Offseason Fantasy Fix: Los Angeles Lakers

Additions:

* Draft - Javaris Crittenton, Sun Yue, Marc Gasol
* Free-agent signings - Derek Fisher, Larry Turner, Coby Karl
* Trade - none

Subtractions: Smush Parker, Shammond Williams

Off-Season Dealings: The return of Derek Fisher to Hollywood is good news for fantasy owners. D-Fish gives the Los Angeles Lakers the backcourt shooter they badly needed. He may not get much more than thirty minutes per game, but he will be a good source of threes and his presence should lead to a few more assists for Kobe since he has someone else to kick the ball out too when he is being quintuple-teamed. In general, the Laker offense is better off with Fisher manning the point simply due to the fact that he is not Smush Parker.

Other than the addition of Derek Fisher, the Los Angeles Lakers added only undrafted rookies as free agents. Coby Karl has some skills as a shooter, but there is no scenario in which he has fantasy value. Larry Turner is roster fillerer and will be lucky just to make the team. But little roster turnover is usually good news for fantasy owners since it tends to suggest that players will perform similar to last season. That should hopefully mean that Luke Walton continues to build on his success as a solid source of threes and assists from the forward positions. Lamar Odom should also remain a starting-caliber fantasy player, but, as always, his health will be a factor.

Of course, we would be remiss not to discuss the Kobe situation. Kobe Bryant is a top five pick in any league, but his displeasure with the Los Angeles Lakers lack of off-season activity could be a real problem. Kobe threatened during the summer to sit out the season if he wasn't traded. He has since backed off that threat somewhat, but his attitude could become a problem, potentially damaging his own value and/or the value of his teammates. Kobe is the ultimate competitor though, so a Vince Carter-esque tank job seems unlikely.

Draft Picks: The Los Angeles Lakers draft was largely unpopular with their fans, and it should be just as unpopular with fantasy owners. First-rounder Javaris Crittenton certainly has potential, but he is going to be buried on the depth chart while he learns the triangle offense. Marc Gasol probably will never have any fantasy value and definitely won't as he is set to remain in Spain for at least this season. Sun Yue, another Laker second round pick, is an interesting prospect and could be a fit in the Laker rotation, but he is a purely a developmental player. If he has any fantasy value, it will be in your NBDL fantasy league, not the NBA.

Random Stat: 21.2 points per 48 minutes. That total is good for second on the Los Angeles Lakers last season. Who owns that stat though? If you guessed Brian Cook, then you are probably lying. Believe it or not, Cook has proven to be a quietly effective scorer for the Lake Show. His rebound rate is solid as well, adding that to his ability to hit threes from the power forward position, and Brian Cook has the potential to be fantasy option someday. Right now, he can't get enough floor time to compile stats, but should he ever get some quality minutes at the power forward spot (not entirely out of the question considering the fragility of the Laker big men), he should be worthy of a fantasy roster slot.

Potential Sleeper: If you believe the Los Angeles Lakers front office, this is going to be Andrew Bynum's year. After all, he is the piece they have refused to part with in all their trade talks for various star players. Andrew Bynum will turn twenty right before the season starts, so he still is young and developing, but he has shown flashes of dominating ability on both ends of the floor. Now, he just needs the minutes to show his talent and start compiling fantasy worth stats. Andrew Bynum already rebounds at a high rate and there is little doubt that he is a quality shot blocker. He has yet to put up big point totals, but he does have some good offensive skills, as demonstrated by his high field goal percentage, and those aren't buckets coming solely from putbacks like some centers. Scouts also rave about Andrew Bynum's passing ability, but that has yet to show up in the boxscore. If it does, the good assist numbers only boost Andrew Bynum's value even more. The youngster just needs the minutes now. With Chris Mihm returning, that could is no guarantee to happen, especially since Kwame Brown somehow keeps Jedi mind-tricking Phil Jackson into giving him significant minutes, creating a logjam up front in LA.

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