Anyone still scared of the Lakers?

[YAWN]

Unless Mike Brown is able to turn back the clock on Fishers defense, or the lakers get a new PG, its going to be very tough...

Interested to see how this new offense runs as well.

The Lakers still have a very talented team full of seasoned vets, and two players who have proven they can turn it up to 11 for lengthy bursts.

In the playoffs, thats really all you need. The Mavericks players all caught fire during the right time last year and they got rings..

[noob cake]

A team with Artest, Fisher and a old Kobe led by Brown won't win anything.

Kobe may feel perfectly fine, but after 60 something games, his body will burn out.

[All Net]

The west will be up for grabs thi season but this team needs a good PG and a backup center

We can't just put all our hope onto dwight...I think if dwight wants to come here which I think he does then it is up to Orlando. Kobe/pau/dwight would make lakers one of the top favourites for sure.

[SpaceJammeR]

any team with kobe, bynum and gasol should be scary!

[TheJuice31]

The Lakers will still contend on sheer talent, but last year clearly indicated that talent alone won't cut it. You don't endure the embarrassing exit from the playoffs they faced last year and just assume everything's going to be OK next year.

With Kobe/Pau/Bynum, they'll get the benefit of the doubt a lot of times on precedence but last year was also the weakest Lakers team in terms of depth during their latest run. They've got some moves to make, namely at PG and backup center. And that the end of the day, that's still an old team and one of their only players under 20 (Shannon Brown) looks to be all but gone.

And I don't care how catatonic Phil Jackson appeared to look for much of last season, that guy can sit still and still generate more of an impression on his players than a weak-willed figure like Mike Brown. Brown can coach up some defense but in terms of motivating and getting the most out of his players, I'm skeptical after his run in Cleveland. His offense was essentially letting LeBron go 1-on-5 and win 60+ games; a fine concept when you've got the best player in the world in his mid-20s in the East, but not exactly one I'd be giddy to see implemented with a 33-year-old Kobe who had to reinvent his game into being more of a jump-shooter last year.

So yeah, still arguably one of the 3 best teams in the West (maybe top-2 if Dallas loses Chandler) until the likes of Portland and Memphis take that next step, but I wouldn't favor them over OKC.