Final Offseason Grades for the Los Angeles Lakers

The Los Angeles Lakers have now completed most of their preseason schedule and the start of the regular season is less than a week away. After seven games, we are beginning to get an idea of what to expect from certain players on the Lakers roster, almost enough of a sample size to allow us the opportunity to grade the Lakers at this stage of the offseason, 0-7 preseason record and all.

Some players used the preseason to showcase their refined game, while others clearly took advantage of the preseason schedule to to work out a few kinks in their arsenal.The end result was a mixed bag, with some standout performances and some underwhelming ones alike.

 

Key New Players: B-

The newest Lakers additions of Steve Nash and Dwight Howard were two offseasons that are difficult to evaluate at this stage. Nash appeared to be probing the majority of his preseason minutes to get a feel for his new teammates and offense. The end result was Nash taking very few shots and averaging only six points per game and four assists per game in 22.7 minutes. 



Dwight Howard has only appeared in one preseason game with the Lakers but that one appearance was a memorable one. Howard registered 19 points, 12 rebounds and four blocks in his lone preseason game, giving Lakers fans a glimpse of what is to come with monster dunks, blocks and aggressive rebounding.

Antawn Jamison will be looked upon to be the Lakers' sixth man this year, but the early results of his role with the Lakers have left much to be desired. Jamison has failed to reach double digits in scoring in any of the seven preseason games and has struggled to find his shooting stroke so far. To his credit, Jamison has played the majority of his preseason minutes strictly with second- and third-stringers, so his looks at the basket will improve by playing with a more balanced lineup.

 

Returning Players: B+
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