The Lakers have signed 24-year old power forward Josh McRoberts to a 2-year, $6.2 million dollar deal.  McRoberts played in 72 games (51 starts) for the Pacers last year and he averaged 22.2 minutes, 7.4 points, 5.3 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game.  He shot 38.3% from three point range which is pretty solid for a guy his size.  McRoberts has now played in 155 games (54 starts) in his first four years in the NBA and he is averaging 15.7 minutes, 5.2 points, 3.8 rebounds and 1.4 assists per game.  McRoberts will help replace Lamar Odom a little bit.

The Lakers will be without 23-year old power forward Derrick Caracter for about two months due to surgery on his left knee.  Caracter played in 41 games (0 starts) for the Lakers last year and he averaged 5.2 minutes, 2.0 points, 1.0 rebound and 0.2 assists per game.  This is a bad break for the second year player, as Caracter was in line to see a nice bump in P.T. in 2011-12.

25-year old SG/SF Shannon Brown has opted out of his contract for the 2011-12 season with the Lakers.  Brown played in 82 games (0 starts) for the Lakers last year and he averaged 19.1 minutes, 8.7 points, 1.9 rebounds and 1.2 assists per game.  He played in 182 games (7 starts) in his three years with the Lakers and Brown averaged 18.7 minutes, 7.9 points, 2.0 rebounds and 1.2 assists per game.  Shannon Brown is bolting for a few reasons.  He might get to start if he goes to another team and the potential is there for him to get a nice raise.  Brown was also drafted by the Cleveland Cavaliers when Mike Brown was the head coach and he never gave him much of a chance to play.  Players don’t forget stuff like that.

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 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.

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.

The Los Angeles Lakers have signed 41-year old Mike Brown to a 4-year, $18.25 million dollar deal.  The 4th year of the contract is essentially a team option as they can buy Brown out for $2.5 million bucks if he’s not getting the job done.  Brown was the NBA’s Coach of the Year in 2008-09 with the Cleveland Cavaliers.  He led the Cavs to a 66-16 (80.5%) record during the regular season and they were 10-4 in the playoffs in 2008-09.  Brown coached the Cavaliers for five years in which he compiled a 272-138 (66.3%) record during the regular season and a 42-29 (59.2%) record in the playoffs.  The Cavaliers fired Coach Brown to try to appease LeBron James so he would stay in Cleveland.  That didn’t work, so Brown has landed on his feet in L.A.

65-year old head coach Phil Jackson appears ready to call it a career.  He led the Lakers to a 57-25 record (69.5%) during the regular season and he was 4-6 (40%) during the playoffs in 2010-11.  Jackson has been the head coach of the Lakers for 11 years in which he compiled a 610-292 (67.6%) record during the regular season and a 118-63 (65.2%) record during the playoffs.  Jackson helped the Lakers win 5 NBA Championships in his 11 years in charge.  Jackson likely finishes his NBA career with a 1,155-485 (70.4%) during the regular season and he is 229-104 (68.8%) during the playoffs.  Jackson has won 11 NBA Titles as a head coach and that is the most in league history.  Whoever follows Phil Jackson as the Lakers’ head coach will likely be under the microscope from Day #1.