The Perfect Puzzle

When you actually sit down and think about it, the Los Angeles Lakers have assembled the right pieces that seemed to be missing from the puzzle Jerry Buss was trying to put together ever since Shaq left for Miami.

Kobe Bryant is obviously a guy you try and build an NBA team, but there are certain players that just cannot fill that void for other teams. Example 1 would be Pau Gasol for the Memphis Grizzlies. As good as Pau is, he is not going to be someone you can build your team around. He is not a "1" player. Pau Gasol is a very good "2" player, not talking about the 2 position obviously, I am talking about him being the #2 option on a team, while players like Kobe, Lebron, Wade, Howard and Paul are clearly "1's."

Its like the Clippers trying to build their team around Elton Brand, it's just never going to work for the same reason. Brand is a very good player, an All-Star when he is on his A game, but he is never going to reach that "1" status every single night.

So, the Lakers were trying to get by with Kobe as the 1 option and Lamar Odom as the 2 and it clearly wasn't working out as Kobe demanded a trade. It's funny how one aquisition of a player can change everything, and make everything work so efficiently. Pau Gasol is finally getting to play the role he should play and he is making the most of his first real chance at a championship. Whether Griz fans like it or not, Pau Gasol is one of the best "2" options in the entire NBA. Last night Gasol had 12pts, 19 rebs and 5 assists. You really can't get any better than that out of your 2nd option. Nine of his rebounds were on the offensive end and that is part of the reason why Kobe took as many shots as he did, because Pau gave him the opportunity to keep shooting. And when Kobe is hitting on more than 50% of his shots, why not continue to give him the ball? Lamar Odom was then forced to take on the "3" role on the Lakers which he is DEFINITELY best suited for. Lamar Odom will give you close to a double double every night, but as the 2nd option, you can't expect 10 and 10, you need to expect somewhere along the line of 15-20 pts, which Odom cannot give you on a night to night basis like Gasol.

Then, you talk about the Lakers bench with young, fresh guards like Sasha Vujacic and Jordan Farmar. Two athletic, skilled forwards in Ronny Turiaf and Luke Walton and you have a very solid bench to give the starters a rest. And then, my favorite player on the Lakers is by far Derek Fisher. Kobe will be the first tell you, Fisher was the key off-season pickup for this squad. He understands the game better than any veteran point guard you could name. His shot is still downright consistent and he rarely makes bad decisions with the ball. He is also a very solid on-ball defender to go along with his veteran leadership that every championship team needs. Oh, and they still have Andrew Bynum, who was looking like an All-Star before he injured his knee. I think the Lakers should give him to the Grizzlies for putting the last piece of their puzzle into place.

The bottom line is that this puzzle could be in tact for a long time and we may be looking at another Laker dynasty...