Lakers Off-Season

After winning their second championship in a row, the Los Angeles Lakers are now in the midst of the off-season trying to once again put themselves in a position to win a third straight title.

So far so good!

It started off with free agency which is very vital to the Lakers success. Most of their bench players were free agents, but the biggest person they wanted back was point guard Derek Fisher, who resigned a few days ago. As for their bench Shannon Brown and Jordan Farmar were the two key free agents for the Lakers.

The Lakers made a hug move when they signed former Clippers point guard Steve Blake to a 4yr/$16m contract. The signing of Blake was considered by most very impressive, and the end for Jordan Farmar, who signed with the Nets yesterday. Blake is seven year veteran who has proven himself and will give the Lakers a much needed improvement at point guard off the bench.

Even though the Blake signing was big for the Lakers, Fisher's resigning was much more important. He has won five titles with the Lakers and probably the only guy who can tell Kobe when things aren't going right.

Fisher flirted with the idea of joining the Heat, but knew LA was the only place for him. Fisher went into stronger detail why the Lakers were perfect for him. Click here for the full scoop on Fisher's free agency breakdown. After signing Blake and Fisher, there were rumors that the Lakers would go after one or two more free agents for the bench.

The names that surfaced were Raja Bell, Matt Barnes, Shaun Livingston, and Tracy McGrady. If they could only get one of those guys, I would definitely chose either Bell or Barnes because they are lock down defenders who would be able to come off the bench and hold opposing teams' top perimeter players. If they can get two guys, then I would get Barnes and T-Mac. Barnes started last year for the Magic and his defensive ability while being able to shoot threes was key for them. As for T-Mac, he may be washed up but the Lakers don't need him in his prime. They just need another scorer off the bench to compliment Lamar Odom and take some pressure of Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol.

The off-season is still young but if the Lakers can get a few more pieces to add to their bench, they should be in great shape at trying to capture the 17th NBA Championship.