Would this Laker team be contenders if Kobe/Nash/Boozer were in their primes?

[lovethetriangle]

Or still sh*t?

[Kidbasketball20]

If Kobe was in his prime and they had a top 10 big man (like Pao) they could contend right now.

[Horde of Temujin]

Of course! Boozer is irrelevant, but Kobe and Nash in their primes alone is enough

[moe94]

Of course! Boozer is irrelevant, but Kobe and Nash in their primes alone is enough

Boozer was really good

[Milbuck]

Peak Kobe, Nash, and Boozer on this LA team are winning it all imo. Boozer is getting underrated here..he was a legit all-star PF back then, he wasn't always useless.

Honestly just peak Kobe would make them a 2nd round, possible WCF team. That 06 team was complete garbage and they were 1 game away from taking out the 2nd seed.

Even with Nash in this advanced grandfather state and Boozer being a glorified towel waver...the other guys like Young, Hill, Lin, Wes Johnson, Xavier, Clarkson, Randle, Ellington, Davis, etc collectively shit on that 2006 supporting case where Smush Parker, Kwame Brown, Chris Mihm, Brian Cook were starters.

[T_L_P]

Peak Kobe, Nash, and Boozer on this LA team are winning it all imo. Boozer is getting underrated here..he was a legit all-star PF back then, he wasn't always useless.

Honestly just peak Kobe would make them a 2nd round, possible WCF team. That 06 team was complete garbage and they were 1 game away from taking out the 2nd seed.

Even with Nash in this advanced grandfather state and Boozer being a glorified towel waver...the other guys like Young, Hill, Lin, Wes Johnson, Xavier, Clarkson, Randle, Ellington, Davis, etc collectively shit on that 2006 supporting case where Smush Parker, Kwame Brown, Chris Mihm, Brian Cook were starters.

I agree. But you can't just ignore Odom; he deserves some love and he's better than everyone on the current Lakers (outside the 06 Kobe the current squad would be getting.).

I don't think they'd win the title though because their defense would be so poor.

[GrapeApe]

Peak Kobe, Nash, and Boozer on this LA team are winning it all imo. Boozer is getting underrated here..he was a legit all-star PF back then, he wasn't always useless.

Honestly just peak Kobe would make them a 2nd round, possible WCF team. That 06 team was complete garbage and they were 1 game away from taking out the 2nd seed.

Even with Nash in this advanced grandfather state and Boozer being a glorified towel waver...the other guys like Young, Hill, Lin, Wes Johnson, Xavier, Clarkson, Randle, Ellington, Davis, etc collectively shit on that 2006 supporting case where Smush Parker, Kwame Brown, Chris Mihm, Brian Cook were starters.

They'd be title contenders if not the favorites. They would still be pretty bad defensively but their offense would likely be historically good.

[Real14]

as long as they have 3 point shooters surrounding them.

[hawksdogsbraves]

They'd certainly be contenders but I think the defense would still be too bad to win a ring with how competitive the league is right now.

[Mr. Jabbar]

any version of boozer is overrated by the absolute absence of a clutch gene

[inclinerator]

boozer in utah was very good

[Milbuck]

I agree. But you can't just ignore Odom; he deserves some love and he's better than everyone on the current Lakers (outside the 06 Kobe the current squad would be getting.).

I don't think they'd win the title though because their defense would be so poor.

Yeah Odom was a stud, but he wasn't anywhere near a championship caliber #2, or enough to compensate for the rest of that atrocious supporting cast.

I think they'd be okay defensively depending on which version of Kobe we're talking about. 2003 Kobe was offensively close to his peak, 30/7/6/2/1 on 55% TS with that ridiculous scoring tear..but he was also a terrific defender. He was a capable go-to defensive stopper back then, and might be even more dangerous if he had Nash to take some of the ball handling duties off him.

Nash and Boozer suck ass, but they could get by plugging in a decent defender like Wes Johnson at the 3 and Ed Davis or Jordan Hill at the 5. They wouldn't be the 04 Pistons or anything, but they wouldn't be abysmal either.

[oarabbus]

I'm not sure if Prime Kobe and Nash will actually be as good (or better) than the sum of their parts, you might get some talent wastage there.

Then I realize how ****ing stupid that sounds as I'm typing it. Who the **** am I kidding. We're talking PRIME Kobe and PRIME Nash. Boozer was a 21/10 guy at his peak as well.

If they have a good coach they have a great chance of winning the ship.

[Myth]

They would need a really good defensive center. Having Boozer back up Nash is not good. A guy like Tony Parker would rip them up.

[bizil]

I think they would certainly be title contenders no doubt. It would have been EVEN better if peak Pau was there instead of Boozer. If peak Pau was still there, I think they would be the favorite out West. But that's for another thread..

Peak Nash and Peak Mamba would be THE BEST BACKCOURT OF ALL TIME! Boozer at his best was a 20-10 old school kind of PF who was an All Star and All NBA. U also have a deep crop of young perimeter players in Lin, Young, Henry, Johnson, and Clarkson for energy and additional points. Randle is the key and how he develops. I just think having Nash and Kobe at their best MEANS TROUBLE for the rest of the league!