The Lakers are sending 34-year old shooting guard Kobe Bryant and 27-year old center Dwight Howard to the All-Star Game as starters.  Bryant has played in 46 games (all starts) for the Lakers so far this year and he is averaging 38.7 minutes, 28.1 points, 5.1 rebounds, 5.3 assists and 1.4 steals per game.  He has played in 13 All-Star Games (all starts) so far in his career and he is averaging 27.8 minutes, 20.8 points, 5.0 rebounds, 4.2 assists and 2.7 steals per game.  Howard has played in 43 games (all starts) for the Lakers so far this year and he is averaging 34.7 minutes, 16.5 points, 11.9 rebounds, 1.6 assists, 1.0 steal and 2.4 blocked shots per game.  He is shooting 57.7% from the floor, but only 49.6% from the free throw line so far this year.  Howard has played in 6 All-Star Games (5 starts) so far in his NBA career and he is averaging 26.5 minutes, 13.3 points, 8.7 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 1.5 blocked shots per game.  The Lakers should be well represented at the All-Star Game this year.

The Los Angeles Lakers are 19-25 (43.2%) on the season, which has them in a tie for 10th in the Western Conference (with the Mavericks), 4 games behind the Houston Rockets for the #4 spot in the playoffs.  The Lakers have to think that they are still in the playoff hunt, as they have four future Hall of Fame players in their starting five.  The Lakers really covet Daniel Gibson of the Cavaliers because of his outstanding stroke from long range.  I’m thinking that the Cavs might accept an offer of center Robert Sacre, guard Darius Morris and forward Devin Ebanks for him.  If that is the case, the Lakers need to pull the trigger and make this deal.

23-year old center Robert Sacre was the last pick in last June’s NBA Draft.  He has played in 21 games (3 starts) for the Lakers so far this year and he is averaging 7.9 minutes, 1.5 points, 1.3 rebounds and 0.2 assists per game.  He is only shooting 33.3% from the floor so far this year and that is pretty awful.  But, in his three starts (when Dwight Howard was out of action), Sacre averaged 24.8 minutes, 6.7 points, 3.0 rebounds, 0.7 assists and 2.0 blocked shots per game.  He might develop into a decent center for the Lakers in the future.

You can’t blame 33-year old shooting guard Kobe Bryant for his team’s dismal 18-25 record so far this year.  He has played in 43 games (all starts) for the Lakers so far this year and he is averaging 38.8 minutes, 28.9 points, 4.9 rebounds, 4.9 assists and 1.5 steals per game.  Kobe is trying his best to elevate the rest of the team, but he can’t win games by himself, no matter how hard he tries at times.  25-year old Jodie Meeks has been giving Kobe a rest whenever he needs one.  Meeks has played in 39 games (0 starts) for the Lakers so far this year and he is averaging 17.7 minutes, 7.7 points, 1.9 rebounds and 0.9 assists per game.  He is only shooting 38.6% from the floor and 36.5% from three point range so far this year and that just isn’t going to cut it.

When Pau Gasol went down to a nasty concussion recently, it looked like the Lakers were in big trouble at power forward.  But, 25-year old Earl Clark has really stepped up for the Lakers.  In his last four games, Clark is averaging 12.8 points, 10.3 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 1.8 blocked shots per game.  Clark has now played in 15 games (3 starts) overall this year for the Lakers and he is averaging 12.1 minutes, 4.3 points, 3.8 rebounds and 1.1 assists per game.  Coach D’Antoni has already stated that Clark will remain in the playing rotation when Pau Gasol returns to action in the likely near future.

Shooting guard Byron Scott played during the Showtime era of the Los Angeles Lakers.  He played in 846 games (714 starts) in his 11 years with the Lakers and he averaged 30.2 minutes, 15.1 points, 3.0 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 1.2 steals per game.  His best year with the Lakers came back in 1987-88, when he played in 81 games (all starts) in which he averaged 37.6 minutes, 21.7 points, 4.1 rebounds, 4.1 assists and 1.9 steals per game on 52.7% shooting from the floor.  Scott is still tied for #8 in games played (846) in Lakers’ history.  He is also #4 in three pointers made (595), #4 in steals (1,038) and he is #9 in points scored (12,780) in Lakers’ history.

The Lakers will be without 25-year old power forward Jordan Hill for the rest of the 2012-13 season as he needs hip surgery.  Hill played in 29 games (1 start) for the Lakers this year and he averaged 15.8 minutes, 6.7 points, 5.7 rebounds and 0.4 assists per game.  He has now played in 36 games (2 starts) in his first two years with the Lakers and he is averaging 15.0 minutes, 6.3 points, 5.5 rebounds and 0.4 assists per game.  This is a big blow for the Lakers moving forward.

34-year old shooting guard Kobe Bryant is absolutely on fire for the Los Angeles Lakers.  He has played in 33 games (all starts) so far this year for the Lakers and he is averaging 39.0 minutes, 30.5 points, 5.2 rebounds, 4.8 assists and 1.5 steals per game.  He is shooting 48.1% from the floor, 35.9% from the three point line and 84.7% from the free throw line so far this year.  I think the Lakers would be better if more guys got involved in the offense, but no one is stepping up beside Kobe, so it’s hard to fault him for trying to take over games this year offensively.

The Lakers have released 23-year old rookie shooting guard Darius Johnson-Odom.  Johnson-Odom played in 4 games (0 starts) for the Lakers this year and he averaged 1.5 minutes, 0.0 points, 1.0 rebound and 0.3 assists per game.  He wasn’t going to get P.T. for the Lakers any time soon, so they aren’t going to miss him moving forward.

With Dwight Howard, Pau Gasol and Jordan Hill out of action……the Lakers need 36-year old forward Antawn Jamison, 24-year old PF/C Earl Clark and 23-year old rookie center Robert Sacre to step up.  Jamison is the best player of his bunch, by a wide margin.  He has played in 27 games (5 starts) for the Lakers so far this year and he is averaging 18.9 minutes, 6.7 points, 4.2 rebounds and 0.8 assists per game.  Clark has played in 10 games (0 starts) so far this year for the Lakers and he is averaging 3.7 minutes, 0.9 points and 0.7 rebounds per game.  Sacre has played in 13 games (0 starts) for the Lakers so far this year and he is averaging 4.2 minutes, 0.5 points, 0.8 rebounds and 0.1 assists per game.  The Lakers are in deep trouble if these guys don’t step up and support Kobe Bryant, Steve Nash and Metta World Peace.