2010-2011 Finish: 50-32

What went well

Once the magic touch of GM Wizkid proved to have fizzled out, the Los Angeles Lakers called in another old gun to revive this ailing franchise. Whispered amongst the hallowed halls of NLL myth, GM Greenmig strapped on his purple and gold to bring this franchise back to its glory. And guess what? The mad Aussie led the Lakers to their best record since the 02-03 season.

So how did he do it? With a lot of trading, a good deal of whining and a one drunken cameo at the draft, that's how. Clean-up began with a flurry of trades. He moved David West for John Salmons and Omri Casspi. He ditched Luol Deng for Mickael Pietrus and Al Thornton. He then Pietrus, along with uber-bust Hasheem Thabeet and Carl Landry to the Magic for Shannon Brown, Richard Jefferson and BJ Mullens (just one of the many rogerings GM Laddas would take this season). During this time the Lakers started to win. But Greenmig wasn't done yet.

Faster than he can call a commish a c**t, Greenmig moved Cole Aldrich, Elliott Williams and his first rounder for DeAndre Jordan and the perennially injured Kelenna Azubuike. Then he sent out perennially injured big man Troy Murphy and Casspi for expensive big man Tyson Chandler. Then it was Thornton and D.J. White for resurfaced bust Darko Milicic. And then came the biggest deal of the year as the Lakers sent Earl Barron to the Jazz for Carlos Arroyo.

With this new lineup, the Lakers finished in the fourth seed. Behind Salmons and Gilbert Arenas (yes, he finally played some games this season), they best the New Orleans Hornets 4 games to 3 in the first round. In the semi-finals, they beat the hot Mavs in seven as Arenas caught fire.

What went worse

Then they hit the Nuggets wall in the Conference Finals. Despite a series high 29.4 ppg by Salmons, Arenas and the rest of the gang cooled off as Danny Granger and Dwight Howard made mincemeat out of the Lakers. Have one on us, Greeny, you old souse.

Stars

- GM Greenmig-

Three cheers for Greeny. He took this sorry team and turned them around in less than year. He once won the NLL Championship with the Rockets. Time to do it with the Lakers?


Goats

- Steve Blake, PG -

A simple math equation: 50 GM Pts x 78 Games/5.9ppg + 3.4apg -  4 game starts = One dumb move.

Looking to the future

Greenmig and the Lakers go into the season with a load of cap space and a lot of question marks. Chandler has already declared he won't play for Greenmig next season, claiming that Aussie's penchant for internet porn and fart jokes don't agree with him. So the Lakers will need to trade him. Jordan and Milicic will be sharing center duties, but Jordan is expecting a major payday. Jeff Green should be back for a season, but he really needs to prove himself. Salmons will likely re-sign while Arenas may be on the chopping block. Expect RJ to re-sign and maybe be traded. Don't worry, fans, Blake (Mister Fifty) will still be there.

So there are so many variables at play here, who knows what the Lakers will look like for us. The draft won't provide answers as Greenmig moved his pick to the First Rounder Vampire (aka MIL). Philly boy Lavoy Allen will have to fight to make the team while Isaiah Thomas Jr has a better chance ending up on the Knicks than the Lakers.