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When Josh McRoberts arrived last fall, it seemed like a good fit. Young and athletic with decent ball skills, and his career appeared to be on an upward trajectory after a mini-breakout campaign with the Pacers in 2010-11. The Lakers needed bodies behind Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol -- particularly with the departure of Lamar Odom -- and for a reasonable $3 million, McRoberts made sense.

Initially, at least, returns were solid. Starting the first four games of the year in place of a suspended Bynum, McRoberts quickly grew into a fan favorite for his hustle and ability to finish on the break. "McLob" became a common hashtag on Twitter during Lakers games. "It was a lot of fun," he said. "It was a new experience coming here and getting an opportunity to play right away. It was kind of a whirlwind."

Unfortunately, it didn't last long. In early January McRoberts injured the big toe on his left foot, and from there everything about his season grew totally inconsistent. He fell out of the rotation entirely, found himself back in, then back on the bench when Mike Brown went to Jordan Hill, who basically out-McRoberts-ed McRoberts.

Though he never caused a stir, I know from conversations throughout the year the lack of rhythm and consistency in his minutes was frustrating, as it would be for any player. "I would have loved to be out there. I would have done everything I could to try to help where we needed help," McRoberts said Wednesday in El Segundo.

Now McRoberts, entering the second of a two-year deal with the Lakers, faces a significant season in 2012-13, not only in regards to his future in L.A. (assuming there is one). "It's not something I'm going to lose sleep over, because I know I'm going to put in the work to get to where I need to be and to have the opportunity to show what I can do," he said, "but I definitely understand it's going to be a big year for me, career wise."

(Click below for video from McRoberts' exit interview)

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Sunday, Jordan Hill put in a great performance in his postseason debut, scoring 10 points and grabbing 10 rebounds in L.A.'s 103-88 win over Denver.

On Monday, a promising beginning may have been derailed.

Hill has been charged with choking a family member in an incident on February 29th, while still a member of the Houston Rockets. A warrant for his arrest will be issued, and Hill will have to return to Houston to face the charge -- third degree felony assault on a family member. According to the Houston district attorney's office, Hill faces a sentence of two to 10 years, and a $10,000 fine.

Hill posted two posts on his Twitter feed this morning, "Wowwwww," and "Unbelievable!!!!!!!!"

Obviously this has very serious implications, first for Hill -- this is a serious charge with real prison time potentially attached.

UPDATE (2:15 pm PT)- Hill issued the following statement Monday:

"I'm saddened to learn of the accusations that were filed against me today. At this time, i cannot comment further other than to say that my attorneys are working to gather all of the facts and evidence and I plan to cooperate completely with the authorities.

"I'd like to apologize to the Lakers organization and to all of their fans or the untimeliness of these accusations. I promise to keep my focus and attention on the playoffs during this time and to helping my team win another championship."

UPDATE (3:10 pm PT) - Speaking to the media directly, Hill said he didn't anticipate missing any games. Mike Brown said as well, based on his understanding Hill should be available.

Here is Hill's brief time with the media Monday:

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It wasn't always pretty -- actually, it rarely was -- but the Lakers nonetheless pulled out a 112-108 overtime win over the Dallas Mavericks Sunday afternoon at Staples. The team hunkered down and ragained control of the contest after a sluggish start, and consistent with their victorious ways short Kobe Bryant, a group effort ruled the day. Andrew Bynum (playing with an upper-respiratory illness), Pau Gasol, Matt Barnes, Metta World Peace and Ramon Sessions all reached double figures. Defensively, everyone who stepped on the floor chipped in his two cents. As a team, they clamped down in the second half (44 points allowed in Q's three and four) and kept the Mavs off the line.

We hit on their strong games, and more, including how the Lakers managed to win when three big cogs (Gasol, Bynum, and MWP) weren't models of efficiency, what happens when Bryant returns, and whether the Lakers are actually peaking heading into the postseason. If so, who gets the credit?



Good clips in the show from Mike Brown and Gasol. Click below for more from the head coach, Gasol, and Ramon Sessions.

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The more things change, the more they stay the same.

Last season, even with eventual 6MOY Lamar Odom leading the way, the most reliable element offered by the Lakers' bench was unreliability. With LO in Dallas, the bench predictably floundered most of this season, but slowly experienced an uptick in effectiveness (if not raw numbers) as the trade deadline approached. Enter Ramon Sessions and his instant chemistry with Matt Barnes and Josh McRoberts, and the reserves suddenly resembled a credible unit. When Sessions inevitably was tabbed to start, I was optimistic Steve Blake, who looked stiff as a cadaver among the starters as a transparent place-holder, would regain his comfort level quarterbacking the reserves. Assuming that theory was correct, the second unit might suffer a dip losing the more talented player in Sessions, but would play well enough to avoid being a liability.

As it turns out, we're back to square one. The reserves have regressed to their collectively non-scoring ways. Any lead is jeopardized every time the Lakers roll largely with substitutes. And Blake is way out of sorts, which to me is the single-biggest reason this group is floundering. I asked Mike Brown what he has seen in the point guard that could explain his struggles.

"I haven't specifically asked him about it," Brown said. "I just want him to keep trying to be aggressive and keep trying to run the team in the same breath. The one thing I told him is I'm OK with you being aggressive more than anything else. I thought he played well at the beginning of the season and then he got hurt. And then he came back in basically the same role and there was a stretch where he didn't play as well and he really hasn't consistently gotten back to where he was in the beginning of the year.

"More than anything else, I think it's just him being confident and aggressive is going to play a huge role in that. The last couple of games, I thought he tried to be aggressive. Now, he hadn't made shots yet, but some of the things that he's doing out on the floor have helped a lot in my opinion."

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The Lakers started their post-trade deadline era in the same way they finished the pre, as a dominant squad on their home floor. Led by Kobe Bryant's 28 points and double-doubles from Pau Gasol (17/11) and Andrew Bynum (15/14), the Lakers built a lead against Minnesota and never let the game get away.

They won by five but were in control the whole way. Here are five takeaways ...

1. Ramon Sessions showed why the Lakers wanted him.

Sessions received a nice ovation checking into the game, and even got cheers the first time he put the ball on the floor. Literally. People clapped because Sessions dribbled. So you can imagine how excited they got when he crossed half court, penetrated, and hit a little floater in the lane for his first two points in purple and gold. Later, he put a wicked crossover on Wayne Ellington on the left wing, beating him clean and finishing at the rack, and followed that with a burst in the open floor, beating three Wolves on the break for another two points. Twice Sessions came over screens on the right wing and fed left to Matt Barnes for 3-pointers. In the second half, he penetrated and made a slick pass to Barnes, cutting through the paint for easy points, and later earned free throws against J.J. Barea going coast to coast in transition.

Moral of the story? Sessions gives the Lakers an element they haven't had in a long, long time, namely a point guard who not only has great speed in the open floor and can distribute effectively but forces opposing teams to respect his ability to finish in the lane. He creates easy points, something not easily found for the Lakers this year.

Final line: 7 points, 5 assists (against 3 turnovers), 4 rebounds in 19:26 of playing time. Not bad for a guy who hasn't practiced with the team yet.

2. Generally speaking, L.A.'s ball movement was great.

Eight players finished with an assist, and five had multiple helpers. Overall the Lakers had 21 dimes on their 33 field goals. Sessions and Steve Blake combined for 11 against only three turnovers. Bynum did some effective work passing out of double-teams in the post, as did Gasol (nothing new there). Best of all, they made extra passes without over-passing. While overall the mark from the floor wasn't anything special (41.2 percent), any deficiencies can't be blamed on stagnation.

3. Outside shooting was a plus.

Friday was the rare game for Kobe in which he was far more effective from beyond the arc than inside it. Kobe stuck five of his eight triples, but made only 4 of 12 2-pointers. It helps that most of his hoists from downtown came in rhythm, on clean catch-and-shoot chances, and his proficiency along with a few trips to the line left him with a tidy 28 points on 20 attempts from the floor. Barnes, who had a great game overall with 17 points, 3 boards, and a pair of steals, hit 3 of 4, and as a group the Lakers were a red-hot 45.5 percent (10-of-22). When they shoot that well, the Lakers are a tough team to beat.

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Here are your 10 additional things to take away from the Lakers' 102-90 road loss against the Phoenix Suns on Sunday ...

The Lakers followed a familiar script in Phoenix on Sunday.

Fall down double digits early while playing on the road. Expend a lot of effort attempting to mount a comeback. End up falling short because the hole was too deep.

It could have been Orlando or Miami or Sacramento or Denver. Same script, different day.

Knowing that his team had strung together three wins in a row and dismissed the Suns pretty easily just two days before, Lakers coach Mike Brown tried to cut complacency off at the pass by doing something he doesn't usually do: deliver a speech before tip-off.

"One thing I talked to our ballclub about before the game was, and I don’t say much, but I told our ballclub that this is going to be an interesting game because this is a mental game right here," Brown said. "It would be interesting to see how mentally we come out and we try to play the game tonight because for us, it could be a task mentally. So, 'Let’s go.'"

Instead of "let's go" it was "no go" as the Lakers trailed by 16 after the first quarter, gave up 63 points in the first half and never got the lead under 10 from then on.

The Lakers are now 5-11 away from Staples Center on the season and have a difficult road back-to-back looming this week against Dallas and Oklahoma City.

"It’s easy to play at home because you have your crowd there, so you’re ready to go and the energy is there," Jason Kapono said, and it was such a difficult night for L.A. that Kapono was worthy of commenting after going from two straight DNPs to playing 19 minutes. "For some reason, we lack that on the road. So, we need to find a way to come out here at the start of games and find a way to not start out down 8-10 [points] and always try to claw back and fight back."

Before the Lakers think about the road again, they must first worry about a home game against Portland on Monday. The Lakers might be 13-2 at home this season, but they will have some weary stars with Kobe Bryant playing 40 minutes and Pau Gasol playing 37 minutes against Phoenix.

Bryant finished with a game-high 32 points on 11-for-24 shooting, with 20 of those points coming in the second half when L.A. tried to get back in it.

"He was scoring and making plays for us so we kept the ball in his hands," Brown said of playing Bryant so long despite the fact that A) he had 10 turnovers and B) the Lakers have a game against Portland on Monday. "Is that something he can do? Yeah. But that’s a lot of pressure on one guy to make plays for everybody and then also to score the basketball."

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With his high-flying dunks and gritty style of play, Josh McRoberts quickly became a fan favorite after signing with the Lakers as a free agent during training camp.

It seems that just as quickly as the "McRambis" and "McLoberts" nicknames became part of Lakers fans' vernacular, McRoberts ceased to be a part of the Lakers' rotation.

McRoberts received a DNP-CD against Denver and played just 10 minutes combined in the Lakers' previous two games against the Bobcats and Timberwolves. Meanwhile, Troy Murphy's playing time has shot up as the 11-year veteran averaged 21.7 minutes and 7.3 points on 58.3 percent shooting in the last three games and the Lakers have gone 3-0.

"Troy has just played pretty good basketball," Lakers coach Mike Brown said before the Lakers played Utah on Saturday. "We’ve played pretty good basketball with him in the lineup. So, that’s the only reason why. We tried to start the season rotating four bigs. Then we went to three bigs. Then I think we went to four bigs again. We’re back at three bigs and I feel comfortable with where we’re at right now. It can average out to about 27-28 minutes for Troy and right about 34-35 for Pau [Gasol] and Andrew [Bynum]. If I can keep it there, then that’s pretty good."

When the season tipped off, McRoberts was in the starting lineup as Bynum served a four-game suspension. He had his moments -- six points, eight rebounds and two blocks on Christmas Day against Chicago and 10 points, six rebounds, three steals and two blocks against New York -- before a sprained big toe on his left foot caused him to miss seven games. As the Lakers struggled to shoot from the outside, falling to last in the league in team 3-point shooting percentage at one point, Murphy established value with his shot-making ability.

"He’s helped space the floor with the second unit. He’s helped with the young kid, relieving some pressure off of him when he’s in trouble – playing pick-and-roll off of him or pick-and-pop with him," Brown said, referring to Murphy's chemistry on the court with rookie Andrew Goudelock. "He’s been solid defensively. He’s been OK rebounding the ball. Mainly, he hasn’t hurt us defensively and he hasn’t really hurt us rebounding the ball and so I think he’s helped us more than anything else on the offensive end where we need a little bit of help with production, especially spacing the floor to give Andrew some room."

So, Brown was asked, is McRoberts simply the odd man out?

"At least for the time being he is, but that can change at any time," Brown said. "You know how this league is injury wise, knock on wood, or anything else. They just have to kind of keep themselves ready."

Dave McMenamin covers the Lakers for ESPNLosAngeles.com. Follow him on Twitter.

Man alive, the Bobcats are bad. I mean, really bad. If there is a prime takeaway from this evening, it's that Michael Jordan's new team is eons away from becoming Michael Jordan's old team … the Wizards.

Here are four more takeaways.

1. Kobe Bryant 18, Bobcats 15.

This was the score when Kobe finally took his first breather with 1:34 remaining in the first quarter. From minute one of this contest, Bryant was on a clear mission to take advantage of Charlotte's dearth of defenders capable of slowing him. He scored the Lakers' first eight points en route to an 18-point first quarter. Back-to-back triples were drilled. An easy score was manufactured after Derek Fisher spotted him so far under the basket he was practically sitting courtside. The lane was attacked with aggression.

I actually felt sorry for Gerald Henderson (charged for much of the game with checking 24) on a sequence in which, with the clock running down, he wound up faced up against Bryant just inside the arc. Kobe busted a series of his patented head fakes, but Henderson refused to take the bait. No matter. Bryant simply drained the jumper with the buzzer sounding. It reminded me of the scene in "Raiders of the Lost Ark" when Indiana Jones just shoots the guy twirling the sword, except Kobe was both Indy and the other guy.

Unfortunately, like the rest of his teammates, Kobe grew too loose during the third quarter, and as a result, his overall efficiency went out the window. I could have also done without 11 3-pointers. But during that first half, The Mamba put on one heckuva show.

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Wednesday night, the Lakers knocked off the Clippers in what was their 19th game of a lockout-shortened 66-game campaign. For those not doing the math at home, one month in the Lakers have already completed 29 percent of their schedule.

A lot of time? No, but by this season's standard not a bad sample size, either.

From a scheduling standpoint, Wednesday also marked a natural dividing line between the home-heavy start and what amounts to a national tour for the purple and gold, as 11 of their next 16 games come away from Staples Center. Put together, it makes for a natural moment to stop and assess what we know about this season's Lakers. When the lockout (tentatively) ended back on Nov. 26, we published a list of 34 questions facing the team this year in the wake of last spring's playoff disaster.

Why 34? Because 20 isn't enough when the league lets you sit around all summer thinking about stuff. Below is that list, each with some answers.

Strap in, people. We've got a lot of ground to cover.

1. Who wins the battle between the well-rested knee of Kobe Bryant (and his ankle, back, finger and general skeletal structure) and a compressed schedule?

Knee? What knee? I thought we were worried about his wrist. (Which, by the way, we’re increasingly less worried about.) Meaning 19 games in, the answer is Bryant in a walk. He leads the league in scoring (30.2), a nearly five-point improvement over last season, while maintaining a solid shooting percentage (45 percent). Asked to carry an almost comical burden in the Lakers offense, at least as measured by his league-leading usage rate (35.9), Bryant has been outstanding. And spry. Very, very spry.

Basically, the man is a running, leaping billboard for German medical engineering.

2. Who wins the battle between the well-rested will of Bryant and the authority of Mike Brown?

The relationship between Kobe and Brown has been a success. Bryant has expressed nothing but admiration for his new coach, praising on multiple occasions Brown’s work ethic and emphasis on defense, noting the team wants to win for him because they see how much Brown wants to win, too. They know he puts in the work.

Doesn't mean the questions about Bryant's shot selection, balance, or how he's used offensively have stopped, but those would be asked whether the coach was Brown, Phil Jackson, Brian Shaw or Rick Adelman. They are, in sports terms at least, eternal.

To this point, though, one major concern -- Brown's ability to "manage" Kobe, has been a non-issue.

3. What will Brown's system look like, and how quickly will the Lakers be able to pick it up?

Not totally sure, and not very.

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Man alive, would this be a good playoff series. I mean, gooooooooooooooood.

Here are five takeaways from the best game we've seen the Lakers play since probably the 17-1 stretch after the 2011 All-Star break.

1) Pau Gasol walked the walk after talking it.

El Spaniard entered this contest under a seriously high-powered microscope, having recently made perfectly clear on any occasion possible the displeasure with his role. In his eyes, it involved being parked on the elbow to either facilitate the offense or pop long jumpers, and little more. Gasol is of the opinion the team -- and he -- would be better served with him getting more post touches and more scoring opportunities in general.

His case was demonstrated almost immediately with a layup 49 seconds after the ball was jumped. Gasol maintained this "thirst to score," as Kobe Bryant would put it, throughout the entire game. Nine points on 4-5 shooting during the first quarter, none from further than 14 feet out. By the first half's end, he had 17 points on just nine shots. He also seemed hyper-conscious of who was defending him and exploiting the matchup. Reggie Evans may be a rebounding machine, but as a man-defender, he's pretty average. Gasol forced the issue against Evans, the highlight coming on a baseline drive precluded by a dizzying array of pump fakes and spins. He also called for clear-outs while faced up against the power forward behind the free throw line.

23 points were accumulated in all, plus 10 rebounds, four assists and a steal tossed in for good measure. There was also an outstanding defensive stand against Griffin, where he stayed in front of the All-Star during a series of twists and spins, then blocked the scoop shot.

After the final horn, Pau even found his way into a confrontation with Chris Paul, as competitive a player as the NBA offers.

It'll be interesting to see how Gasol and the Lakers plot to build off this explosion, but during his postgame interviews, the satisfaction in this performance was evident.

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Mike Brown can insist he's not worried about the Clippers. Matt Barnes and Blake Griffin can claim there's no bad blood between these teams (if not necessarily each other). And people can debate whether the Lakers and Clippers have entered a "rivalry." Some will say the Clippers need to win more games (or banners) to make this a "rivalry." Others won't be able to agree on what constitutes a "rivalry" to begin with.

But this much can't be disputed. There are stakes riding on this game.

The winner of the Pacific Division is probably guaranteed at least one round of home-court advantage in the playoffs. The runner-up could end up fighting just to make the postseason in a loaded Western Conference. If the Lakers can't snap a three-game losing streak with a win against their Staples Center roommates, they've lost any shot at forcing a tiebreaker. Winning the division would require leapfrogging the Clips, which means making up the ground of four losses in the standings. With only 47 games remaining afterward, the mission's not impossible, but it won't be easy.

Here are four items to watch once the ball is jumped:

1. Bench production

The upside of Metta World Peace's 11 points against Indiana on Sunday? It provided hope of a corner potentially turned, or at the very least, evidence of a concerted effort to park him in the lane that essentially makes or breaks his effectiveness. The downside? It was a stark reminder of how rare such an outburst is for a Lakers reserve. Before this night, the last Lakers reserve to hit double figures was Steve Blake on Jan. 8 against the Grizzlies.

The second unit's struggles to chip in points is an issue during any game, but could be spotlighted in particularly painful fashion against the Clippers. In an extreme example, you have Mo Williams, whose 14.5 points off the bench bests the combined averages of MWP (5.5), Josh McRoberts (3.7) and Darius Morris (3.6), the top three scorers among healthy reserves. There's even a reminder in the form of second-leading bench scorer Randy Foye, whose 7.9 points is hardly eye-opening ... except on the Lakers, where he'd be the clubhouse leader among subs. And despite Williams' presence, the Clippers remain just the 28th-ranked team for bench scoring and 29th for efficiency ... and still beat the Lakers on both counts.

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The first meeting between these teams last season was met with enough hype to make P.T. Barnum blush. (It was also met with enough purple and gold lethargy to make a Lakers fan lose his Christmas brunch.) One year -- and two similarly disappointing series against the Dallas Mavericks -- later, and the setting has changed. The Lakers are trying to prove that a championship pedigree still exists, while the Heat are trying to prove their pedigree is matched by a championship heart. A win in AmericanAirlines Arena would help re-establish the Lakers' credibility, and a win with Dwyane Wade possible in street clothes would be a meaningful one for the Heat.

For a look inside Thursday's extravaganza, we talked some shop with Tom Haberstroh, who covers the Big Three & Co. for the Heat Index.

Brian Kamenetzky: Is Wade going to play Thursday?

Tom Haberstroh: I'd bet my authentic Drazen Petrovic jersey that Wade is not going to play. All the players at Wednesday's practice spoke as if he was already ruled out. Erik Spoelstra called him "day-to-day," which has been his status for a couple weeks now.

BK: So what does that mean? They're like Tim Tebow without him. All they do is win. Or at least like pre-losing Tebow.

TH: This is a great point. Maybe we have to look into this a little more, because LeBron made some Tebow comments before the game that Wade got hurt in ... Conspiracy! Wade being out means that LeBron James and Chris Bosh get to go back to their Cleveland and Toronto days, respectively. You saw the free-wheeling attitude Tuesday against the Spurs.

But I should add -- 4-0 does NOT mean that they're better without Wade. Bosh and LeBron are better without Wade, but the Heat are not better. Need to put this meme to bed.

Andy Kamenetzky: Kinda like the meme people throw out whenever the Lakers happen to win a game without Kobe. Having said that, how much confusion still lingers between LeBron and Wade in terms of co-existence?

TH: They're worlds better than they were Jan. 19, 2011, but they still have a way to go. I'm still clamoring for more Wade/LeBron pick-and-rolls, but something tells me Spoelstra is keeping that trick up his sleeve for the playoffs. But I think it's no secret that they need to create more actions where each of the Big Three are moving together, not just LeBron and Wade.

Of course, it makes it tough when Wade is in street clothes with a canary-yellow diamond in his ear weighing him down.

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Another night when the NBA might have to resconsider the whole "I love this game!" theme it has run with over the years, but once again on their home floor, the Los Angeles Lakers managed to win.

L.A. runs its record to 10-5, with tough games at Miami and Orlando upcoming.

Here are seven takeaways ...

1. The Lakers finished with one 3-pointer, but it was a very, very important one.

Dallas Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle did everything he's supposed to do. The ball was inbounded high on the floor to Kobe Bryant, matched up against Shawn Marion. Jason Terry quickly came over to double. Bryant made the pass back to the right wing to Derek Fisher.

Say what you will about Fisher and his place in this league (and you have said a lot), if there's a spot you want him on that wall, where you need him on that wall, this is it. Lakers fans have seen this movie before, and it's a good one. Fisher's triple capped an outstanding fourth quarter for the old man. Nine points on 3-for-4 shooting, plus a pair of free throws and a critical steal.

Don't ignore the whole one 3-pointer thing, though. It's indicative of an outside shooting problem that isn't getting better.

2. Kobe Bryant had a bad game offensively, the Lakers won anyway.

After four straight 40-plus games, it's fair to forgive Kobe an off shooting night. Just 7-for-22, only one free throw attempt, and seven assists (nice!) against four turnovers (less nice). Many of the shots weren't much different than those he's made on other nights, but overall the shot chart did change. Via ESPN Stats & Information, only three of Bryant's 22 shots came within 10 feet, for four points. During the previous four games, he had scored 77 of his 172 points inside 10 feet, free throws included. To his credit, Bryant did little forcing offensively and when the time came had three dimes in the fourth, including the critical dish to help win the game. I certainly don't recommend this strategy (73 points!) any more than relying on Kobe to do all the heavy lifting, but had Bryant struggled mightily and the Lakers had their doors blown off, it would have been worse.

The Lakers have a long way to go on that side of the ball. Bryant didn't get much help from Pau Gasol, who finished with eight points and didn't have a field goal in the second half (though he did contribute -- see below). Andrew Bynum did his part, and Fisher came up big down the stretch.

But 73 points is 73 points.

3. Andrew Bynum had a good night against the double team.

When Carlisle elected to guard him man up, primarily with Brendan Haywood, Bynum dominated. His position was consistently deep on the block, using both the left and right hands to convert. He moved well without the ball, converting a nice alley-oop pass from Josh McRoberts, and diving to the rim after a nice two-man sequence between Bryant and Gasol forced Bynum's man away in help. But more than anything, the positive takeaway from his 17-point, 15-rebound night wasn't in how he scored, but what he did recognizing the double-team. It started early, when in the first quarter he found himself triple-teamed on the left block, spun baseline and threaded a nice bounce pass to Jason Kapono in the corner for a long jumper.

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It will be strange to see Lamar Odom take the floor Monday night in a Dallas Mavericks uniform, something not at all lost on his former teammates Sunday afternoon at practice. Not that the transition to Texas has been smooth. Odom's first 13 games wearing blue and green have been a disaster-- 6.8 points on 31 percent shooting, 5.0 rebounds, 1.4 assists and a career-low 20 minutes a night -- as Odom struggles not just with fitness or the hurt of being shipped out by the Lakers, but also a summer filled with tragedy.

This for a guy who at 32 already has absorbed more than a lifetime's worth of death and sadness.

Still, his slow start combined with L.A.'s relative success has, at least for some portion of the fan base, created a line of argument that the Lakers are better off without him. They're not. While Odom was definitely set for a step back from last year's Sixth Man of the Year performance regardless of the lockout or anything he endured in the offseason -- history suggests last season's high-end outside shooting was the exception, not the rule -- I suspect he'd be playing better with the Lakers than he is in Dallas. It might take a while, but eventually he'd round into useful form.

Regardless, Odom's return highlights the ways in which his absence has punched holes in the L.A. roster. Mitch Kupchak did a decent job this offseason with limited resources, signing Josh McRoberts and Troy Murphy to bolster the frontcourt, and adding Jason Kapono as a sniper. Still, Odom's production from last year (and, to a lesser degree, Shannon Brown's) hasn't been replicated, whether by any combination of the new players or by sliding Metta World Peace to the second unit.

Bench scoring for the Lakers is down from 27.7 points a game last year to 21.3 this season, while the group's efficiency differential has plummeted, as well. In a nutshell, the Lakers are getting very, very little production off the pine. Perhaps more importantly, Odom's departure also robbed the Lakers of their second-best shot creator and secondary ball handler, helping explain the corresponding rise in Kobe Bryant's workload not just as a scorer, but a facilitator as well.

The change in skill sets is one of a litany of other factors providing real obstacles to the group's improvement. Mike Brown hit on many in the clip above, following Sunday's practice. Two big ones:

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Dave McMenamin has the news.

Bottom line, the Lakers get some much needed help in the frontcourt behind Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum. Gasol particularly piled up minutes in games against Phoenix and Utah without Josh McRoberts and Troy Murphy available, so I'm sure he'll be excited to see them back.

Jason Kapono, who had been with his wife following the birth of twin daughters, will also be in uniform.

Steve Blake's absence -- he's not expected to play Saturday against the Clippers, either -- puts pressure on Derek Fisher, likely to get more minutes, and means a promotion for rookie Darius Morris, who played for the first time this season Wednesday in Salt Lake City. I don't think I'm revealing state secrets when I say the Lakers don't exactly have a wealth of depth at the point, so losing Blake even for a few games hurts.

Hopefully it's not much longer than that, because the guy likely to pick up at least some of the slack in ball handling and facilitiating is Kobe Bryant. He's more than capable, obviously, but has a pretty full dance card already.