The Lakers bench is full of veterans but that’s not a good thing as their isn’t a lot of talent there. Kwame Brown will likely get the most playing time of the bench players and that’s not a good thing as he’s vastly overrated as a basketball player. He played in 41 games (28 starts) last season for the Lakers and he averaged 27.6 minutes, 8.4 points, 6.0 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 1.2 blocks per game. Also, Brown can’t be on the court at the end of a half or game because he only shot 44% from the free throw line last season. Jordan Farmar will probably get a lot of playing time as Derek Fisher’s backup. Farmar played in 72 games (2 starts) as a rookie last season for the Lakers and he averaged 15.2 minutes, 4.4 points, 1.7 rebounds and 1.9 assists per game. Maurice Evans played pretty well last season as a backup at both small forward and shooting guard. He played in 76 games (10 starts) last season and he averaged 22.8 minutes, 8.4 points, 2.9 rebounds and 1.0 assist per game. Brian Cook will likely backup at both forward spots. His main asset is his shooting which is strange for a player his size as he has nailed 40% of his three point attempts last year. Cook played in 65 games (24 starts) last season for the Lakers and he averaged 15.6 minutes, 6.9 points, 3.3 rebounds and 1.0 assist per game. Vladimir Radmanovic has potential to be a good producer off of the bench if he can get out of the Lakers dog house after injuring himself snow boarding last season and lying about how he did it. He played in 55 games (15 starts) last season for the Lakers and he averaged 18.0 minutes, 6.6 points, 3.3 rebounds and 1.2 assists per game. Sasha Vujacic only has one skill and it’s long range shooting so he probably won’t get a lot of playing time this season. Vujacic played in 73 games (4 starts) last season and he averaged 12.8 minutes, 4.3 points, 1.5 rebounds and 0.9 assists per game. Center Chris Mihm is back after missing all of last season due to ankle surgery. He has played in 395 games (251 starts) in his NBA career and he has averaged 21.2 minutes, 8.0 points, 5.6 rebounds and 0.5 assists. Rookie first round pick Javaris Crittenton is likely the starting point guard of the future for the Lakers but he’ll have to wait a little while before he gets the job.

To be fair, the Lakers will be without Lamar Odom for the first week or two of the season due to injury and that will hurt the starting lineup. After all, he did average 39.3 minutes, 15.9 points, 9.8 rebounds and 4.8 assists per game last season for the Lakers. Still, this is Kobe Bryant’s show as long as he’s in L.A. and who knows how long that will be. Bryant played in 77 games (all starts) last season for the Lakers and he averaged 40.8 minutes, 31.6 points, 5.7 rebounds, 5.4 assists and 1.4 steals per game. Derek Fisher has returned to L.A. so that his daughter will be close to a hospital that can treat her eye cancer. Hopefully things turn out good for his little baby girl. On the court, Fisher will be the starting point guard for the Lakers. He played in 82 games (61 starts) last season for the Jazz and he averaged 27.9 minutes, 10.1 points, 1.8 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 1.0 steal per game. The Lakers need to start Andrew Bynum at center and give him big minutes to see if he can be the dominant big man that they think he can be. Bynum played in 82 games (53 starts) for the Lakers last season and he averaged 21.9 minutes, 7.8 points, 5.9 rebounds, 1.1 assists and 1.6 blocks per game. Luke Walton will be the starting small forward and he will be looking to follow up the best year of his NBA career. Walton played in 60 games (all starts) last season for the Lakers and he averaged 33.0 minutes, 11.4 points, 5.0 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 1.0 steal per game. Ronny Turiaf will start at power forward until Odom is ready to return. It will be a huge dropoff. Turiaf played in 72 games (1 start) for the Lakers and he averaged 15.1 minutes, 5.3 points, 3.6 rebounds, 0.9 assists and 1.1 blocks per game.

Starting power forward Lamar Odom will miss the first week or two of the season with a shoulder injury. This will hurt the Lakers big time as Odom is Kobe Bryant’s only real help on offense. Odom played in 56 games last season and he averaged 15.9 points, 9.8 rebounds and 4.8 assists per game. Ronny Turiaf will start in Odom’s place until he’s ready to return. Turiaf played in 72 games (1 start) for the Lakers last season and he averaged 5.3 points, 3.6 rebounds, 0.9 assists and 1.1 blocks per game. Turiaf will do a decent job of playing defense and rebounding until Odom can return but the Lakers offense will suffer a little bit.