My offseason plan...

Phase I: Make a Trade

Lakers trade Mihm ($4.2mm), McKie ($2.7mm), Bynum ($2mm) & #26 pick to

Portland for Miles ($7.8mm), #4 pick and #30 pick

Lakers: Get into the top 5 spots. They will likely get the player they want (Brandon Roy). IMHO, Roy is the most NBA ready of all the prospects in the draft. They get a versatile frontcourt player in Darius Miles who's potential is still untapped. Plus they they stay in the 1st round by swapping late picks.

Blazers: They will likely lose Pryzbilla. Ratliff is not very dependable to start 82 games. In steps Mihm who is a good team guy and character guy. They dump Miles and his contract. The guy is a great talent but he's just not working out in Portland They get McKie who is a filler w/an expiring contract to help out the youngsters like Jack & Webster. The key is Bynum. Portland gets a likely top 2-3 pick in this draft if he had gone to college for a year. Bynum can become the FRANCHISE player the Blazers would want to build around.

Conclusion: Giving up Bynum is a tough one but I think it's a solid gamble. The Lakers end up becoming one of the MOST Athletic teams in the league. They also add triangle type players (athletic, versatile, and long).

Phase 2: The Draft

#4 pick: Brandon Roy (G) - Seems like a perfect triangle player. Smart, Athletic, and a flair for the intangibles. 6'6" 215.

#30 pick: Saer Sene (7'0" 230) or Nick Fazekas (6'11" 230) (PF/C) - Going big here would be a smart move. Sene is a big project. Fazekas is a weight room project. Sene could become a Dalembert type defender. Fazekas could be a Illgaukas type clone w/his ability to hit the high post jumpers.

#51 pick: James White or Richard Roby or Dee Brown or Mike Gansey - Whichever player is available and the best of the bunch.


Phase 3: Free Agency

MLE: Marcus Banks PG - the Lakers still need a shutdown type PG

LLE: Jaron Collins or Olawakandi (C) - Whoever accepts this will serve as Kwame's backup.

League Minimum: Laron Profit (G/F) - seems like it's a given the team will bring him back. Played well before the achilles injury.



Look at this possible line up after the off-season tweaks.

PF - Odom/Turiaf/Cook
F - Miles/Walton/Profit
C - Kwame/Collins or Olawakandi/Sene or Fazekas
G - Kobe/Roy/Sasha
PG - Banks/Smush/#51 pick

Not bad, but that leaves us very thin at Center. If Kwame goes down then we are in trouble. I dont think White will fall that far down nor do I think Saen (SP?) will be available at 30. Good mix of players but getting them all to learn the Tri could be a real issue as well. Bynum has a year of the Tri under him and is learning it. I really doubt they would give him up in this one

YOU WONT GET JARON COLLINS FOR LLE, BIG MEN ARE SCARCE IN THIS LEAGUE AND EVEN A STIFF LIKE COLLINS WILL GET 3+ A YEAR