Weighing the Negatives and Positives of Kobe Bryant's New Contract.

The Lakers unexpectedly signed Kobe Bryant to a 2 year, 48.5 million dollar contract on Monday that will take effect after this season, when his current contract expires; he is set to earn 30.4 million this season, by far the highest salary in the NBA and it's not even close. Here's your top 10 for this season:

Name	Salary
1. Kobe Bryant, LAL	$30,453,805.00
2. Dirk Nowitzki, DAL	$22,721,381.00
3. Amare Stoudemire, NYK	$21,679,893.00
4. Joe Johnson, BRK	$21,466,718.00
5. Carmelo Anthony, NYK	$21,388,953.00
6. Dwight Howard, HOU	$20,513,178.00
7. Pau Gasol, LAL	$19,285,850.00
8. Chris Bosh, MIA	$19,067,500.00
9. LeBron James, MIA	$19,067,500.00
10. Dwyane Wade, MIA	$18,673,000.00

His new contract will have him earning 23.5 million for the first season and 25 million for the second season, ensuring that he remains atop the NBA's salary leader board for the next two seasons. Obviously, from a business standpoint, this is a major steal for the Lakers, as Bryant brings in ridiculous amounts of cash with merchandise and PR every year. What's really surprising is, according to Bryant, the Lakers didn't even negotiate; they simply offered him this contract and Bryant quickly accepted. This isn't normally how contract negotiations are done in the NBA, especially not with an aging star that a team wants to keep, but still needs to focus on the future. Of course, nobody in their right minds expected the Lakers to really play hardball with Bryant, who is quite possibly the greatest player to ever put on a Lakers uniform, but to simply hand Bryant another max contract isn't good for the Lakers in a basketball sense, especially when the Lakers could have realistically saved up to 10 million in cap space if they would have simply negotiated; Bryant is no fool and he is aware of the Lakers cap situation, but at the same time, I won't fault him for taking the deal that was on the table, considering that he is worth substantially more than what can possibly be offered under the limitations of the CBA. 

With what Bryant is worth in revenue (his net-worth is estimated at a whopping 220 million dollars), this contract really speaks to what the cap situation is in the NBA, where there is a limited amount to what you can give to a star player, despite said player being worth more to their teams, both on the playing field and financially, than a top player in baseball or football, for example. If this was a true open market, Bryant would be worth so much more than the 50 million he is getting. However, this isn't an open market; there's a cap limit to take into account, and it seems like that's something the Lakers didn't really think about. 

I'm not at all against the contract; keeping Bryant in a Laker uniform for all 20 of his years in the NBA not only is impressive with the NBA's current culture and how the CBA has set restrictions against long and massive contracts, but it also is a service to both the fans and Bryant himself, after all, it is very rare to see a star player stay with one team for his whole career. The uproar in L.A. would have been astronomical if the Lakers had let Bryant leave this summer. It makes a lot of sense if we simplify it all: A max contract player is supposed to make a lot of money for his franchise, and nobody does that better than Bryant, who, on top of consistently being Top-3 in jersey sales every year, is quite possibly the most popular player in the world, playing in the second biggest market the NBA has to offer. It's a great signing for the Lakers from a business point of view.

The problems arise when you take into account the massive cap hit Bryant will have on the Lakers this off season; if we go back to an article in July:

"The Lakers will be getting 67 million off the books next season, finally getting under the cap limit for the first time in a long time and that is huge because free agency is what Mitch Kupchak and the Lakers are eyeing, and it's easy to see why. Here's a partial list of potentially available free agents in 2014:

* LeBron James (Early Termination option)
* Dwyane Wade (Early Termination option)
* Chris Bosh (Early Termination option)
* Dirk Nowizki 
* Rudy Gay (Player Option)
* Paul George (Qualifying offer)
* Danny Granger
* Carmelo Anthony (Early Termination Option)
* John Wall (Qualifying offer)
* Luol Deng
* Zach Randolph (Player Option)
* Greg Monroe (Qualifying offer)

And those are just the bigger names; the 2014 class can include some very good, starter caliber players like Darren Collison, Gordon Hayward, Greivis Vasquez, just to name a few. With the 60 or so million in cap space, the Lakers would have the ability to offer two top tier free agents max contracts (in the range of 4 years, 88 million dollars) and still have roughly 16 million to sign other, quality free agents (assuming Kupchak finds a way to rid the team of Nash)"

Some of these names can be taken off of the list, like Indiana's Paul George or Washington's John Wall, who both re-signed this past off season with their respective teams, but most of those names can still be available this off season. The Lakers currently have Bryant, Steve Nash, Robert Sacre, potentially Nick Young (player option) and Elias Harris (team option) on the roster for next year. If the Lakers waive Nash via the Stretch Provision, the Lakers could have as much as 28 million to spend on the market; or one max contract and another worth about 6 million, while having to make up the rest of the roster with cheap, young players and make due with the various exceptions available to the team such as the mini mid level exception. Committing 38% of your salary cap to an aging star player isn't a very good strategy, not when the West is 13 teams deep, with every team except the Spurs having multiple years to realistically contend for a championship. 

Worst of all, the Lakers gave this deal to a 35 year old player with 17 years of NBA experience and 54,031 minutes played (not counting International competitions) which is one of the highest minute totals for a 35 year old in NBA history, who also happens to be coming off of a torn Achilles, which has been historically lethal to an NBA player's career, and who has yet to play a single minute during the 2013-2014 NBA season. You can see how this deal could very easily backfire on the Lakers, as Bryant could easily come back and be a shell of his former self. And because the 2014 Free Agency has a chance to be extremely talent filled, the Lakers may have just shot themselves in the foot.

We can take comfort in the fact that Bryant will not ever put on another team's uniform, but now, unless Mitch Kupchak pulls some magic out of his hat, the Lakers will have a tougher time rebuilding and will likely have to wait longer to be able to properly rebuild and put forth the best possible product on the court. 

Around The NBA: November 26th, 2013

Around the NBA is a new, weekly segment that will appear on Hack-a-Shaq with weekly news, standings, stats and more!

Bulls' Derrick Rose, who was diagnosed with torn meniscus, underwent surgery on Monday: 

Derrick Rose hurt his knee during the third quarter of Friday night's loss against the Portland Trailblazers; the Bulls have said that Rose will miss the remainder of the season. The former NBA MVP had the medial meniscus in his right knee repaired. This is the second season ending knee injury Rose has sustained, having torn his ACL in his left knee during the 2011-2012 NBA playoffs and having missed all of the 2012-2013 NBA regular season because of it.

Rose was having an awful season, being worth a total of -0.1 Wins on the season, and having a PER of 10.5. Obviously, this doesn't bode well for Rose's career, as it may have a negative effect on his style of play, one which predicates on sharp, quick and awkward cuts and jumps. Including this season, Rose will have only played 49 games in the past three seasons.

The Charlotte Bobcats will change their name to the Charlotte Hornets next season.

The Bobcats have confirmed the name change last week and will also be changing the color scheme of their jerseys to purple and teal, which are the same colors the original Hornets wore during their time in Charlotte from 1988-2002, before relocating the franchise to New Orleans. Bobcats owner Michael Jordan said that it was important for them to acknowledge the heritage of the Charlotte Hornets when bringing the name back into the market.

The purple and teal color scheme is instantly recognizable to the average NBA fan as Hornets colors, and I am glad Charlotte was able to reclaim the name.

Grizzlies' Marc Gasol out indefinitely with a left knee sprain.

Unfortunate news for Memphis, but still better than initially anticipated, as Marc Gasol was diagnosed with a grade-2 MCL sprain this past weekend; it was initially reported as an MCL tear. Luckily for him and the Grizzlies, he will not require surgery. The reigning Defensive Player of the Year was having an impressive season, averaging a career high in points (16.0), posting up a career high PER (20.5) and was second on the team in points, rebounds and assists before getting hurt during Friday night's game vs. the San Antonio Spurs. Gasol will be on crutches for at least 3-4 weeks before he is able to begin the rehab process.

Warriors' Andre Iguodala out indefinitely with strained hamstring. 

Andre Iguodala, as you might recall, was injured during the 3rd quarter of Friday's game against the Lakers. Iguodala grabbed his left hamstring and limped towards his bench near the end of the 3rd, and hasn't played since, missing Saturday's contest vs. the Portland Trailblazers, in which the Warriors took their 6th loss of the year and were dropped to 8-6. The Warriors have yet to set a potential timetable for his return, but Iguodala has said his return will likely be sooner than everyone thinks.

Dirk Nowitzki passed Kevin Garnett for 14th on the NBA's all-time scoring list.

Dirk Nowitzki (in his 16th season) has passed Kevin Garnett (in his 19th season) on the NBA's all-time scoring list, having added 18 in Monday night's loss to the Denver Nuggets. He currently has 25,361 points and could swap places once again with Garnett, as the Brooklyn Nets will head north for a road game against the Toronto Raptors tonight; Nowitzki's Mavericks don't play until Wednesday night against the Golden State Warriors, though it is extremely unlikely seeing as how Nowitzki is averaging 20.7 points per game while Garnett is averaging a career-low 6.5 points per game. When you consider that the only active player ahead of both of them is the Lakers' Kobe Bryant (4th all-time with 31,617 points), it becomes an even more impressive accomplishment for both of them.

John Wall and LaMarcus Aldridge named Players of the Week. 

Huge numbers put up by the Wizard's John Wall and the Blazers LaMarcus Aldridge. Wall led the Wizards to a 3-1 weekly record and put up some monster numbers; he averaged 24.3 points per game, 8.5 assists per game and 2.8 steals per game, posting up back-to-back double-doubles to start the week, before closing strong with two straight 30+ point performances against the Raptors and the New York Knicks. Aldridge led the surprisingly good Blazers to a 4-0 week, which included a 21 point come back win against the Chicago Bulls, behind 22.5 points per game and 10.5 rebounds per game. Aldridge set a season high in points (30) rebounds (21) and blocks (three) and tied his season high for steals (three).

Kobe Bryant re-signs with the Lakers.

There is a lot to like and dislike about this deal (more on that later). Kobe Bryant resigned on Monday to a two year, 48.5 million dollar deal. Bryant is 35 and is coming off of a season ending (and potential career ending) injury, has yet to officially play in a game this year and yet, he will still be the highest paid player in the league for the next two years, including this year, which is the final year of his current contract. He is set to make 30.4 million this season. The 2008 NBA MVP and five time champion will receive 23.5 million for the first year and 25 million for the second year.

With this signing, the only two players under salary for the Lakers next year are Bryant and Steve Nash.

Standings: 

Eastern Conference Standings	Western Conference Standings
1. Indiana Pacers (13-1)	1. San Antonio Spurs (13-1)
2. Miami Heat (11-3)	2. Portland Trailblazers (13-2)
3. Atlanta Hawks (8-6)	3. Oklahoma City Thunder (9-3)
4. Toronto Raptors (6-7)	4.  Los Angeles Clippers (10-5)
5. Charlotte Bobcats (7-8)	5. Houston Rockets (10-5)
6. Chicago Bulls (6-7)	6. Dallas Mavericks (9-6)
7. Detroit Pistons (6-8)	7. Golden State Warriors (8-6)
8. Philadelphia 76ers  (6-9)	8. Denver Nuggets (7-6)
9. Washington Wizards (5-8)	9. Phoenix Suns (7-7)
10. Boston Celtics (6-10)	10. Los Angeles Lakers (7-7)
11. Orlando Magic (4-9)	11. Memphis Grizzlies (7-7)
12. Cleveland Cavaliers (4-10)	12. Minnesota Timberwolves (8-8)
13. New York Knicks (3-10)	13. New Orleans Pelicans (6-7)
14. Brooklyn Nets (3-10)	14. Sacramento Kings (4-9)
15. Milwaukee Bucks (2-10)	15. Utah Jazz (2-14)

The Western Conference is simply insane right now. Any of the top 13 teams have the talent to make the playoffs and potentially win the West. In the East, it's largely a two team race between the Indiana Pacers and the Miami Heat, though if the Knicks or the Nets ever get their act together, they could make a serious run. With Derrick Rose gone for the rest of the year, the Bulls don't really have enough fire power to beat the Heat or the Pacers in a seven game series. Atlanta has the inside presence to be a pesky opponent, but they don't have the elite perimeter player needed to topple either of the top two Eastern Conference teams.

NBA Stats Leaders: 

Points per Game	Rebounds per Game	Assists per Game	Player Efficiency Rating	Win Shares	Win Shares per 48 minutes	True Shooting Percentage
1. Kevin Durant - OKC: 28.6	1. Kevin Love-MIN : 13.8	1. Chris Paul- LAC: 12.6	1.LeBron James -MIA: 30.6	1.Chris Paul- LAC: 3.2	1. LeBron James - MIA:  .300	1. Kyle Korver-ATL : 71.7%
2.Carmelo Anthony -NYK: 26.5	2. Dwight Howard -HOU: 13.2	2. John Wall - WAS: 8.9	2. Anthony Davis - NOH : 28.6	2. Kevin Love - MIN: 3.1	2. Tiago Splitter - SAS : .297	2. Wesley Matthews-POR : 70.2%
3. LeBron James - MIA: 26.0	3. DeAndre Jordan-LAC:  12.7	3. Stephen Curry - GSW: 8.9	3. Chris Paul- LAC: 27.6	3.LeBron James - MIA : 3.1	3. Chris Paul- LAC: .286	3. LeBron James -MIA: 70.0%
4.  Kevin Love - MIN: 24.6	4. Andre Drummond-DET: 11.9	4. Jeff Teague - ATL: 8.8	4. Kevin Durant - OKC: 27.2	4. Paul George - IND : 2.8	4. Kevin Durant - OKC: .283	4. Jodie Meeks -LAL: 66.5%
5. Paul George - IND: 24.3	5. Blake Griffin - ORL: 10.8	5. Ty Lawson - DEN: 8.7	5. Kevin Love - MIN: 26.9	5.  Kevin Durant - OKC: 2.7	5. Paul George - IND : .263	5.Andre Iguodala-GSW: 65.6%

Pau Gasol And Nick Young Power The Lakers to Victory

Pau Gasol picked what is probably the best night ever to have a good offensive outburst, as he announced prior to the game, that he would donate $1,000 for every point he scored in last night's contest to the UNICEF disaster relief in the Philippines.

Gasol ended the game with 24 points and 10 rebounds on 11-19 shooting and looked like he benefited immensely from the strange 4 days off the Lakers enjoyed the start the week. Pau looked like vintage Pau, showing off his wide offensive arsenal in the low post, and showing some flashes of an improving jump shot, as he abused David Lee on the offensive end. That's not to say Lee didn't push back, as he scored 21 of his own points and added 13 rebounds for good measure. Jordan Hill, who started the game despite no other Center being available on the bench due to Chris Kaman's injury, finished with a solid 10 points and 9 rebounds. Steve Blake continued his run of great play, scoring 14 points and dishing out 5 assists, while playing some very good defense on both Andre Iguodala and Klay Thompson; Iguodala started at point guard for the Stephen Curry-less Warriors but left the game with a hamstring injury in the 3rd quarter. Thompson scored 19 points, but shot a horrid 6-20 from the floor. Iguodala ended his night with a measly 6 points and 6 assists on 1-4.

Nick Young, coming off the bench, continued his good shooting, going 7-15 from the floor and pouring on 21 points from the bench (the bench scored 44 of the Lakers' 102 points). Young has been a bit inconsistent to start the year, but has shown flashes of his scoring potential lately, and if we include tonight's performance, has averaged 17.2 points per game for the past 5 games, shooting at a high clip (49.2% or 32-65) and coming off the bench in each of those 5 games, providing a huge spark to the Lakers offense. Jordan Farmar was excellent in substitution of Blake, scoring 14 points and 8 assists. The Lakers did just about everything right on offense, moving the ball well, moving off the ball, taking open shots and generally not forcing the action; it's why they shot 47% compared to the Warriors' 41%. Defensively, Los Angeles rotated on time and helped each other. They communicated well and seem to be improving over early on in the season.

The Lakers are now 6-7 as they await the return of Kobe Bryant and Steve Nash (who will be out at least 10 more days) and will face the Sacramento Kings (4-7) next at home on Sunday. It's safe to say the Lakers are keeping up with what they wanted to do to start the year, which was to keep the team close to .500 until Bryant makes his return. 

Around The NBA: November 20th, 2013

Around the NBA is a new, weekly segment that will appear on Hack-a-Shaq with weekly news, standings, stats and more!

LeBron James and Blake Griffin named Players of the Week. 

Not much of a surprise, considering the incredible numbers both posted up this past week. James averaged 34 points per game and shot an insane 70% from the floor while keeping Miami undefeated for the week (3-0). Griffin put up 25.7 points per game, 11.3 rebounds per game and a surprising 4.7 assists per game, helping the Clippers also go 3-0 on the week, and thus claiming the Western Conference Player of the Week award. 

Kobe Bryant goes through 2nd practice with the Lakers.

This time, Bryant went through a full, 5-on-5 practice with contact. The Lakers' star shooting guard, who sustained the injury in April, looked a lot like his former self, showing off surprisingly good handles, good vision, a nice post game and an ever improving mid-range game. Despite not yet playing above the rim, he appears to be well on track to return at the end of November, or in early December, like he said yesterday after practice. 

Warriors' Stephen Curry out with concussion.

Stephen Curry sustained an ugly looking concussion in the fourth quarter of Monday night's win over the Utah Jazz, after the Jazz's Marvin Williams fell on his head during a scramble for a loose ball. His status is day-to-day. Curry is averaging 19.9 points and 8.7 assists. 

Grizzlies' Tony Allen suspended for kicking Chris Paul in the face. 

Yep, you read that right. Tony Allen jumped and stuck his foot out, which just so happened to strike Paul in the face during a drive to the basket. Allen was ejected immediately, as he was assessed a Flagrant 2 foul and will miss Wednesday night's contest vs. the Golden State Warriors.

Bulls' Jimmy Butler to undergo MRI on toe. 

Butler was injured on Monday night, during a contest vs. the Charlotte Bobcats, though X-Rays revealed no damage. Butler is having himself a solid season, averaging a career high 11.4 points per game to go with 4.8 rebounds and 1.8 steals. 

Standings: 

Eastern Conference Standings	Western Conference Standings
1. Indiana Pacers (9-1)	1. San Antonio Spurs (9-1)
2. Miami Heat (8-3)	2. Portland Trailblazers (9-2)
3. Chicago Bulls (6-3)	3. Golden State Warriors (8-3)
4. Philadelphia 76ers (5-7)	4. Oklahoma City Thunder (7-3)
5. Atlanta Hawks (6-5)	5. Houston Rockets (8-4)
6. Charlotte Bobcats (5-6)	6. Los Angeles Clippers (7-4)
7. Detroit Pistons (4-6)	7. Dallas Mavericks (7-4)
8. Orlando Magic (4-6)	8. Minnesota Timberwolves (7-5)
9. Cleveland Cavaliers (4-7)	9. Memphis Grizzlies (6-5)
10. Toronto Raptors (4-7)	10. Phoenix Suns (5-5)
11. Boston Celtics (4-8)	11. Los Angeles Lakers (5-7)
12. Washington Wizards (3-7)	12. Denver Nuggets (4-6)
13. New York Knicks (3-7)	13. New Orleans Pelicans (4-6)
14. Brooklyn Nets (3-7)	14. Sacramento Kings (3-7)
15. Milwaukee Bucks (2-7)	15. Utah Jazz (1-11)

I think the story here is the disparity between the Eastern Conference and the Western Conference. Currently, the East only has four teams over .500, while the West has a whopping nine teams over .500 and another currently at .500. If you're a fan of a Western Conference team, you are really hating just how deep the West is.

The Battle of New York hasn't exactly been off to a good start, as both the New York Knicks and Brooklyn Nets are severely under performing; both have a 3-7 record. The big difference between them is the Nets were built this off season by trading for Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett and Jason Terry, as well as completely reconstructing their bench and shaking up their team's core, while the Knicks have basically brought back the same team as last year. Though I'm sure both teams will make the playoffs and will be dangerous squads in the playoffs, how far they go, however, is anybody's guess at this point.

NBA Stats Leaders: 

Points per Game	Rebounds per Game	Assists per Game	Player Efficiency Rating	Win Shares	Win Shares per 48 minutes	True Shooting Percentage
1. Kevin Durant - OKC: 29.6	1. Dwight Howard - HOU: 13.9	1. Chris Paul - LAC: 12.6	1.Anthony Davis - NOH: 29.7	1. Kevin Love - MIN: 2.7	1. Kevin Love - MIN: .305	1. Andre Iguodala - GSW: 72.2%
2. Kevin Love - MIN: 26.7	2. DeAndre Jordan - LAC: 13.5	2. John Wall - WAS: 9.8	2. Kevin Love - MIN: 29.2	2. Kevin Durant - OKC: 2.2	2.Anthony Davis - NOP: .271	2. Kyle Korver - ATL: 71.9%
3. LeBron James - MIA: 26.0	3. Kevin Love - LAC: 13.4	3. Ricky Rubio - MIN: 9.0	3. LeBron James -MIA: 28.9	3. Chris Paul - LAC: 2.2	3. LeBron James - MIA: .264	3. Wesley Matthews - POR: 70.5%
4. Carmelo Anthony - NYK: 25.7	4. Andre Drummond - DET: 12.0	4. Jeff Teague - ATL: 8.8	4. Brook Lopez - BRK: 27.8	4. LeBron James - MIA: 2.2	4. Kevin Durant - OKC: .262	4. Jodie Meeks - LAL: 68.6%
5. James Harden - HOU: 24.3	5. Nikola Vucevic - ORL: 11.4	5. Stephen Curry - GSW: 8.7	5. Chris Paul - LAC: 26.8	5. Andre Iguodala - GSW: 2.0	5. Chris Paul - LAC: .260	5. LeBron James - MIA: 68.4%

Jordan Hill and Steve Blake Are Having Career Years

Enough cannot be said about the play of Jordan Hill. Hill, the 8th overall pick in the 2009 NBA draft by the New York Knicks, has always been a force on the boards, averaging an impressive 11.2 rebounds per 36 minutes of play time. Unluckily for him, Mike D'Antoni, who was his coach with the Knicks, benched him early on in the season before ultimately trading him to the Houston Rockets during the middle of the season.

After another season of only getting 15 minutes a game, despite superb rebounding numbers, Hill was traded to the Lakers for Derek Fisher and a 2014 first round pick. Unfortunately, Hill has dealt with numerous injuries through out his career, but he was finally given a chance this year and the results have been better than expected. Hill's per 36 numbers this season? 17.9 points per game, 14.5 rebounds per game. In 20.9 minutes per game, Hill has put up a line of 10.4 points per game and 8.4 rebounds per game. Still want to bench him, Mike? Hill has been worth 1.3 Win Shares through 12 games, which is roughly the same amount he was worth last year in 29 games. His WS/48 is up to an astonishing .248 which is Kobe Bryant level of production, just completely dominating on the boards and playing very good defensively. He currently has a PER of 25.2, which is among the elite of the NBA, currently ranked 6th among players with 10 or more games played. Here's the short list of elite talent that ranks above Hill in PER: LeBron James, Anthony Davis, Kevin Love, Kevin Durant and Chris Paul.  Of course, this type of production is likely not sustainable for the season, but it is nice to see Hill make the most of his opportunity and he has been enormous for a Laker team that desperately needed a solid big man to play next to Pau Gasol. 

Steve Blake has been rejuvenated playing under Mike D'Antoni. Coming off of his best season ever as a pro last year, he earned a B+ in Hack-a-Shaq's end of the season player reviews. 

"Ultimately, Blake had a big impact on Lakers' basketball, providing a calming presence and quality play in substitution for Steve Nash, either off the bench or starting in place of him (Blake finished with 13 starts on the year). Much like Nash, Blake shot the ball exceptionally well, placing 7th on the Lakers' highest shooting percentage from three point land for a season. In short, Steve Blake redeemed himself for his disappointing seasons with the Lakers and missing the biggest shot of his life, while earning his final season of his contract with the Lakers."

Somehow, Blake has been better than ever and has managed to improve upon last season, as he has upped his scoring average to 9.8 points per game, while nearly doubling his assists per game, currently at an excellent 7.3 (he finished Sunday's game with a whopping 16 assists). Blake has been everything the Lakers have needed and more at the point guard position, doing everything from pick and rolls, to playing excellent defense, to hitting three point shots, including a game winning one over the Dwight Howard led Rockets. 

I don't know about you, but I'm very excited to see what he brings to the table when Kobe Bryant finally returns. If Blake can, at the very least, keep hitting three pointers at this pace (currently shooting 46.4% from deep), the Lakers can be an extremely dangerous squad, with great offensive production at nearly every position. 

More Good News: Kobe Bryant Has Been Fully Medically Cleared to Resume Basketball Activities

After practicing on Saturday and participating in 5-on-0 drills, Kobe Bryant has finally been medically
cleared to resume basketball related activities, just 7 months after rupturing his Achilles vs. the Golden State Warriors. By all accounts, he looks ahead of schedule and is doing well in practice, though isn't all the way there yet.

As of this writing, it's anybody's guess as to when Kobe plans on coming back to the court, though with a rare 4 day stretch without Laker basketball, people have been quick to suggest Kobe might return for Friday's contest vs. the Golden State Warriors, but let's be clear here: Just because he was cleared to return, doesn't mean he is ready to return. My best guess is it will take Kobe something like two to four weeks conditioning and learning to play with new teammates before he comes back.

The Lakers Might Be a Better Team Than We Initially Anticipated

Yes, you read that title right, no it's not a typo. Yes, I know the Lakers are 4-7 and looking just plain awful

Not yet Kobe, not yet.

at times and yes, I know the Lakers are one of the oldest teams in the league, but hear me out.

The Lakers haven't been as injured as they were last year, far from it, having Steve Nash as the only opening night starter to have missed games due to injury. However, the players who have been injured, haven't played yet, or have had limited effectiveness due to injury, have been far more important, as Kobe Bryant has yet to play (though is, by all accounts, physically able to perform. He did return to practice yesterday and told former teammate Rick Fox on NBA TV "If there was a playoff game tonight, I'd play, I'd play. I don't know how effective I'd be, but I would play.") and Pau Gasol has been playing through a left foot strain since the start of the year and isn't properly conditioned thanks to having surgery on both knees during the off season. Nash hasn't been vintage Nash at all this year, and it was clear that he was injured when his shots were missing badly, something that didn't happen during Nash's relatively disappointing first season in Los Angeles, where he had a True Shooting percentage of 60% and was worth a .127 WS/48. Nash has a nerve root irritation and will be re-evaluated in five days. 

Getting Bryant back would be huge, even if he isn't immediately producing. His presence on the offensive end will help open up space for Gasol, Jordan Hill and Chris Kaman in the post, as well as drives to the hoop by Xavier Henry, Jordan Farmar and Wesley Johnson, not to mention pick and rolls with Steve Blake, who has been tremendous with averages of 10 points per game and 6.5 assists per game, while shooting 47.2% from deep. Bryant could also let the team give Gasol extra minutes on the bench to help rest his foot. With the Lakers bench being one of the best in the league this year, averaging close to 50 points per game and 22 rebounds per game, the Lakers starting unit has been lackluster in comparison, largely because the perimeter play has been simply bad and hasn't really opened up any space for Gasol to work in the low post. Obviously, getting Bryant in the game helps solve some of these issues, and helps improve the bench even further, as it would send one of Jodie Meeks or Nick Young directly to the bench. Meeks, in case you haven't noticed, has been great to start the year, leading the Lakers in scoring with 13.2 points per game, with a True Shooting Percentage of 67.7% (!) and providing a WS/48 of .134.

On their good days, a fully healthy Lakers squad can run-and-gun with the best of them (Oklahoma City and Golden State), grind-it-out with teams like Memphis and San Antonio, and as we saw on opening night, keep up with more athletic teams like the Clippers. The only question is: Will they ever get completely healthy? My guess: probably not.