small threat: 
(Eastern Conference) There aren't many threats about the next season that can make the Lakers suffer. The best I can say is that since Toronto had a great team last year, mainly made up by Carter, T-mac, Christie, and Brown, this combo of shooting, passing, high-flying, finesse, and teamwork will have to be broken because of the T-mac and Brown signing to the FILTHILY, RICH as a MOTHER (BLEEP), Orlando Magic. To this notion, this can only mean that the once very good Toronto Raptor team will have to find a new way of going around.
This may sound quite logical and it might sound awkward, but this team will need time to recover with these new changes of teammates leaving. This situation is evident with the Lakers, although the Lakers took a hell longer to build up their dynasty back. Remember, the Lakerstook a whole DECADE to win a Championship. With the Raptors occupied, this will leave 1 team out of the picture and 28 teams left to conquer!
(Western Conference): Again the threat of the West blooms fully, but we can all forget about the Utah Jazz. The reason? haha, because Karl Malone is probably expected to retire and Hornacek already did, this is left with stockton all by himself..although Starks has arrived, the team will never be the same. BIG THREAT: 
(Eastern Conference):
The Orlando Magic is a total full threat to the Los Angeles Lakers on the Eastern side. Coached by Doc Rivers and new additions to the team, such as Tracy McGrady, Dee Brown, and Grant Hill and the players before like Amaeichi and Armstrong, through the statsheet, this team will flourish through the NBA like a hot knife through butter...my speculation is that this team will become another New York Knicks, in which they had lower than expected results, even though they went to the finals against the Spurs...
Another team in the east is the New Jersey Nets. They might be a threat because they 1)they got Kenyon Martin 2)They got Byron Scott as their head coach 3)Krauss is their GM. Kenyon Martin is good for New Jersey because he was picked first in the draft and he is one of the greatest college players of all time. Byron Scott would be a great coach because he has Championship experience as a Laker's Point guard, he helped R. Adelman at Sacramento to go into the playoffs, and he was coached by Pat riley at one time(Pat Riley is my most favorite coach). Jerry Krauss is the GM that set up the Chicago Bulls' champiionship dynasty with Micheal Jordan, I think he can do it with New Jersey.
I also think that Miami might have something to talk about next year with the addition of Eddie Jones. This will add another great shooter to a team which already has three good shooters, his addition will also mean great defense on the outer perimeter...because he was a former 1st team defense.
(Western Conference)
There isn't too much threat in the west, but the Blazers are all fired up to kick some serious Laker butt. the team with Wallace, Smith, Pippen, Stoudamire, Wells, and Schrempf this team was definately the ideal team to beat the lakers last year, but the lakers kicked their butt instead...now they are in for the revenge of their lives.
Other teams in the West that wouldn't mind to kick some serious Laker butt in the playoffs in 01' are the Suns, Spurs, and Kings.
(S.A. Spurs): The decision of Duncan and A. Johnson was probably the best thing the Spurs did. Why? haha, because the 2 players are the total backbone of the team...without Johnson's leadership and Duncan's MVP scoring, the Spurs would have been doomed. The Spurs also got Derek Anderson(my favorite Clipper...umm...former Clipper). Instead, the spurs will make the Lakers in the road to doomsday.
(Pho. Suns): The Suns aren't too big of a threat, but still a great threat to the Lakers because Jason Kidd is back and fully recovered. If Kidd didn't recover last year, the Lakers surely wouldn't have taken them out that easily in the playoffs.
(Sac. Kings): The Kings are all out just a great team...especially the fact that this would be William's 3rd year. This fact is a good fact for the Kings, because Williams would have surely matured by now. The main problem in the Kings, with the part of winning games, is that Williams starts the "childish shooting ", in which when they are winning, they just pop up anything they want at the basket and practically wanting the other team to catch up. This year, Williams will have more control and more wits to deal with situations such as keeping a lead.
Do trades this season mean anything good and/or bad? The Celtics, Warriors, Jazz, and Mavs trade: Are you kidding? This is a total waste of time with these ridiculous trades. Sure, this trade must be the biggest trade in NBA History, but who gives a SH**? The trade in my opinion is a total waste of money, time, and lowers the chance of any of these teams to be successful next year.
the only team that got the total edge on this trade is Utah, with Donyell Marshall. Reason? haha...because Donyell has talent and can bring help the Jazz with the talented guard shortage. Now the Jazz have four good outside scorers, Marshall, Starks, Stockton, and Russell.
The Lakers, Knicks, Sonics, Pistons trade rumor: This would be a good trade for the lakers because the lakers can get the missing link to their offense for all this time...a Power Forward. This is also a good trade because "the Dud" Chris Dudley can back up O'neal just a little better than Travis Knight. This would be a bad trade because Glen Rice just doesn't look good in Blue and Orange...haha! Overall, the trade leans to the Lakers with positive-ness so...it's very important that they follow through. 
Suggestions to the Lakers Organization: 
I suggest that the new GM, Mitch Kupchak, should wait till midseason, before the trade deadline, to decide whether to keep or trade Glen Rice. The reason? haha, because we all know that Glen Rice has potential and all he needs to do is to improve, so the Lakers should give him a chance to prove himself before the deadline.
There is another question brewing in my head....who will replace A.C. Green in the Power Forward position? If Robert Horry starts...then who will be in place of him...Madsen? I don't think so. For one thing, Madsen is a rookie, and the Lakers hardly ever go with rookie too often, unless he's a phenom like Kobe Bryant, thats a different story. My suggestion is to try to get Brian Grant if possible...but the problem with that is that the he will be worth well over the salary cap of the Lakers, which wouldn't be good. Another option is to follow through with the knicks, Piston, Sonics trade too. I would like to hear some of the laker fan's suggestions in my guestbook. Thanks |
