24-year old shooting guard Shannon Brown has opted out of his contract for the 2010-11 season thus becoming a unrestricted free agent. Brown played in 82 games (7 starts) for the Lakers last season and he averaged 20.7 minutes, 8.1 points, 2.2 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game. He played in 100 games (7 starts) in his two years with the Lakers and he averaged 18.4 minutes, 7.3 points, 2.0 rebounds and 1.2 assists per game. Brown has played the best basketball of his career with the Lakers but backing up Kobe Bryant doesn’t lead to big numbers on the stat line. I think Brown will go to the team that offers him the most P.T. and cash.

With Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol, Lamar Odom, Ron Artest and Andrew Bynum eating up most of the salary cap the Lakers will be looking to add cheap talent to the bench. The Lakers are still thinking about whether or not to bring back Jordan Farmar (restricted free agent) and/or Derek Fisher (unrestricted free agent). If the Lakers let those two guys walk maybe they can bring in some combo of Nate Robinson, Earl Watson, Carlos Arroyo, Jason Williams and Keyon Dooling to handle the point. The Lakers need cheap help on the bench at almost every position so look for guys like Michael Finley, Jerry Stackhouse, Tracy McGrady, Roger Mason, Luter Head, Keith Bogans, Marquis Daniels, Rodney Carney, Ike Diogu, Shelden Williams, Anthony Tolliver and Chris Hunter to be considered. Don’t expect the Lakers to make any big moves to help them defend their NBA Title.

The Lakers have selected 22-year old forward Derek Caracter with the 58th overall pick of the NBA Draft. Caracter played in 27 games (22 starts) at Utep in which he averaged 14.1 points, 8.1 rebounds and 1.1 assists per game. He played in 80 games (36 starts) in college and he averaged 10.2 points, 5.6 rebounds and 0.6 assists per game. The Lakers don’t have a ton of depth on the roster so Caracter could get some P.T. in 2010-11.

The Lakers have selected 20-year old forward Devin Ebanks with the 43rd overall pick of the NBA Draft. Ebanks played in 34 games last season for West Virginia and he averaged 12.0 points, 8.1 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 1.1 steals per game. He played in 69 games in his college career and he averaged 11.2 points, 7.9 rebounds and 2.6 assists per game. Ebanks could get some minutes off the bench for the Lakers in 2010-11 but he will likely be brought along slowly.

Derek Fisher (unrestricted) and Jordan Farmar (restricted) are both free agents this summer and it will be interesting to see if the Lakers bring them back. Fisher is a big shot taker and maker when the playoffs come and he wants to return in 2010-11. But if he gets one last big offer to play for someone else he might leave. Farmar might get a decent offer from another team that is willing to give him a legit shot at a starting job. I think the Lakers would like to bring him back but I don’t see them overpaying to do it. Shannon Brown has a player option for 2010-11 and it will be interesting to see what he does. He might get more money/playing time from another team which might mean more to him than playing for another ring. Time will tell. D.J. Mbenga and Josh Powell are both unrestricted free agents and the Lakers would likely get them to come back at their price. Adam Morrison is a restricted free agent and I don’t see him coming back to the Lakers if anyone gives him an offer over the NBA minimum because he isn’t much of a player.