The offseason.

The Lakers are the reigning NBA champs. Weeks after capturing their 15th title, major moves have been made in LA. We would like to apologize on behalf of DailyDynasty for slacking but hey, we've been soaking in the victory like the rest of the fans. But it's back to business.

Rumors were spreading through LA that the Lakers couldn't afford both Trevor Ariza and Lamar Odom, both vital parts and keys to the 09 championship. The rumors turned into truth. After Ariza's agent lost at playing lowball with Mitch Kupchack and Trevor was sweet talked by the Rockets staff, TA3 decided to join the Houston Rockets for a similar contract offered to him by the Lakers. Maybe a gift, maybe a curse. During the same week a long time rumor also came true. Ron Artest will be donning a purple and gold uniform along side Kobe Bryant an Pau Gasol towards defending their NBA title. Wearing #37 in honor of the late Michael Jackson, Artest looks to provide the same defense as Ariza and a much more polished and senior offense to the triangle. Many think of Ron Ron as a wild card, but in joining the Lakers, the NBA were all surely in a panic. We will update with all of the player movement within the next week. More drama surrounded Lakerland when rumors of Lamar Odom were getting serious.

Another rumor was floating around about the covenanted Lakers Sixth Man leaving, would it come true? Dwayne Wade of Miami was tweeting away asking Lamar to come to the Heat and finish off his career with him. Pat Riley who has always spoke highly of Lamar and loves him as a person also made a trip to LA with Wade to try and finalize a deal with Lamar after having contract issues with the Lakers. Things were definitely not going well when Dr Buss pulled off any deals that were offered to Lamar off the table. Could we lose another forward and championship peice to free agency again? In the end, the Candyman turned down a 5 year deal with Miami and a last minute 5 year lucrative deal with Portland to accept a new 33 million/4 year contract with the Lakers to help defend their title.

It may have been loss in Trevor, but most would call it an upgrade with Ron. The Candyman is back and Lakerland is peaceful. I know it's early but can we say it together? Repeat!

Powell & Mbenga Back for 2009-10.

Yeah buddy! Looks like JPeezy and Congo Cash will be joining the Lakers for another run at the Championship!

Lakers.com: Power forward Josh Powell and center D.J. Mbenga will remain on the Lakers’ roster for the 2009-10 seasons after L.A. opted not to terminate their respective non guaranteed contracts by the July 1 deadline, according to Lakers spokesman John Black.

Powell and Mbenga each had a year left on their contracts, and since neither was acted upon, the 6-10 and 7-0 post players are guaranteed through the coming season.

Click here to read full article.

LAKERS 2009 NBA CHAMPIONS!

NEED I SAY MORE?!?

Lakers are the 09' Champs!
105 games and 7 holes in my wall later, Lakers come out Victorious.
Oh by the way. Kobe also won Finals MVP!

Finals: Game 2 Highlights.

In case you missed it last night. Here's the highlights of Game 1 of the NBA Finals. Check it out and watch the Lakers do some damage.

Lakers pull out win.. Barely.

Lakers pull out a win in a close game in OT that could have gone either way. Game 2 easily could have been won by Orlando with a brilliant play drawn up by Stan Van Gundy for a Courtney Lee lob with 0.06 seconds left in the fourth quarter. Unfortunately for the rookie, he came up short. And aside from a 3 point play by Howard and a three from Lewis, OT was all Lakers. Experience in the Lakers part took over and won the game.

Game 2 started off really slow. Both teams finishing with 15pts at the end of 1st, which is the lowest combined score in the first in NBA Finals history. And aside from the last minutes of the 4th quarter and OT, it never really picked up. For the first time this season, I'd have to say that the Lakers' defense was better than their offense. And even then I can't say they played great D. I will say that Magic played a much better game on both ends, but still wasn't enough.

Most people would say Odom was the best player on the floor last night. He did a bit of everything. Shot very efficient and finished with 19pts, 8rebs, and 3blks. But in my opinion, I thought Gasol had a better game. Pau was effective as usual but for the second game did well in defending Howard. Gasol also had 7 crucial points in OT. Odom was great offensively and at times made great defensive plays. But altogether, his defense was spotty. Time after time he left Lewis open for threes and was pretty much the reason why the Magic held on for so long. Now you can make the argument that he was helping on Howard, but many times it was because Lamar was ball watching.

Kobe had a mediocre game. I can't say that he played poorly but the man did have 7 turnovers and did make some stupid plays. He passed to Shannon when Shannon wasn't there and didn't pass to Odom when he was completely open. But then again if Kobe didn't get blocked and made that shot he wouldn't have got criticized for it. It would have just been classic Kobe. Right?

Orlando's Big three came out Big in last night's game. All three shot the ball very well, passed, rebounded well, and made the right plays.. most of the time. But the lack of contribution from the rest of their team resulted in their loss. The fact that they missed 7 free throws and turned the ball over 20 times doesn't help them either. They had horrible guard play and at times didn't play with one. I will say that Hedo did a great job in defending Kobe. I also thought Reddick did a way better job defending Kobe than Pietrus and Lee did.

The Lakers now head to Orlando for Game 3. And if they hope to win the title there they better tighten a few things up. A couple of screws seemed to have gone loose in the Lakers defense. They also need to crash boards again like they did in Game 1. We'll see how well they bounce back in Game 3 on Thursday.

Resilience.

One word has been used to describe the Orlando Magic. Resilience. Resilience is defined as "the capability of a strained body to recover its size and shape after deformation caused especially by compressive stress." In other words, regardless of what happened in Game 1, the Magic have the ability to bounce back after their horrible loss to the Lakers. The Lakers should have the same outlook. Kobe had the right idea when asked about the game, he simply said to "forget about it."

Orlando has been down in most of the Playoffs but always found a way to come back. In the first round, Philly up 2-1 in the series, Orlando came back and even closed out the series Howard-less. They faced elimination twice in the 2nd round against the Celtics but won two straight to advance to the Conference Finals. And then ultimately got past the No. 1 seeded Cavs in six games. Which could have easily been a sweep.

Now they look to bounce back after being dominated by the Lakers. I'm pretty sure they won't be held under 30% shooting, and I doubt we'll be able to hold Dwight to just only one basket this time around. I feel that Orlando will come out with great energy and put out a lot of effort.

The Lakers only need to do what they did in Game 1. We can't afford to lose a game. Kobe will not allow it. They need to come out with the same energy and effort they did in the first game. Keep Howard as far from the paint as possible. Close out on the shooters and rotate. But most important they need to control the boards. If we do all that then it doesn't matter how much the Magic have improve the past couple days. If the Lakers play to their potential, they're unbeatable.

Odom: "I expect to be a Laker."

Well, there you go Laker fans. My favorite Laker, Lamar Odom, AKA "The Goods", and newly named "The Candyman" is here to stay.

L.A. Times: “I love it here. . . . It would take an offer that I couldn’t refuse for me to leave here, and I don’t think that’s happening,” Odom says. “I expect to be a Laker.”

“Yes, yes, he should be back on this team, we need him badly,” said Pau Gasol.