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This episode was filmed before Game 3, the first solid postseason showing for Ramon Sessions (12 points, 4 assists) in quite some time. All in all, the young point guard has underwhelmed in his first playoffs, sparking legitimate concern about his future with the Lakers. Along with Arash Markazi, we discuss why Sessions has struggled and his fit moving forward.

Over the last week, Lakers headlines have been dominated by issues like Kobe Bryant's shin, otherworldly rebounding from Andrew Bynum, a string of quality performances from Metta World Peace, and the implications of a 20-point loss to Phoenix and a 14-point win over San Antonio, both with The Mamba wearing a well-tailored suit. Such talking points would always feel trenchant, and with the playoffs lurking, the urgency is magnified tenfold. In the meantime, another notable development has surfaced almost entirely absent of hype. Compared to the previously mentioned story lines, under-the-radar status for this trend is understandable, but it nonetheless shouldn't be mistaken as trivial.

Quietly and by any measuring stick, Steve Blake, who's suffered through a largely disappointing season, has played two very good games in a row.

From a statistical standpoint, his numbers are much improved. Over the last two games, he's averaged nine points (53.8 percent from the field/60 percent from deep), 3.5 assists, 2.5 rebounds, and .5 turnovers in 28.5 minutes. The stats aren't necessarily eye-popping, but they're perfectly fine from a backup point guard. And against the backdrop of his overall April splits (5.4 ppg, 41.4 FG, 41.2 3pt, 3.0 apg, 1.3 rpg, 1.1 TO), they're practically a revelation. While fellow reserve Matt Barnes has insisted the Lakers bench shouldn't be judged by scoring totals, this entire season has served as proof of how hamstrung the starters become without consistent support. In particular, Blake's cupboard has been bare. Nobody would reasonably expect a dude with a 6.9 ppg career-average to reinvent himself as a purple and gold James Harden, but some firepower off the pine is mandatory. For at least two games, Blake's brought a gun to a gunfight.

Blake's also managed to impact games beyond his numbers. In New Orleans, a pair of charges were drawn and he not only tracked down an otherwise certain turnover, but managed to huck the ball while airborne to Ramon Sessions. The possession ended with Barnes scoring at the rim, but Blake enabled the basket, even as the only principal who didn't enter the box score on the sequence. Against the Spurs, he prevented a fast break by hustling back on transition, squaring up Stephen Jackson and getting his mitts on the ball. Slowed by Blake, Jackson had to take the ball out, and the ensuing possession came up dry.

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You didn't really think the deadline would pass without a poddy, did ya? You know us better than that. Among the talking points...





- The Lakers are officially different than at March 15, 11:59 am PT. The key new face arriving is, of course, point guard Ramon Sessions. We both think he was a nice pickup, and can really help this team. He's not an elite point guard, but he can get to the rim, run a quality pick-and-roll and move the ball well. I don't expect him to start for at least a couple of games, but eventually, he should help make life much easier for Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum.

- Of course, the day also resulted in a pair of longtime Lakers, Derek Fisher and Luke Walton, exiting L.A. Walton, human punchline/punching bag that he became for most Lakers fans, was a popular teammate and respected in the locker room (by, among others, Kobe). But to be perfectly honest, any on-court utility offered has long-since expired and his contract represented money deader than any presidents on the bills he pocketed. Moving Walton was a no-brainer if possible.

Fisher, however, still brought tangibles to the table, even with his production in decline. Dude's still got a knack for big shots, and it's fitting his final bucket as a Laker was a go-ahead score against New Orleans in OT. More important, as I wrote yesterday, his presence, character and leadership was a major component of the success this team's enjoyed since 2008. His absence will be felt -- not that the team can't move forward, but that's simply a fact -- especially as the team looks to make a deep playoff run.

But ultimately, BK and I think the Lakers made the right call. With Sessions on board and Blake backing him up, Fisher would become a resident of "DNP-CD County," which undercuts his powerful voice and could fuel sour feelings, professional that he may be. Mike Brown also would be placed in the horribly awkward position of having to bench an influential member of a locker room still perhaps not entirely in his corner. Both risked becoming "the bad guy," which isn't fair to either, and from a financial standpoint, the Lakers are allocating their resources much more efficiently. The move had to be made, even if from an sentimental standpoint, it wasn't pretty.

- I share my longstanding theory former NBA players Mamadou N'diaye and Boniface N'Dong were actually the same person.

- Gasol is among the more charitable fellows in the NBA, and among other organizations has been involved with UNICEF. Thursday night, he attended a benefit, and sang a, shall we say, weepy song to help inspire some giving.



On one hand, BK and I have spent a lot of time defending Pau against the "Gasoft" label we don't think is fair or accurate, and warbling this particular song does our battle no favors. I get the thematic fit. It's called "How to save a life." The very important message is being driven home. But he might as well been singing "The Rose" or something by Tori Amos. There must be a "tougher" sounding song that inspires giving. Although on the other hand, if you're actually secure enough to sing that in a crowd and Tweet out pics, knowing the snickers that could follow, by definition, how soft can you really be?

Either way, good on Pau for getting behind a good cause, and while I'd label him a better piano player than singer, he's not terrible. Better than me, that's for sure.

Following a very busy morning for the Lakers ahead of Thursday's NBA trade deadline, Mitch Kupchak spent about 35 minutes with the media. The addition of Ramon Sessions to L.A.'s backcourt was obviously a topic of conversation, but not surprisingly Kupchak's time was dominated by questions related to the departure of Derek Fisher. In his opening remarks, Kupchak welcomed Sessions, along with Jordan Hill and Christian Eyenga. He thanked Jason Kapono, and had some very nice words about Luke Walton, the other long time Laker sent packing today.

From there, he talked about Fisher:

"It’s hard to put into words what he’s meant to this organization on the court, off the court. If you’ve seen or read the release that our owner Dr. Buss put out, I think that puts it as succinctly as possible what he means and what he meant to this organization. From the bottom of our heart, my heart, I thank him for his contributions and I wish him well...


...I have not talked to Derek yet. I’ve talked to his representative and representatives and as you might expect, he’s probably not quite ready to have that kind of discussion. I don’t know if he’s spoken to anybody else in the organization. I do expect to speak to him shortly, perhaps today. Maybe tomorrow. I understand completely. It’s hard. It’s one of the hardest parts of a job that a general manager has – separating the emotions of a relationship that you built for many, many years, in this case over 10 years. He was drafted by Jerry West I believe in 1996 and now here it is in [2012] and he went away for a year or two and he’s been with us for many, many years. So, it’s a hard thing to do, but that is what general managers do. Part of our job is separating the emotion and keeping the franchise moving forward and that’s what we tried to do."

Rightly, as I wrote this afternoon. But it doesn't make the decision any easier. And as Kupchak notes, the void Fisher leaves in the locker room is significant:



Click below for more video and quotes from Kupchak, on Fisher's contributions and his personal connection with him, the reasons the Lakers felt they needed to trade him, roster balance, and more.

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Los Angeles Lakers forward Luke Walton is not with the team for its two game road trip through Memphis and New Orleans because of gastroenteritis, the team announced prior to the Lakers shootaround Tuesday in preparation for the Grizzlies game.

Walton, a nine-year veteran, has played in just nine out of the Lakers' 41 games this season, averaging career lows in points (1.3) and minutes (7.2) per game.

Not only is Walton missing out on the Lakers' games, but he's also missing a chance to return to Memphis where he spent a portion of the lockout serving as an assistant coach for the University of Memphis Tigers.

Lakers coach Mike Brown, when speaking to reporters before the Grizzlies game, allowed for the possibility of Walton rejoining the team in New Orleans.

"I think that’s something that [Walton], the doctors and [Lakers trainer] Gary [Vitti] are going to work out," Brown said. "If he feels well enough he will [fly to New Orleans], if he doesn’t then he won’t."

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

Thursday's loss in Oklahoma City means the Lakers enter the All-Star break at 20-14 (congratulations to anyone winning the office pool), 1.5 games back of the Clippers in the Pacific, and good enough for the fifth seed in the Western Conference. And a hectic 34 games it has been. There has been growth in some areas -- defensively, the Lakers have regained much of the form making them so effective during their title seasons -- and regression in others (see 'offense'), and by now the shortcomings in the team's roster are apparent.

That's big picture group stuff. Individually, how has everyone performed? For that, send everyone back to school. It's report card time.

COACH

Mike Brown

There are totally legitimate questions about how well he's matched his offensive system to his personnel, how he's managed his rotations, and whether he's struck the right balance with a group led by veterans with championship experience used to a culture affording greater freedom and flexibility, just to name a few.

I'm not sold, and neither are most fans.

But criticisms of Brown are mitigated by the almost absurd difficulty of the task he inherited. Replacing the most successful coach in the history of modern American team sports in hiring process alienating his star player and coming amid sweeping change poorly handled by management, suffering through a lockout allowing no contact with his new players, starting camp with a trade for a superstar point guard only to have it quickly revoked, watching last season's Sixth Man of the Year traded away without anything coming in return, working through a comically short training camp and preseason during which his roster was totally in flux, then absorbing what was the NBA's most difficult early season schedule, affording him almost no time on the practice court to implement his system and improve the team's rhythm.

That, and a roster poorly constructed for his style sporting holes large enough to fit an SUV. It's not fair to expect Brown to overcome all that in 34 games.

Watching how Brown evolves -- or doesn't -- over the final 32 will be interesting, noting adjustments he makes with better understanding of his personnel, and if he can get the Lakers playing at their best heading into the playoffs. It still likely won't mean a championship, but would go a long way towards establishing him as the right guy for the gig long term.

Maybe I'm grading the circumstances more than the man, but for a guy so firmly put behind the 8-ball, he's doing pretty well.

GRADE: B

STARTERS

Kobe Bryant

February hasn't treated him well, and Bryant goes into the break on a low note following tough outings in Dallas and Oklahoma City. The eternal arguments about shot selection and ball dominance remain (otherwise they wouldn't be eternal). But big picture, who can complain about the quality of Bryant's play this season? 28.5 points, along with a hair under five boards and six assists per night, a PER over 23.5 and a shooting percentage (43.9) not substantively below his career average (45.4), despite this month's slump.

He's playing very, very well.

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The Lakers are headed to Florida for a two game roadie with the Heat and Magic. The Kamenetzky brothers are in L.A., taking the collective pulse of the fan base.

Topics tossed our way included the trade value of Pau Gasol, three-point shooting woes and defense.

Here is the link.

When last we saw the Lakers and Jazz pitted against each other at Staples Center, the Lakers avoided an 0-3 hole to start the season by kicking the ever-loving snot outta their guests. The 96-71 loss was an inauspicious start to the Jazz's first full season sans Jerry Sloan and in full "rebuild" bloom. But ever since that drubbing, they've actually been, well, good. 6-3 "good," to be exact, and in the midst of a five-game winning streak. Granted, none of those victims sport a record above .500, but the same caveat can be slapped on the Lakers, whose 7-4 record contains just one win (home vs. Denver) against a team universally considered high end at the moment.

You can't control who the schedule makers place in your path, just the results.

In any event, a win in Utah would surprisingly be considered impressive at this moment. For some insight on the Jazz, we called upon Spencer Ryan Hall of the True Hoop Network's Salt City Hoops blog. Here are some thoughts from Hall, plus a few of my own.

Land O' Lakers: Ever since getting beaten badly by the Lakers on December 27, the Jazz have played pretty well. What, if anything, has changed during these winning ways?

Spencer Ryan Hall: Hard to blame the Jazz for being disorganized at the beginning of the season; I'm just surprised they snapped together so quickly. Earl Watson has kind of made it his team and Ty Corbin has created an open rotation that allows any of about 11 players to spark the team on a given night. Josh Howard has been a revelation, something I didn't expect. Also, the team has taken on a shot-blocking identity and somehow is leading the league.

LO'L: When the Jazz played the Lakers, there was absolutely no discernible clue as to how their offense runs. How would you describe it, and in particular, how can it succeed against the Lakers?

SRH: The Jazz offense is still a bit of a mystery. Occasionally and old pick-and-roll will show up, but usually the ball ends up in Al Jefferson's hands on the left side, he waits 10 seconds and then puts up some variety of shot-put/old-man shot that usually goes in. Devin Harris is still figuring out what to do, but the Jazz are succeeding mostly on the back of Jefferson and [Paul] Millsap combining with contributions from anyone else. The surprise factor from the others is what's been fun to watch so far.

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The Lakers, rather quietly, have put together wins in seven of their last nine games, running their record to 7-4 following a 99-83 win over the Phoenix Suns Tuesday night at Staples.

Among the highlights: Pau Gasol finished with 16 points and 12 rebounds, then spearheaded a killer defensive effort down the stretch, as the Lakers closed on a 16-1 run. Luke Walton came out of storage to play 26 important minutes, chipping in six points, eight rebounds, and three assists.

From there, it was all about Kobe Bryant. 48 points, on 18-of-31 shooting. 13 trips to the line, and yet another reminder of how much he loves sticking it to the Phoenix Suns. Needless to say, after tackling some of the issues above, we get into Kobe's prodigious night.

In-show video clips from Bryant and Mike Brown.



That is not a flattering screen grab.

Postgame vid below, from Bryant, Brown, Pau Gasol, and Walton.

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Don't look now, but the Lakers have quietly won seven of nine after starting the season 0-2, following a 16 point win over Phoenix Tuesday at Staples.

There was much to like on a night where the Lakers had a few things stacked against them.

Here are six takeaways...

1. Leaning on Kobe Bryant this much has to stop (though watching him be leaned on can make for serious entertainment).

Kobe started the game on fire, working from all his comfort spots to light up the board with 17 points in the first quarter, hitting eight of his first 11 shots. He was effective in the mid-post, then working on the perimeter with catch-and-shoot opportunities. As the game went along, the looks generally got harder, with more looks in isolation, and some of the choices weren't so choice. But down the stretch he was extremely effective and overall it's virtually impossible to dispute the efficiency of Kobe's 48-point night, a league-high for the season. 18-of-31 from the floor, with a tidy 12-of-13 from the line.

It was a spectacular display of offensive skill.

Spry as Bryant looked-- mileage, bum wrist, etc. notwithstanding-- it's not a healthy way to proceed. First, expecting/relying on him to produce like this for another 55 games is basketball suicide. It'll wear Kobe out before the playoffs arrive, and equally important will stunt the development of the team's offense. The Lakers have to find other ways to consistently generate offense, and make sure they don't get lulled into the (understandably easy) trap of always looking towards him. Mike Brown and Co. have a great feel now of how to put Kobe in position to succeed, and now they have to figure it out for everyone else.

Great game from Bryant -- one hopefully not replicated too often during the season.

POSTGAME UPDATE: Our bosses in Bristol will be pleased to know Kobe noticed this summer's extensive NBA Rank project. "Not bad for the seventh best player in the league," Bryant said of his game.

2. Luke Walton gave quality minutes.

With Josh McRoberts (toe), Troy Murphy (stomach bug) and Jason Kapono (welcoming newborn twins into the world) unavailable, the Lakers dusted off Walton for more minutes than he's played in a long, long time. April 13, 2010 against Sacramento to be exact -- another game where players sat (Kobe, Bynum) or were limited by injury (Jordan Farmar). Given the rust, Walton acquitted himself well. He was active on the glass, sustaining a few trips with good work on the offensive boards, including a key offensive rebound with three minutes to go, setting up a nice lob from Matt Barnes to Bryant and effectively icing the game. Add to that a few nice passes and even a good defensive play or two, and he becomes one of the team's bigger stars, context considered.

He doesn't get many chances, and on a night where the Lakers needed some support, Walton was able to provide it. Final line: 26:21 of PT, six points, eight rebounds, three assists.

POSTGAME UPDATE: Brown, not surprisingly, had nice things to say about Walton's game. "Walton was phenominal. He hadn't played since Sacramento. You talk about a pro's pro, he's kept himself ready, his number was called, and he stepped in and ahd a whale of a game for us. You talk about eight rebounds, five of those offensive rebounds, six points and three assists, you know he was very good for us in the 26 minutes he played, especially having not played for a long time."

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We're two weeks into the season and the Lakers have 13.6 percent of the schedule under their belt. Even though it seems like they've been playing longer than that because the league packed nine games into the first 13 days of the schedule for L.A., there really is still a long way to go before the playoffs.

That's a good thing for Mike Brown because the new Lakers coach admittedly still has a long way to go in determining his playing rotation.

"I’d love to have a set rotation so the guys know exactly -- for the most part -- when they’re coming in and when they’re coming out, but I’m not there yet," Brown said after the Lakers beat the Warriors on Friday.

There are three positions in particular that Brown is toying with: starting small forward, backup small forward and backup shooting guard.

The problem is Brown has three small forwards when he only wants to play two (four if you count Luke Walton, but it appears Walton is being relegated to the bench for the time being) and two backup shooting guards when he only wants to play one.

The players still stuck in auditioning mode long after training camp has ended are Matt Barnes, Devin Ebanks and Metta World Peace at small forward and Jason Kapono and Andrew Goudelock at backup shooting guard.

The in-flux nature of the roster was on full display Friday when Brown's rotation looked completely different against the Warriors than it did in the first eight games of the season.

Barnes had his best game of the year with 16 points, six rebounds, five assists and two steals in 30 minutes as the starting small forward, but it came just a day after he played only 17 minutes against Portland and was benched in the second half in favor of Ebanks.

"It's tough, but you have to stay professional about it, you have to stay ready," Barnes said. "We have a very unique situation where we have three small forwards that can play in the league and not too many teams have that. You just have to stay ready. Some nights it's going to be your night, some nights it may not. Some nights it may be the first half [only] that's going to be your night, so, you just have to stay ready and do whatever coach asks."

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There is no way of discussing the Lakers' forwards without discussing Lamar Odom. His abrupt trade to Dallas would be the elephant in the room, except that would require everyone to stop talking about it. It's no exaggeration to say the potential effect of his absence has been obsessed over. How will the Lakers bring in a player to serve as the same key cog in back-to-back-championships and three consecutive trips to the Finals?

Honestly, they won't. Because it's essentially impossible to replace Odom.

Kobe Bryant has stated this. Ditto Pau Gasol. And Derek Fisher. And Matt Barnes. Even Mike Brown, who never coached LO so much as a day in practice, seems to agree. Beyond the personality, presence and heart Odom provided, his impact on games is virtually limitless.

Odom can play either guard spot, either forward spot or even as a center in a small lineup. Whether leisurely bringing up the ball to initiate half-court sets or running the team's best break, his ballhandling skills and court vision are exceptional. He cleans the glass. He can finish at the rim and, if last season's career-high 38 percent 3-point clip is maintained, his outside shots are now dangerous. On the other side of the ball, he plays some of the NBA's most varied (and underrated) defense. Plus, he allowed the Lakers to endure Andrew Bynum's inevitable injuries without becoming a discernibly worse team.

One player offering half of what LO's worth is rare. Everything? That list is exceptionally small and includes no current Laker. That being said, what's most important is that LO's ex-teammates chip in to pick up his slack. And in theory, the forwards trotted out by the Lakers this season could combine to form a sum equal to Odom's parts. Let's look at the list, shall we?

Pau Gasol
El Spaniard has been an afterthought of sorts this preseason. A terrible playoffs removed him from Lakers fans' good graces, and with his name persisting in trade rumors, there's a feeling he'll be removed from the roster. But for now, he remains in purple and gold. And assuming he bounces back (as I believe he will), Gasol is a cornerstone for the Lakers' title hopes as a player similarly versatile as Lamar. He'll provide more consistent scoring than LO, and if the outside shot he has been developing grows reliable, perhaps from as many spots on the court. His forays leading the break are rare, but operating from the high or low post, he's every bit the facilitator Lamar is. Defensively, he's neither as consistent nor as versatile as Lamar, but he's also hardly a slouch when dialed in.

It also doesn't hurt he's actually a better overall player than Lamar.

Obviously, the blame for any doubts surrounding Pau are his to bear, along with the burden of regaining the Laker Nation's trust. But playing like "Pau Gasol," he lays a championship foundation with Kobe and Drew, allowing the other forwards to fill cracks.

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If you can't have Lamar Odom running your bench, how does one of his close friends since childhood grab you?

When I interviewed Metta World Peace this offseason during a "Dancing With the Stars" rehearsal, the small forward said he "wouldn’t be surprised if [Mike Brown] brings me off the bench." Well, as he revealed during Thursday's practice, this wasn't an attempt at clairvoyance, but rather coyness. This plan was hatched when the two spoke shortly after Brown was hired. Given MWP's less than stellar 2011 campaign, fans may assume this was a decision to improve the starting lineup. (For now, Brown says, the starting gig is a three-way race between Matt Barnes, Devin Ebanks and Luke Walton.) But as both explained, it's actually about creating a better second unit and hopefully a better version of Metta.

“I think we need to bolster our bench," Brown explained. "I think we need to able to have certain guys we can play through and I think at times, we can play through [World Peace]. Not only that, my opinion is if he’s with the starting group, there’s one basketball. I got three guys [Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum] that need touches. I got three guys in that starting unit that are post-up guys. With my second unit, [World Peace] will be one of my main guys. He’ll be one of my main post-up guys."

Added Metta: "It’s going to be good. … I get a chance to come in and have some more responsibility, which I’ve had my whole career. So it’s going to put the other team off balance because when Kobe, Pau and Bynum are out, you still got to double-team me on the block. You can’t leave me open. So at all times on the floor there’s going to be a threat. You can’t leave me on the block by myself, you can’t."

Will this plan prove effective? That remains to be seen. But on paper, thinking about the bench's needs, along with Metta's, it actually makes sense.

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With labor peace having (tentatively) arrived we can now, mercifully, start looking at actual basketball issues like roster construction. Over the weekend, we noted those areas in which the Lakers need to improve, and as more details of the new (tentative) CBA emerge, so too does a clearer picture of how they might spend their money this year and beyond.

Practically speaking, in the short term things don't change drastically. Under the old CBA, the Lakers wouldn't have much flexibility to spend on free agents, and they certainly don't now. But clearly the landscape has (tentatively) been altered, and over time the Lakers will have some serious decisions to make bringing significant consequences.

Here are a few ways in which the new world order impacts the purple and gold:

Luxury Tax:
Rule: No adjustments would be made to the luxury tax payout system ($1-to-$1) in the first two years of the agreement. The cap/tax threshold won't be any lower than it was last season.

Impact: Enormously positive. Their 2010-11 payroll ($90.4 million) was about $20 mil over the tax line. This season, the Lakers already have another $90 million (give or take) committed to nine players. Short of pulling a modified Norman Dale, they'll need a few more, meaning the number could float up. In 2012-13, L.A. has already committed $72 million to five players, plus another $3.4 mil for Derek Fisher's sure-to-be-exercised player option. This is before any decisions about Andrew Bynum, or Lamar Odom. Even if both go, obviously they'll need to be replaced, and the roster filled out. Even after potentially taking advantage of the amnesty provision (see below), without serious adjustments to the roster the Lakers are all guaranteed to be tax payers in the next two seasons.

That the penalty doesn't grow more punitive immediately makes it more likely the Lakers can keep the band together/add new members through at least two of Kobe's remaining "window" years.

When the honeymoon ends, things get dicier.

In Year three (it's a 10 year deal, but mutual opt-outs after six make it likely the we won't see the final four years) and beyond, the tax would rise to:

• $1.50-for-$1 for teams $0-$5 million into the tax
• $1.75-for-$1 between $5-$10 million
• $2.50-for-$1 at $10-$15 million
• $3.25-for-$1 from $15-$20 million

From there, teams are assessed another $.50 on the dollar for each $5 million jump, meaning teams $20-$25 million over would pay $3.75-for-$1. It's a much more punitive tax, even for massively wealthy teams like the Lakers. Via Larry Coon: "The Lakers' tax bill in 2011 (when the tax was dollar-for-dollar) was about $19.9 million. Under the new system, being that far over the tax line would cost them $44.68 million. If they were a repeat offender (paying tax at least four of the previous five years) they would owe $64.58 million!"

A couple mil here and there, and those numbers skyrocket even more.

The wild card is the influx of Time Warner money from their new TV deal. Will the Lakers pour that increased revenue into tens of millions more in tax payments and revenue sharing, or will at some point in some seasons cutbacks have to be made?

We've seen how Dr. Buss handles the current tax. Going forward, how will Jim Buss respond to a more punitive version?

But wait, there's more!

Rule: "Tax rates for teams that are taxpayers in at least 4 out of any 5 seasons (starting in 2011-12) increase by $1 at each increment (e.g., for team salary $5M-$10M above the Tax level, the Tax rate for a repeat taxpayer is $2.75-for-$1 instead of $1.75-for-$1)."

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Friday, Brian took a look at what Kobe Bryant loses in the event of a lost season. And while the purple-and-gold universe rightly revolves around The Mamba, he's not the only Laker with skin in this game. His teammates would also feel the effects of an obliterated season. The stakes vary, but none will go untouched. Here's a look at what's potentially lost for the rest of the roster if 82 games go down the porcelain.

Pau Gasol: Hall of Fame bid, a reputation cleanse
As I wrote in a recent post regarding lockouts and legacies, I don't think any Laker has more to potentially lose than Pau. Brian noted the legitimate stakes for Kobe, but I firmly believe his legacy is essentially set in stone, partially because of his excellence and partially because of the "Jordan thing," fair or not. Without an eye-popping surge in achievement (or a seriously ungraceful career twilight), I doubt the perception of Bryant changes much. Where he finishes in the G.O.A.T. rankings among pundits is an exercise in subjectivity, and an often arbitrary and meaningless one at that.

Pau, however, is in my estimation on the Hall of Fame bubble. He has been terrifically successful in the Association, and his European career certainly provides a push. At the same time, his NBA story contains many chapters about failure.

The Grizzlies were swept three times in as many playoff series with Gasol the focal point.

The 2008 Finals, when he became the face of a team unable to bang with Boston.

The 2011 Finals, when fingers pointed mostly in his direction for the sweep at Dallas' hands.

The way he continually takes two steps forward, two steps back at erasing the "Ga-soft" tag.

A third championship could firmly solidify Pau's Springfield credentials. He could make it anyway, but another title would probably tip the scales in his favor for good, and the Lakers' window as contenders ain't getting any wider. Beyond his future legacy, shedding some current baggage would be beneficial. His name is sullied right now, and this admittedly is not sitting well. The longer we go without basketball, the more negative imagery sticks.

Lamar Odom: Membership with the Lakers
Ramona Shelburne noted during the most recent edition of The Forum how a lost season could be Odom's last in a Laker uni. The salary cap will only grow more restrictive, which could necessitate painful cost-cutting. Odom, whose 2013 salary is only partially guaranteed for a $2 million buyout, could emerge a brutal casualty.

From the team's perspective, this would be a tough pill to swallow, as LO's value can't be overstated. In his primary role, he's an absolute luxury off the bench. When Andrew Bynum inevitably gets injured, Odom offsets that damage. His versatility allows him to play anywhere, make plays for others and work the glass to critical effect. I've long maintained he's among the more underrated defenders in the league, much less on the Lakers. Lamar is also the team's emotional center, and that personality would be difficult to replicate.

Plus, for fans who've watched Lamar mature over seven seasons from an enigma to a crucial part of two championships, a final season vanishing into the ether would be horrible to watch. Nothing lasts forever in sports, and there's no guarantee his career would end in purple and gold under the old CBA. Still, we can all agree he deserves a better farewell.

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