2007-2008 NBA Season Preview: Los Angeles Lakers

The summer of 2007 saw much in the media storm of star player Kobe Bryant demanding a trade from the Los Angeles Lakers. With head coach Phil Jackson and owner Jerry Buss also in the headlines in relation to the Kobe saga, much has been speculated about the future, both short-and-long term. Nothing much has changed, but the Lakers will be sure to gain something from the months off. Plagued by health issues throughout the 2006-2007 season, the Lakers will at least have something in the form of healing to which to look forward.

Case 1: Chris Mihm missed the entire previous season with a bum foot. He will be making an effort to come back and hopefully play dutifully as one of the prime big men that the Lakers have at their own disposal. His absence, though, gave way for an opportunity for...

Case 2: ...Luke Walton. Walton was able to secure the starting power forward spot and he before admirably before he also went down early with injury. He was able to come back in large portions of the season, but his health was never 100% from December 2006. Having become a consistent outside threat as a shooter and essentially being the team's fourth point guard on the floor (with starters Lamar Odom, Kobe Bryant, and the now-departed Smush Parker all serving as ball handlers) made him a wild card danger for opposing teams.

Case 3: Lamar Odom also had to deal with the pressing shoulder issues which have seemed to bother him to some degree even in his early days as a Los Angeles Clipper. Along with coming into the 2007 season from the devastation of losing a son, Odom had a remarkable year with all things considered. His health will weigh heavily on the Lakers chances to seriously compete for a championship.

Case 4: To a small extent, Kobe Bryant had to really keep on top of things. With offseason surgery being performed on his knee after the 2005-2006 season, Bryant then decided to help out his knees a little more by shedding about 20 lbs. of muscle. While he certainly performed wonderfully at 220 lbs, he may be able to evade any bouts of nagging pain that his frame has been exposed to in his previous 11 seasons (!) in the league. At 29, he may be able to extend his already-long career with such a minor adjustment in his conditioning.

Beyond the health improvements, the additions to the Los Angeles have looked hopeful. Derek Fisher has proved that he can still be a factor in the league with the Golden State Warriors and Utah Jazz and can now ease the transitions of point guards Jordan Farmar and Javaris Crittenton even more. Expect Fisher to be a sixth man or even the starting point guard.

Vladimir Radmanovic's freak shoulder injury from his snowboarding escapade in February also helped the Lakers go down in the Western Conference standings in 2007, but in full health, he'll also seek to contribute heavily. Expect Radmanovic to compete to be the sixth man, especially with his ability to shoot at the small forward, power forward, and center positions.

The wild cards for the season remain to be seen in the form of the disappointing Kwame Brown, the still ever-young Andrew Bynum, and head-scratchers in Sasha Vujacic and Brian Cook.

With a determined and less malcontent Kobe, a healthy starting squad, and quality production from the good mix of veterans and youngsters, the Lakers may indeed surprise the league.

But just don't get your hopes too high.