My biggest concern about Bynum is him being prone to injuries. (Bynum has missed 156 regular season games in his first 5 years) The other concern is that his trade value has likely peaked. One more major injury and his value would plummet, so if you can get Anthony now, you increase your chances for more championships in the next 5 years.  If Bynum continues to get injured and the Lakers continue to age our NBA title chances diminish significantly. With the Lakers I look for moves that will help us now and help us get better in the near future.   

After a week of listening to the NBA commentators saying that Andrew Bynum was a key component of the Lakers last 3 years of championships runs, I decided to look up his stats.  Listening to Kenny and Barkley blab that the Lakers would be crazy to trade Bynum for Anthony made me research Bynum’s stats.

Andrew Bynum Playoff Stats

The fact that he has averaged barely 6 points a game and 5 rebounds in the last 3 years underscores my point that Bynum was not a huge factor in the Lakers going to the Finals three years in a row.  Sure Bynum creates mismatches with his size and his minutes were lower than the regular seasons. Let’s be honest though, Lakers fans are infatuated with Bynum’s potential. 

Carmelo Anthony has never played in less than 65 games in his 7 year career and he averages almost 25 points. He is one of the top 10 players in the NBA today and arguably the best scoring closer in the game with the highest percentage of all NBA players when taking a game winning shot.  What I like about this future hall of famer is his competitiveness and will to win the game.  I do not see that killer instinct with Bynum.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=-cdGtoBRkIU

When looking at the stats it starts to become evident to me that they is no way that the Lakers have a standing offer to trade Bynum for Anthony straight up.  Lakers management knows Bynum’s stats and his tendency to get injured and recover slowly. The Nuggets are trying to drive up trade talks with the Knicks and Mitch Kupchack must be working on something else.   

When I began writing this article, the Celtics were smoking the Lakers. But, just as I’m completing this article, Bynum plays a key role in the Lakers dismantling the Celtics in Boston. Bottom-line—-I’m calling B.S. on this Anthony for Bynum trade even being real.  No way an aging Lakers team would pass up trading an injury prone center for a 26 year old future hall of famer.  The Lakers have won their 16 championships on their ability to acquire talent.   If this trade was real, we never would have heard anything and Anthony would have played against the Celtics tonight.  In the meantime, as a Lakers fan I will pray that Bynum doesn’t get injured and that he plays like he did tonight en-route to the Lakers 3-Peat.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=rRTWNETrj4E

Bryant scored 14 of his 18 points in the decisive third quarter and was one of five Lakers to score at least 17. Ron Artest scored a season-best 19 as did Pau Gasol. Lamar Odom had 18 and Andrew Bynum 17.  “Every one of their big guys had a big game,” Nuggets coach George Karl lamented.  After frittering away double-digit leads in their previous three games, the Lakers never let up after grabbing a 10-point advantage in the third quarter.

Anthony led Denver with 23 points after missing shoot-around to attend to a personal matter. Arron Afflalo chipped in 22, but the Nuggets repeatedly failed to find him in their second-half rotations and Bryant went off in the third quarter, helping the Lakers take control.  Bryant said his quiet first half was by design.  “It’s important for me to keep my guys involved, and build their confidence. I know I can score at any moment or get looks at any moment,” he said. “The third quarter I was able to do that.”

The Nuggets had won seven of their previous nine regular-season games against Los Angeles at the Pepsi Center, but the Lakers’ size bettered Denver’s speed as the Nuggets lost for just the fifth time in 24 home games. Led by Gasol’s 13 boards and 10 from Odom, the Lakers outrebounded the Nuggets 47-27.  “They’re trees down there,” Anthony said. “And they bring Lamar, another 7-footer, off the bench, and he does the same thing: Attack the offensive glass, put-backs.”

Bulk beat the break on this night. Although speedy Ty Lawson managed 15 points, the Lakers held the Nuggets to just four fast-break points and most of the time they got back to set up their defense before Denver could beat them to the basket.  “Size won tonight,” Karl said. “Even when we did some good things defensively, we didn’t rebound the ball. The hope of playing with speed is you’ve got to rebound the ball and get more than four fast-break points.”  Chauncey Billups said the Nuggets didn’t push the pace like they should have in the third quarter, “but that was because they were kind of scoring every time. It’s tough to get a fast break when you’re taking it out.”

Bryant, who gets booed in Denver every time he touches the ball, called out the Nuggets fans who have been jeering Anthony over his trade stance. On Thursday, he said they were stupid for booing Anthony after his 35-point performance against Oklahoma City this week, and on Friday at shoot-around he called them idiots.  “Melo’s a good friend of mine and it’s the truth,” Bryant said after the game. “It’s stupid. You don’t boo him. It’s silly. You boo him the first time, let him know how you feel and get over it.”  Bryant suggested that if Anthony were at all waffling about his desire for a trade, the Nuggets fans’ hostile treatment might just push the All-Star forward out of Denver.  Anthony has been the subject of trade talk since refusing to sign a three-year, $65 million extension last summer. Nuggets general manager Masai Ujiri said after the New Jersey Nets halted negotiations on their latest blockbuster proposal Wednesday that he was still in talks with several other teams about a possible trade for Anthony. Afflalo’s fourth 3-pointer of the night gave Denver a 52-49 lead at the break. But Bryant helped the Lakers surge ahead, taking an 82-72 lead into the fourth quarter that was never challenged.

Before tip-off, Karl said he’s kept a sense of humor about the never-ending Melo Drama out of necessity because his doctors have told him to keep his stress levels low after battling throat and neck cancer last year. He said his blood pressure is good, his blood work fine and his sleep patterns good.  “Two things I used to do is drink too many beers and eat in excess. Now, I don’t do either, so I’m fine in that area,” Karl said. “And I think I’m actually laughing at situations a little bit, trying to laugh with it and joke with it.”  With Ujiri and team president Josh Kroenke keeping a low profile, Karl has been the point man for the organization on all matters involving his star.  “I can’t deny that in the last two or three weeks it’s gotten a little tiring,” Karl said. “But in the same sense, I’ve had fun with it. There’s some laughter going on.”  Asked if he thought this spectacle might last right up to the Feb. 24 trade deadline, Karl said, “I think it could go farther than that. I’ve definitely written some thoughts about it on paper, if that happens, what I need to do, what I need to prepare for.”

The Nuggets wouldn’t necessarily risk losing Anthony to free agency without compensation next summer because they could still trade him between the end of their season and June 30. Karl said he’s spoken with Ujiri about all the possible scenarios but wanted to keep those conversations between the two of them.

Bryant will join actors such as Marilyn Monroe, Brad Pitt, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Will Smith, Harrison Ford and John Wayne in receiving the cement distinction in front of the theater located on Hollywood Boulevard. “To be a part of such elite company is a tremendous honor. I’m proud to be the first athlete to be recognized,” Bryant said in a statement.

Before the Lakers practiced at the Pepsi Center on Thursday in preparation for Friday’s game against the Denver Nuggets, Bryant added that the ceremony will be “cool” and he has yet to visit the theater as a tourist since moving to Los Angeles in 1996.  It will be a busy NBA All-Star weekend for Bryant, who leads all vote getters after the fourth round of ballot returns. Bryant will appear in the 13th All-Star Game of his 15-season career on Sunday, Feb. 20. The hand and foot imprint ceremony is scheduled for Saturday, Feb. 19, preceding a gala hosted by Bryant that is expected to include more than 1,200 guests. The Rodriguez mini-movie (it’s eight minutes long, according to Entertainment Weekly) will debut sometime during All-Star weekend as well.

Karl is a friend of Coach Phil Jackson, and Karl’s son, Coby, played the 2007-08 season with the Lakers, perhaps a reason he seemed to downplay the Lakers’ on-again, off-again tendencies this season. “I just think it’s incredibly tough to try to defend a championship for two or three years,” he said. “They get the team they’re playing’s best shot every night. They’ve probably got to play playoff-intensity basketball more often than we do. It’s hard to do. It’s hard to get to that mental level of commitment.”
Along those lines, Karl didn’t want to hear that Kobe Bryant was slowing down at age 32. “I know the ball is in his hands a lot more,” he said. “He’s still one of the top-five most difficult guys to prepare for because of his power, his influence. Right now he’s playing like a point guard because they are running a lot of pick-and-rolls for him.”
Bryant had 21 points and 10 assists in the Lakers’ 109-100 loss to Dallas on Wednesday. He also had three turnovers in the game-turning third quarter.

Ron-Ron time
Numerous Lakers had bad defensive games against Dallas — mainly Ron Artest, Shannon Brown, Lamar Odom and Pau Gasol — but Artest wasn’t bothered by it. “As long as I play Ron Artest-type basketball and apply it to the team, we’ll be OK,” he said There’s nothing really to worry about.”  Jackson wondered whether Artest failed to be challenged by the thought of defending Mavericks forward-guard Sasha Pavlovic, who beat the Lakers for 11 points a week after signing a 10-day contract with Dallas. “I thought [Wednesday] night he had a little bit of a setback,” Jackson said. “Sometimes I worry about whether Ron’s intrigued by the game because of the quality of the player he has to play against.” So then Artest will have a solid game Friday against Anthony in Denver, no? “It depends upon whether he can stay on the floor,” Jackson said. “A lot of times they call fouls on Ron against Carmelo.”

Bynum is fine
Andrew Bynum practiced Thursday despite sustaining a hyperextended right elbow against Dallas. He wore a large wrap on the elbow Thursday, the latest creation by longtime Lakers trainer Gary Vitti. “Gary loves to make those kind of bandages and stuff like that,” Jackson said. “It’s a whole construction. He’s kind of like a carpenter.” Bynum is expected to play against Denver.  The article was written by Mike Bresnahan for the LA Times.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=5NMRZzLtgZA

Pau Gasol added 22 points and 11 rebounds, and Lamar Odom scored 18 for the Lakers, who have won seven straight against their Northern California rivals.  But Bryant was the star. He had his 17th career triple-double and first since Jan. 21, 2009, against the Clippers. He had just two triple-doubles the past five seasons, but needed only five games after offseason knee surgery to get one this season.  “I just feel better. I feel fine,” Bryant said. “I’m 100 percent.”

The Kings wouldn’t argue. They had won three of four to begin the season for their best start in seven years. That brought hope among Sacramento fans that a rivalry that had grown stale in recent years could be rekindled to what it was a decade ago when these teams were annually among the top contenders for a title.  But the Lakers dealt the young Kings a dose of reality that beating Cleveland, Toronto and Minnesota is a little different than going up against the two-time defending NBA champions.  “The Lakers don’t even know who we are right now,” coach Paul Westphal said. “We would like to build a rivalry with the best team in the world. … We’ve got to win some games before there’s a rivalry. They’re where we want to be.”

A 3-pointer by rookie DeMarcus Cousins and a basket by reigning Rookie of the Year Tyreke Evans helped Sacramento get within six early in the third quarter. The Lakers responded with a 13-1 run that gave them a 79-61 lead and essentially put the game away early. Ron Artest hit a 3-pointer to extend the lead to 20 points.  The Lakers have scored at least 107 points every game this season and turned the ball over only six times against the Kings as the offense looked in midseason form.  “It’s just picking up where we left off,” coach Phil Jackson said. “Kind of generating energy from the championship season, going out with a lot of knowledge of what we want to do.”
The Lakers got a scare late in the third quarter when Odom was hunched over in pain holding his left hand. He was tended to by the training staff and quickly returned to the game and made a 3-pointer, showing no ill effects.  Just when it appeared as if the Lakers could rest their stars on the back end of back-to-back games, the Kings rallied to cut the lead to 99-92 on a layup by Evans with just under 4 minutes to go.

Fisher answered with a 3-pointer and then got a steal for a three-point play that made it 105-92 with 3:14 to go. Bryant converted a three-point play when he pump-faked to draw a foul on Luther Head and then made a jumper that hit the rim and backboard before falling in to generate cheers from the large contingent of Lakers fans on hand.  “Big play Derek,” Odom said. “The Yankees got Derek Jeter, we got Derek Fisher.”

Bryant hit a pair of 3-pointers over Evans in the opening minutes and then turned into a distributor. He had six assists in the first quarter as the Kings struggled defensively against the Lakers.

Kobe led the way with 23 points, Gasol had 21points and 13 rebounds. and Lamar Odom shot 6 for 7 from the field for 17 points and 8 rebounds. The bench sparked the Lakers again as Shannon Brown had 13, Steve Blake had 10 and Matt Barnes had a season high 16 points played solid defense and hit their shots behind the arc.  The rookies looked good as Derek Caracter had 6 points and Devin Ebanks had 4 points and a nice dunk late in the 4^th quarter.

Steve Blake to Devin Ebanks -- Dunk vs Memphis Grizzlies -- 11/2/2010

www.youtube.com/watch?v=N80bPxqYiiE

NBA Lakers vs Rockets Game Highlights

www.youtube.com/watch?v=4zmBwkai6YM

Kobe Bryant scored 27 points, newcomer Steve Blake hit the go-ahead 3-pointer with 18.8 seconds left and Los Angeles rallied late for a 112-110 victory over the Houston Rockets on Tuesday night.  Pau Gasol had 29 points and 11 rebounds for the Lakers, who hung the golden banner celebrating their 16th NBA championship and handed out their impossibly ostentatious rings in a surprisingly touching pregame ceremony.  “It’s always fun when this night comes and there’s a chance to enjoy it,” said Bryant, a five-time champion along with Derek Fisher. “And tonight it was a little more special because we all introduced each other. It’s special. We know the bond that we share, and for Fisher to bring me out there, that was great.”  But the champs then fell behind by 15 points before rallying for a fourth-quarter lead behind a 3-point barrage by Shannon Brown, who scored 14 of his 16 points in a 6½-minute span.

The clubs traded the lead four times in the final minute, but Houston’s Luis Scola missed a difficult scoop shot with 3 seconds left. After officials used a lengthy video review to award possession of the loose ball to Houston with 2.4 seconds to play, Aaron Brooks’ layup attempt at the buzzer was blocked by Lamar Odom.  “Getting those rings, you’re definitely on a high,” said Brown, who turned down significant free-agent offers for a shot at a three-peat. “You have to come back down, because that’s history. That’s something nobody can take away from you ever, but it doesn’t help us in the next game.” “They’re the world champs, and we knew it was going to be tough,” Houston coach Rick Adelman said. “But I thought we responded pretty well. I think for about seven minutes, we just didn’t play the way we’re capable of, and they got back in the game.”

The Rockets didn’t make the celebration easy in the Lakers’ first real home game since that gut-wrenching, come-from-behind victory in Game 7 of the NBA finals four months ago. Los Angeles trailed by 11 points late in the third quarter before a 21-4 run featuring 12 consecutive points.  The Lakers understandably had a little trouble focusing after the pregame festivities.

The nine remaining Lakers’ rings are small asteroids of excess designed by owner Jerry Buss. They feature 16 oversized diamonds for each Lakers title, a three-dimensional rendering of each player’s face and even a small piece of leather from a basketball used in Game 7 of the NBA Finals. In contrast, the ring ceremony was all heart. NBA commissioner David Stern and Lakers executive Jeanie Buss stood at center court waiting for coach Phil Jackson, who accepted his 11th ring and said a few kind words before introducing forward Luke Walton, who introduced Odom, who introduced Ron Artest — all the way to Fisher introducing Bryant to thunderous applause.  “I think that the players were emboldened by the ring,” Jackson said. “I think they were excited about it, so that part of it, I thought was good. I just didn’t think we played with the right speed and tempo in the first half. We got a lot of shots, not a lot of them good.”

The Lakers hung in with scoring from Bryant and Gasol, and Blake hit back-to-back 3-pointers in the final minute of the third quarter to trim Houston’s lead to five points entering the fourth.  Brown’s layup put the Lakers ahead 88-86 with 9:08 left near the end of the Lakers’ big run, but Houston took a 108-107 lead with 53 seconds left. Gasol and Scola traded baskets before Blake came open on the perimeter and confidently drained his third 3-pointer.  “It feels great to contribute in your first game, but it’s even better to win in your first game,” Blake said.  Sign up for Lakers News Alerts at LakerBuzz.com

Selected by the Lakers with the 43rd pick in the 2010 NBA Draft, Ebanks, a 20 year-old early entry candidate out of West Virginia University, played two seasons for the Mountaineers, averaging 11.2 points, 7.9 rebounds and 2.6 assists in 69 games. 

Ebanks was named to the Big East All-Rookie and All-Tournament team as a freshman and selected All-Big East Third Team as a sophomore, the 6’9” forward posted 16 career double-doubles at West Virginia and led the team in rebounding during each of his two seasons.

Additionally, Ebanks started all five games for the Lakers 2010 Summer League entry in Las Vegas, averaging 15.0 points, 3.6 rebounds and 1.4 assists in 33.3 minutes.

Watch Shannon Brown Alley-Oop from Pau Gasol Game 6 NBA finals

www.youtube.com/watch?v=DW5BDtEQimY

With all of the talk about Wade, Bosh, and LeBron taking less money to play together, a guy like Shannon Brown is taking a more significant pay cut. The big 3 in Miami may have left $50 million dollars on the table but they all signed contracts worth over $100 million each. They shouldn’t be in the poor house any time soon. The chance to win means more than cashing in for Shannon Brown.

The Lakers are pretty much set and ready to defend their championship. L.A. lost Jordan Farmar, Adam Morrison, Josh Powell, and D.J. Mbenga and replaced them with Steve Blake, Matt Barnes, Theo Ratliff, Derrick Caracter, and Devin Ebanks. Quietly the Lakers have had the best summer of any NBA team not not named Miami and Chicago. Article was written by Sherron Shabazz.  —Sign up for Lakers News Alerts!