By the time the Lakers picked in the NBA Draft there wasn’t much left to choose from so they selected shooting guard Joe Crawford. Crawford is 6′5″, 207 pounds and he’s a polished player. He played in 127 games (76 starts) at Kentucky and he averaged 11.3 points, 3.4 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game. Don’t look for him to get much playing time in the near future for the Lakers as he will be way too far down the depth chart.

The Lakers have acquired power forward/center Pau Gasol from the Grizzlies for Kwame Brown, Javaris Crittenton, Aaron McKie, the draft rights to Marc Gasol, a first round pick in 2008 (top 3 protected) and a first round pick in 2010 (top 6 protected). Pau Gasol makes the Lakers a legit contender for the NBA Championship this season. Gasol played in 39 games (all starts) this season for the Grizzlies and he averaged 36.7 minutes, 18.9 points, 8.8 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 1.4 blocked shots per game. Gasol has shot 50.1% from the floor this season and 81.9% from the free throw line. Gasol has now played in 476 games (470 starts) in his NBA career and he has averaged 35.5 minutes, 18.8 points, 8.6 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 1.8 blocked shots per game. Gasol has career shooting percentages of 50.9% from the floor, 23% from the three point line and 73% from the free throw line. The Lakers also get a 2010 2nd round draft pick from the Grizzlies. This is a awesome trade for the Lakers!

Reserve small forward/shooting guard Trevor Ariza will miss at least the next 8 weeks with a broken bone in his right foot. Ariza has played in 24 games (3 starts) this season with the Lakers and he is averaging 18.0 minutes, 6.5 points, 3.5 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 1.1 steals per game. Ariza has shot well for the Lakers since coming over from the Magic as he’s hitting 52.4% of his shots from the floor.

The Lakers will be without starting center Andrew Bynum for at least the next 8 weeks due to a dislocated kneecap. This will hurt the Lakers big time as Bynum has been really playing well this season. Bynum has played in 35 games so far this season and he’s averaging 28.8 minutes, 13.1 points, 10.2 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 2.1 blocks per game. Kwame Brown and Ronny Turiaf will pick up the minutes to replace Bynum. Brown has played in 15 games so far this season and he is averaging 19.2 minutes, 4.8 points, 4.7 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game. But, Brown has been a bust so far in his NBA career so the Lakers will likely suffer a huge dropoff in production from the center position. Ronny Turiaf is a hustling player that always gives his all but he has physical limitations in playing center. Turiaf has played in 32 games so far this season and he’s averaging 16.2 minutes, 6.0 points, 3.4 rebounds and 1.2 assists per game.

The Lakers have lost cener Chris Mihm for the next 3-4 weeks with a sore Achilles. He has played in 19 games (5 starts) this season and he is averaging 13.3 minutes, 4.1 points, 3.7 rebounds and 0.6 assists per game. He is only shooting 36.9% from the floor and 64% from the free throw line so far this season. The Lakers will just have to give Andrew Bynum more playing time now and that should be a good thing for them.