With Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol, Lamar Odom, Ron Artest and Andrew Bynum eating up most of the salary cap the Lakers will be looking to add cheap talent to the bench. The Lakers are still thinking about whether or not to bring back Jordan Farmar (restricted free agent) and/or Derek Fisher (unrestricted free agent). If the Lakers let those two guys walk maybe they can bring in some combo of Nate Robinson, Earl Watson, Carlos Arroyo, Jason Williams and Keyon Dooling to handle the point. The Lakers need cheap help on the bench at almost every position so look for guys like Michael Finley, Jerry Stackhouse, Tracy McGrady, Roger Mason, Luter Head, Keith Bogans, Marquis Daniels, Rodney Carney, Ike Diogu, Shelden Williams, Anthony Tolliver and Chris Hunter to be considered. Don’t expect the Lakers to make any big moves to help them defend their NBA Title.

The Lakers have selected 22-year old forward Derrick Caracter with the 58th overall pick of the NBA Draft. Caracter played in 27 games (22 starts) at Utep in which he averaged 14.1 points, 8.1 rebounds and 1.1 assists per game. He played in 80 games (36 starts) in college and he averaged 10.2 points, 5.6 rebounds and 0.6 assists per game. The Lakers don’t have a ton of depth on the roster so Caracter could get some P.T. in 2010-11.

The Lakers have selected 20-year old forward Devin Ebanks with the 43rd overall pick of the NBA Draft. Ebanks played in 34 games last season for West Virginia and he averaged 12.0 points, 8.1 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 1.1 steals per game. He played in 69 games in his college career and he averaged 11.2 points, 7.9 rebounds and 2.6 assists per game. Ebanks could get some minutes off the bench for the Lakers in 2010-11 but he will likely be brought along slowly.

The Lakers have the #43 and #58 picks in tomorrow night’s NBA Draft. They will likely take the best player available if they even make the picks. They sold their first round pick last season so who knows what the Lakers will do. Drafting a point guard would make some sense only because Derek Fisher and Jordan Farmar are both free agents.

Derek Fisher (unrestricted) and Jordan Farmar (restricted) are both free agents this summer and it will be interesting to see if the Lakers bring them back. Fisher is a big shot taker and maker when the playoffs come and he wants to return in 2010-11. But if he gets one last big offer to play for someone else he might leave. Farmar might get a decent offer from another team that is willing to give him a legit shot at a starting job. I think the Lakers would like to bring him back but I don’t see them overpaying to do it. Shannon Brown has a player option for 2010-11 and it will be interesting to see what he does. He might get more money/playing time from another team which might mean more to him than playing for another ring. Time will tell. D.J. Mbenga and Josh Powell are both unrestricted free agents and the Lakers would likely get them to come back at their price. Adam Morrison is a restricted free agent and I don’t see him coming back to the Lakers if anyone gives him an offer over the NBA minimum because he isn’t much of a player.

Shooting guard Kobe Bryant won the MVP Award for the NBA Finals for the second time in his career last night. He played in 7 games (all starts) in the NBA Finals for the Lakers and he averaged 41.1 minutes, 28.6 points, 8.0 rebounds, 3.9 assists and 2.1 steals per game. He won the MVP Award despite only shooting 40.5% from the floor but that’s nitpicking as he was the best player on the floor in this series. Bryant played in 23 games (all starts) this post season for the Lakers and he averaged 40.1 points, 29.2 points, 6.0 rebounds, 5.5 assists and 1.4 steals per game.

The Lakers had a rough time shooting last night hitting only 32.5% from the floor but they outrebounded the Celtics 53-40 which helped make up for the poor shooting. The Lakers rose up in the 4th quarter outscoring the Celtics 30-22 to seal the win and the NBA Championship. Kobe Bryant only shot 6 of 24 from the floor but he still finished up with 23 points, 15 rebounds and 2 assists. Ron Artest had a big game too hitting a key three pointer late in the 4th quarter to put the Lakers up 4 points. He finished up with 20 points, 5 rebounds, 1 assist and 5 steals. Pau Gasol did all of the dirty work inside, as usual, for the Lakers finishing up with 19 points, 18 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 blocked shots. The Lakers win this series 4-3 to win their 16th NBA Championship in franchise history!

The Lakers dominated defensively last night holding the Celtics to 33.3% from the floor and they outrebounded them 52-39 which explains the ease of the win. Kobe Bryant led the way for the Lakers last night with 26 points, 11 rebounds, 3 assists and 4 steals. Pau Gasol was also electric last night filling up the stat sheet with 17 points, 13 rebounds, 9 assists, 1 steal and 3 blocked shots. Ron Artest pitched in with 15 points and 6 rebounds last night. The Lakers have tied the series at 3 games apiece with a home game tomorrow night that is win and take all.

The Lakers only shot 39.7% from the floor last night while the Celtics shot 56.3% which explains the loss last night. Kobe Bryant tried to wll the Lakers to a win as he scored 38 points, grabbed 5 rebounds, dished out 4 assists, had 1 steal and he had 1 blocked shot. Pau Gasol helped out with 12 points, 12 rebounds and 2 steals. Derek Fisher finished up with 9 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists and 1 steal on 2 of 9 shooting from the floor in 34 minutes. The Lakers are now in deep trouble down 3-2 in the NBA Finals as it shifts back to L.A. for game #6 and maybe game #7.

The Lakers got outrebounded 41-34 last night but it wasn’t until the 4th quarter until this game was decided when the Celtics outscored the Lakers 36-27. Kobe Bryant led the way for the Lakers last night with 33 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals. Pau Gasol also had a solid game with 21 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 blocked shots. Lamar Odom had to play 39 minutes last night and he finished with 10 points, 7 rebounds, 1 assist and 1 steal. He had to play that many minutes because Andrew Bynum could only handle 12 minutes due to his bum knee. Bynum finished up with 2 points and 3 rebounds last night. The Lakers and Celtics are now tied at 2 games apiece in the NBA Finals.