Things I want to say

Has anyone else noticed this offseason has been ridiculously long? I mean, as far as stories go, there's something new every week. over course the big story was always LeEgo, but after his talents were taken to Dwyane Wade's Miami Heat, it looked like the major interest driver for the big O (offseason, c'mon) was gone. Think about it though, from day one, this offseason has been filled with great stories: David Khan being terrible, teams paying players way too much, key players moving around, David Khan again, the list goes on.

What I want to do is talk about some of the things you may have missed. A lot of behind the scenes action, players emerging from random places and just plain attention grabbing storylines to keep the NBA relevent in an otherwise dull period for American sports fans (That's right baseball, I went there).

So here is something that should not go unnoticed:

 The Lakers are stacked!
 Wow, I thought the Lakers were pretty solid last year at the beginning of the regular season. Well, somehow, they have gotten better. This is ridiculous. Everybody is so enamored with D-Wade and the fellas that they have failed to notice that the TWO-TIME DEFENDING CHAMPS have lost pretty much nothing and somehow gotten better.

Let's take a look at what the Lakers have done. How about this to start, Steve Blake joins the squad. To the average fan, this means nothing. Yeah, they probably saw Blake run point for the Clippers or Blazers a few times and he probably didn't do anything spectacular. Great. Well, to somehow who pays attention to the regular season, they would know that Steve Blake is a great pick for the Lake Show. It was basically a trade for Jordan Farmar. If I could make this an easier to understand, think of it as trading in a fairly new, fast, but not very useful car for an older, yet very reliable one which you know will perform well.

In short, with Blake you know what you're getting. He's going to make smart plays, pass well and defend the types of PGs D-Fish can't. Farmar was too streaky. At times he'd come in and play well, other times he'd just attack the basket for no reason at all. Blake will make the offense flow and Phil Jackson will be very happy.

As if that was not enough, Matt Barnes has signed on to win a ring too! Matt Barnes is probably best known for his Denver Nuggets-esque tats and being a Golden State Warrior. Last year with the Magic, he didn't gel so well, but he did make an impact and further solidify his worth on any top-tier roster. Who knew that roster would turn out to be the Lakers. Look at the few guys who can effectively slow down Kobe Bryant: 1) Shane Battier; 2) Ron Artest; 3) Matt Barnes 4) Tony Allen (Probably not without Celtics D behind him). In the last two years the Lakers have gone out and signed two of those guys. Artest turned out to work well and now they have Barnes?! This guy can bring it, offensively, defensively, energy-wise, whatever you want.

The Lakers made this two pick ups and added veteran Theo Ratliff, a big body with playoff and All-Star experience. All this to lose: DJ Mbenga, Farmar and Adam Morrison. Because at this point it even looks like the Lakers can bring back Shannon Brown.
How good are the Lakers:
PG: Derek Fisher, Steve Blake, Sasha Vujacic (Brown)
SG: Kobe Bryant, Vujacic, Brown
SF: Ron Artest, Barnes
PF: Pau Gasol, Lamar Odom
C: Bynum, Gasol, Ratliff

That's a deep ass team. Wow. The Heat are going to be good and probably have way more highlights, but I expect the Lakers to win. Win in the West, by the way. The East still has something to prove.