How Will the Lakers Fare with Kobe's Return?

Credit: Beyond The Buzzer

Kobe Bryant is set to return in tomorrow's game against the Raptors. You know he loves to play the Raptors, he scored 81 on them in 2006 and last time against Toronto was an epic comeback game with three ridiculous threes to send it to OT and then win with the dunk. Now we can't expect any heroics like that so early in his return especially as D'antoni has said he only wants to play Kobe 20 minutes at the moment.

The Lakers are 10-9 now and are 10th in the Western Conference. I always said that if they could be at 500 or better without Kobe they would make the playoffs. Without Kobe the team has been flowing, the ball movement has been outstanding and the chemistry perfect. Kobe's return adds even more depth to the already deepest roster in the league. Now Meeks who has been a top 3 scorer for the Lakers and having a breakout season will come off the bench adding another weapon to the league's highest scoring bench. Some doubters believe the ball movement and chemistry will be ruined once Kobe comes back and he will take too many shots. However look at last season where the Mamba had a few games with 14 assists and ended with 6 assists per game the highest from any shooting guard.

Kobe coming up Clutch v Raptors

In fact I believe the ball movement will be improved and other players will find themselves with better looks than they have gotten this season. This will be instrumental for Shawne Williams who has yet to find his mark from 3 and should help Meeks, Young, Blake and Wes Johnson who are already having incredible seasons!

This team is still missing Nash and Farmar will be out until early January however I think they may be able to compete come playoff time. This team is eerily similar to the 08-09 team that beat Orlando in the Finals. Wes Johnson can hit the three ball and has proven early in the season to be an athletic defender just like Trevor Ariza was, Nash or Blake is an upgrade on Derek Fisher who only averaged 10 PPG and 3 APG. Steve Blake is orchestrating the offense better than D-Fish did however the Lakers did play the Triangle back then. Off the bench you have Meeks who is similar to Vujacic except Meeks can put the ball on the ground. Farmar and Nash as the two back up point guards are better than a younger Farmar in 09 and Shannon Brown who only averaged 3 PPG in season and 5 PPG in playoffs. Now they don't have a Lamar Odom coming off the bench however they have Nick Young, Shawne Williams and Chris Kaman. Jordan Hill and Sacre (Who is suprisingly playing well) are taking the spot of Bynum. Bynum only averaged 6 points and 3 rebounds in the playoffs of 09 so Hill/Sacre are actually an upgrade in terms of the stat sheet, and obviously there are two of them as opposed to one Bynum. Kobe and Pau would need to play at their respective levels and I believe both can. Pau will play better with Kobe and Kobe will continue being Kobe. D'antoni is a great coach he is receiving incredible amounts from his players, no one expected this team to be above 500. It is a long stretch to say the Lakers can win the championship this season but hey it's not impossible. And you can't deny this squad is eerily similar to the 09 squad but now they are deeper and more versatile.

The 08-09 Lakers and the 13-14 Lakers are very similar

Will Lakers make the playoffs and if so what seed? Do they have a shot at the ring if healthy?