICKS TRADE: Josh Howard, Jerry Stackhouse, Eddie Jones

MAVERICKS RECIEVE: Rodney Stuckey, Jason Maxiell, Nene Hilario, Vladimir Radmanovic, two 1st round draft picks, 2nd round pick, cash, (rights to Xue Yuyang, Trent Plaisted, Axel Hervelle, and Sani Becirovic)

*Even though Mark Cuban doesn't want to admit it, the Mavericks aren't in very good shape to contend so this trade would get them a LOT of young talent for the future.

The new starting lineups would be:

Lakers-

PG: Derek Fisher

SG: Kobe Bryant

SF: Carmelo Anthony

PF: Pau Gasol

C: Andrew Bynum

Nuggets-

PG: Chauncey Billups

SG: J.R. Smith

SF: Josh Howard

PF: Lamar Odom

C: Rasheed Wallace

Pistons-

PG: Allen Iverson

SG: Rip Hamilton

SF: Tayshaun Prince

PF: Kenyon Martin

C: Theo Ratliff/ Kwame Brown

Mavericks-

PG: Jason Kidd

SG: Jason Terry

SF: Gerald Green/ Free Agent

PF: Dirk Nowitzki

C: Erick Dampier/ DeSagana Diop

The Lakers and Nuggets would accept this trade in a second.  Since the Pistons really want to change they would probably accept it after a day or two.  The Mavericks would be the biggest question, but if Mark Cuban realizes that this team won't get past the first round then he would probably accept it.

Magic, Jordan, Kobe, Wilt, and Kareem would probably make up the all-time NBA team, but what lineup of other players would have the best chance of stopping them from scoring at will.  The smartest choice would to get all the best defenders in NBA history.  Among those would be Bruce Bowen, Shane Battier, Larry Bird, Dikembe Mutombo, Hakeem Olajuwon, Jason Kidd, Tim Duncan, Kevin Garnett, Marcus Camby, Gary Payton, Ron Artest, Tayshaun Prince, Ben Wallace, and more.  Since Magic Johnson is 6-9 that would create matchup problems so it would be hard to have Jason Kidd or Gary Payton on the team.

Jordan:

The person to defend Jordan has to be quick, strong, and mentally strong.  Ron Artest, Dennis Rodman, Bruce Bowen, and Larry Bird are the best suited to defend MJ.  I think that Dennis Rodman would be the best choice because he is 3 inches taller than Jordan, he is strong, and he knows how Jordan plays since he was on his team.

Defender: Dennis Rodman

Kobe:

Kobe is just like MJ with better range.  Larry Bird, Bruce Bowen, and Shane Battier are all good Kobe defenders.  We have seen Bowen and Battier defend Kobe, but Bird was long retired by the time Kobe was playing.  Kobe scored 45 on Battier in the season opener, but that doesn't mean he can't guard Kobe.  I just think that Bowen is the only person in the league right now that makes it harder for Kobe without the help of his teammates.

Defender: Bruce Bowen

Magic:

Magic isn't much of a scorer, but he would be able to set Jordan, Kobe, Wilt, and Kareem for easy baskets.  The person to guard Magic would need to be long and tall so that he wouldn't have as easy of passing opportunies.  Larry Bird and Tayshaun Prince are best suited for that job, but Tayshaun is longer, taller, and more of a defensive player.

Defender: Tayshaun Prince

Wilt:

Wilt is the most dominant scorer in NBA history.  He is the only person to average 50 points per game for an entire season and he is the only person in NBA history so score 100 points in a game.  The person to defend Wilt needs to be strong and tall.  Ben Wallace and Hakeem Olajuwon are the best choices.  Ben Wallace is stronger, but Hakeen is taller.  Even though Wilt has a 3 inch advantage, I would have Ben Wallace guard him.

Defender: Ben Wallace

Kareem:

Kareem wasn't the strongest person, but he was really tall and really long.  He also had the unblockable hook shot.  No one in the world could block his hook shot, except for maybe Manute Bol if he timed it right.  The best defenders for him have to be tall and good shot blockers or disrupters.  The top choices are Dikembe Mutombo and Manute Bol.  Mutombo is 3 inches shorter than Kareem, while Manute is 4 inches taller than Kareem.  I think that just his size alone would make it hard for Kareem, so I would put Manute Bol on Kareem.

Defender: Manute Bol

If these two lineups faced each other in a game then the final score would probably be somewhere around 125-65 at the end since the defenders wouldn't have a good enough offense to win.  Even though the All NBA team would probably score around 125, that is a lot less than they would score if a bunch of average defenders guarded them.

Magic Johnson (6-9) - Tayshaun Prince (6-9)

Michael Jordan (6-6) - Dennis Rodman (6-9)

Kobe Bryant (6-7) - Bruce Bowen (6-7)

Wilt Chamberlain (7-1) - Ben Wallace (6-9)

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (7-3) - Manute Bol (7-7)

The main thing that Lakers fans are thinking this offseason is whether or not the Lakers are going to trade Lamar Odom.  I was one of the fans that thought getting Artest for Odom would be a dream deal, but that is no longer an option.  The only people that the Lakers could get for Odom now are Josh Howard, Ben Gordon, Tayshaun Prince, Shawn Marion, a bunch of picks and a veteran, and maybe Josh Smith.  The only trades that would be good out of those would be for Josh Smith, Shawn Marion, or Tayshaun Prince (but only if the Pistons throw in someone decent or a 1st round pick to go along with him).  But the smartest move might be to not trade him at all.  If the Lakers had Bynum on Perkins and Odom on Pierce the Finals would have been a lot different.  Pierce wouldn't be able to guard Odom on offense and Odom is quick enough, long enough, good enough, and tall enough to be able to stop Pierce on defense.  The Celtics would have had trouble guarding Bynum, Pau, and Odom on the inside when they only have Garnett and Perkins.  They wouldn't be able to go tall like the Lakers because that would require them either putting Allen or Pierce on the bench, or putting Allen at PG and Rondo on the bench which would make them have no ball handlers on the court so the Lakers could steal the ball easily.  If Bynum averaged around 16 ppg, 12 rpg, 2 bpg and Pau averaged around 17 ppg, 8 rpg, 3 apg and Odom averaged around 12 ppg, 10 rpg, 4 apg then the Lakers would have the best frontline in the NBA, to go along with one of the best backcourts and benches in the NBA.  The Lakers have 2 open roster spots available and with those they should sign a veteran PF who is good at defense and re-sign DJ Mbenga.  With so much help Kobe will only need to score around 25 ppg, which will allow him to focus on becoming the best perimeter defender in the league.  Fisher, Kobe, and Bynum are already good defensively, and with Odom being really tall for his position he will be good defensively unless he really doesn't try.  Pau is decent defensively, but with the rest of the starting lineup good at defense and him not being the center of the defense no one will notice as much.  I think that trading Odom would get rid of one of the biggest advantages that they will have next season.  Odom will be a free agent next offseason, and Kobe could opt out.  Odom is only worth around 7-9 million per year, and Kobe wants to win a championship and the only way for them to keep this team together would be for the Kobe to take a paycut which I think he would do.  If Bynum has a good season he will demanding the max, or close to it.  The Lakers haters think that there will only be 1 year of this team, but with the right moves it is very possible for the Lakers to keep the team together.  If they can trade Luke and Radmanovic for some picks, or a veteran then they will have an even better chance of keeping the team together.  Even after signing Kareem Rush the Sixers still need some shooters, so trading Radmanovic to them could be an option.  So I don't think the Lakers should trade Odom, unless the big lineup turns out to be a bust.  I also think that the Lakers should start Farmar to see how he does and because Fisher is getting older (and it would also minus the amount of time that Sasha and Farmar are in the same backcourt together).

The Lakers lineup (depth chart) next year could be:

PG - Jordan Farmar - Derek Fisher - Dwayne Mitchell / Coby Karl

SG - Kobe Bryant - Sasha Vujacic - Dwayne Mitchell / Coby Karl

SF- Lamar Odom - Trevor Ariza - Kobe Bryant - Luke Walton / Vladimir Radmanovic

PF- Pau Gasol - Lamar Odom - Free Agent - Vladimir Radmanovic

C - Andrew Bynum - Pau Gasol - Chris Mihm (healthy) - DJ Mbenga