It didn’t take much shopping for the Los Angeles Lakers this off-season to put together a team that will be in contention for another three-peat. Lakers owner Jerry Buss seemed very reluctant to increase the Lakers payroll after offering contract extensions to Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol.
However, Buss could not escape the allure of quite arguably one of the biggest free agent classes in the history of the NBA. When players such as Amare Stoudamire, Chris Bosh, Lebron James, Shaquille O’Neal, Jermaine O’Neal and Rudy Gay make up a star-studded cast of free agents, owners can only drool as they shop for the crème of the crop that will get them the rock.
So Buss went shopping. He convinced Derek Fisher to resign for less than the 5 million a year he was asking for, as well as resigning high-flyer Shannon Brown to a reduced salary, if you compare what Brown was offered by the New York Knicks and Cleveland Cavailiers. Add veteran guard Steve Blake to the mix, veteran Theo Ratliff and journeyman Matt Barnes to the roster, the blueprint has been created for another Lakers championship run.
Brown is always the high-flying act off the bench, and Blake provides a great back up for Derek Fisher. If Blake was in anything but a Lakers uniform, he would be the leader on the court. But this is Fisher’s team.
Buss’ small dip of the toes into the free agent waters has offered the Lakers an even better opportunity to defend their title for the second time.
“As of now, I feel there’s a good chance this could be the best team we’ve ever had,” Buss told the L.A. Times.
Sure it was important for the Lakers to resign Fisher, and convince Brown to rejoin the Lakers, but the best off-season mood the Lakers made was acquiring Barnes. Although a journeyman, he has always provided a swagger on defense that the rest of the team can feed into. Barnes started for the Orlando Magic last year, and was the best defender they had. He has size, quickness, and above all, the tenacity to compete in the NBA’s high-octane atmosphere.
The California native provides a cure to the Achille’s heel of the back-to-back champions: the bench play. The Lakers might have been been to three straight NBA Finals, but the bench always proved to be the crutch that put the Lakers to a stand still.
When Kobe and the gang were off the floor, the bench always managed to let large leads gradually slip away. Barnes will help spark a strong defensive second-team so to speak that will give the starters a good rest, and help keep leads for the Lakers.
Buss is determined to win another title, and in his eyes, anything less is a failure.
“Some time ago, I’m talking to some people and they wanted a bonus if the Lakers make the playoffs. I said, ‘If they don’t make the playoffs, you don’t work here anymore,’ ” Buss told the L.A. Times.
Look out Lebron, Bosh, DWade. Here come the Lakers.