The Lakers took 23-year old, 6’10″, 235 pound forward Ater Major with the 58th overall pick of the 2011 NBA Draft.  Major played with three teams last year in Australia and Turkey and he played in 21 games in which he averaged 17.3 minutes, 8.3 points, 4.6 rebounds, 0.2 assists and 2.0 blocked shots per game.  The Lakers don’t see Major coming to the states any time soon, so this was likely a wasted pick.

The Lakers took 22-year old, 6’2″, 200 pound shooting guard Andrew Guedelock with the #46 overall pick in the 2011 NBA Draft.  Guedelock played in 37 games last year for the College of Charleston and he averaged 35.2 minutes, 23.7 points, 3.9 rebounds and 4.2 assists per game.  He played in 140 games in his four years in college and he averaged 32.8 minutes, 18.4 points, 3.3 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game.  Guedelock is also a good long range shooter as he nailed 41.2% of his shots from three point range in college.  Guedelock might get to back up Kobe Bryant next year if Shannon Brown leaves as a free agent.

The Lakers took 20-year old, 6’4″, 190 point guard Darius Morris with the 41st overall pick in the 2011 NBA Draft.  Morris played in 35 games for Michigan last year and he averaged 34.8 minutes, 15.0 points, 4.0 rebounds, 6.7 assists and 1.0 steal per game.  He played in 67 games in two years in college and he averaged 29.8 minutes, 9.9 points, 2.9 rebounds and 4.8 assists per game.  Morris will be tutored by Derek Fisher in 2011-12, and he might replace him down the road.

The Los Angeles Lakers currently hold the #41, #46, #56 and #58 picks in the NBA Draft this Thursday.  The Lakers will likely have to be lucky to find a huge impact type of player.  They really need a point guard of the future and with that in mind, I think they would take PG Norris Cole out of Cleveland State if he’s available at #41.  The Lakers will likely pick out bench type prospects with the other three picks they have in this draft.  I could see the Lakers packaging picks to move up a little bit to get a player that’s sliding that they like.

The Lakers have three free agents heading into this off-season but no worries.  SG Shannon Brown has a player option for the 2011-12 season.  I think he will pick it up, but you never know as shooting guard is pretty weak in free agency, so he could cash in.  Center Theo Ratliff will likely be allowed to walk away as he’s in the twilight of his NBA career.  PF Joe Smith is also at the end of his career, so I don’t look for the Lakers to attempt to bring him back for 2011-12.

Shaquille O’Neal spent 8 very productive seasons with the Lakers.  He played in 514 games (509 starts) with the Lakers and he averaged 35.7 minutes, 27.0 points, 11.8 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 2.5 blocked shots per game.  O’Neal finished #2 in blocked shots in Lakers’ history with 1,278 of them.  He was also #5 in rebounds (6,090) and #7 in points scored (13,895) in Lakers’ history.  O’Neal will without a doubt in my mind enter the Basketball Hall of Fame in a Lakers’ jersey as that is the team he had his most success with.  O’Neal retired from the NBA yesterday.  He played in 1,207 games (1,197 starts) in his NBA career and he averaged 34.7 minutes, 23.7 points, 10.9 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 2.3 blocked shots per game.

31-year old small forward Matt Barnes has exercised his $1.9 million dollar option to return to the Lakers for the 2011-12 season.  Barnes played in 53 games (0 starts) for the Lakers last year and he averaged 19.2 minutes, 6.7 points, 4.3 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game.  Barnes has now played in 497 games (162 starts) in his NBA career and he is averaging 21.1 minutes, 7.2 points, 4.4 rebounds and 1.7 assists per game.  The Lakers are probably happy that Barnes is coming back because he’s a solid bench player who comes at the right price.