But is their team finally complete?
It certainly would appear so.
The Lakers added star power by bringing in Nash and Howard, but they also solidified their reserve corps by signing Jodie Meeks and Antawn Jamison in deals that received much less publicity.
Los Angeles has managed to address every major team concern this summer, and right now it has to be considered a very strong contender to reach the 2012-13 NBA Finals, so why should the Lakers be greedy, right?
At this point, any criticism of the Lakers current roster would be nitpicking or hate, but the lack of overall team athleticism might be a concern.
And if the Lakers really want to address it, they could re-visit a trade scenario that virtually fell into their laps at the time.
The Los Angeles Times previously reported that the Atlanta Hawks were interested in swapping forward Josh Smith for Pau Gasol, and adding Howard to the Lakers roster could breathe new life into the discussion.
It's no secret that Howard and Smith maintain a close relationship that dates back to their days as AAU players in Atlanta, and the NBA landscape has changed dramatically with Howard going to Los Angeles.
The Hawks killed the Smith-for-Gasol deal because they felt the Lakers were asking for too much in return for Gasol. Atlanta general manager Danny Ferry instead decided to keep Smith and purge his roster of high salaries, in an assumed bid to lure Howard to Atlanta.
Ferry jettisoned Joe Johnson and his $90 million contract as well as Marvin Williams and his horrible contract, but now the Hawks have plenty of salary cap space and no real targets for the future.
Of course, theoreticall...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Los Angeles Lakers
