IF we got O’Neal without giving Odom, would free agents be interested?

Could Posey be one of the remaining FA’s in the pool to join the Lakers if we acquired JO?

Bear in mind that in this article I’m suggesting that we got Jermaine without giving Lamar. If we did manage to pull of such a trade, it would bring together Kobe, Lamar and Jermaine; quite a deadly trio. But, due to sending out 4-5 players for O’Neal, we’ll have some roster spots to fill. So, my question is; Could we end up picking some very nice free agents if we had the Big 3 in LA?

James Posey
When the Miami Heat signed Penny Hardaway, I was 80% sure Posey’s roster spot was taken. When they signed ex-Laker Devin Green just minutes ago, I was 95% sure.

James was already rumored to be looking around other teams, Los Angeles included, and I don’t really see Posey in Heat’s plans now, so wouldn’t L.A. be a nice destination for him? He could take the SF position, sending Lamar to the PF where he has played mostly for the Lakers, and have Jermaine at center.

Posey would bring the defense that our team lacks, and could also knock down that open 3 from Kobe and Jermaine’s double-teams - he’d be a nice pick up to say the least, but the only problem would be the money. We could give him the remainder of the MLE, maybe to a 1-year contract, then sign him to the full next year. But, he’d have to make a choice: money or rings?

Chris Webber
When Chris left Philadelphia, The Lakers were a team he took a look at. But, apparantly we couldn’t give him enough minutes, and so he went to Detroit. However, now he’s starting to become desperate for a ring, so why not join Fisher, Kobe, Lamar and Jermaine in the starting 5? With guys like Luke, Mihm, Evans and Turiaf coming off the bench, we’d be a pretty deep team. If Vlad picked up where he left off in the 05-06 season, even better.

There’d be no problems money-wise with Webber. We can sign him to the minimum to a 1-year contract and see how things go. He’d bring some nice veteran leadership, something we lacked last year, and could be a very valuable role player.

PJ Brown
I’ve always hoped this guy could become a Laker before he retires, and if we had the Big 3, he may just choose to spend his final year here. He’d be a solid starter at the center position and once again, bring some great veteran leadership to the younger players of this team.

He played great last year with Chicago in the Playoffs (remember that 20-point first half?) and I think he could do the same here, even if he only played 10-15 minutes a game to take the slack up from Mihm and Turiaf, I think PJ would be a solid addition to this ball club.

Final Thoughts
This is obviously another dream, and for this to come true we need to get Jermaine O’Neal in a Lakers jersey, with Lamar Odom and Kobe Bryant at his side. However, if this did happen and we finally cracked Larry Bird, I think there would be quite a few free agents on the phone to Mitch and the Lakers.

By GetJO.com