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!

The Lakers have acquired small forward Trevor Ariza from the Magic for Brian Cook and Maurice Evans. Ariza can really run the floor and he has a much bigger upside than either of the players the Lakers traded. Ariza has played in 11 games (0 starts) so far this season and he has averaged 10.5 minutes, 3.3 points, 2.2 rebounds and 0.7 assists per game. Ariza has now played in 205 games (29 starts) in his NBA career and he has averaged 18.4 minutes, 6.2 points, 3.6 rebounds and 1.1 assists per game. Mark my words, this was a good trade for the Lakers.

The Lakers had to know that this was a possibility when they drafted Gasol. The Lakers like Gasol’s future which appears to be bright so they will have no problem waiting until Gasol is ready to become a Laker.

The Lakers have brought back guard Derek Fisher on a three year, $14 million dollar contract. Fisher decided to return to Los Angeles as the city has hospitals that can care for his daughter’s rare form of cancer. He played in 82 games (61 starts) with the Utah Jazz and he averaged 27.9 minutes, 10.1 points, 1.8 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 1.0 steal per game. He shot 38.2% from the floor, 30.8% from the three point line and 85.3% from the free throw line.

Fisher has now played in 782 NBA games (351 starts) and he has averaged 8.7 points, 2.2 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 1.1 steals per game. He has hit 39.7% of his shots from the floor, 36.8% from the three point line and 80.3% from the free throw line. The Lakers hope that the addition of Fisher will quiet Kobe Bryant down about leaving as Fisher is a friend of Kobe’s. He also is a slighty better player than Smush Parker is.

The Lakers have re-signed center Chris Mihm to a new three year contract despite the fact that he missed all of last season to injury. Mihm has played pretty well in his two healthy seasons for the Lakers. He has played in 134 games (131 starts) for them and he has averaged 10.0 points, 6.5 rebounds, 0.8 assists and 1.4 blocks per game. He has shot 50.4% from the floor and 69.5% from the free throw line as a Laker. This was a good move by the Lakers only if they think Mihm is healthy now and that they think he can be for the next three seasons.