How much can Carlos Boozer actually help the Lakers this season? Photo by By Keith Allison from Owings Mills, USA, via Wikimedia Commons

This year, the Lakers might be the third-best team in California, but that won’t stop them from being an interesting team to keep tabs on. Owen and Andy go through the roster and try to figure out what reasonable expectations for this team’s roster are and which of their young players with upside might be a candidate to break-out.

Swaggy P is going to either make things really exciting, or his antics will make Kobe’s head explode. Either way it will be must-see TV. By Tubofgaming via Wikimedia Commons

He started by appending his initial comment with “just playin’.” But as Swaggy P’s conversation with Jim Rome a few weeks ago continued, it became clear that a large part of Swaggy P believes it. In many NBA cities, an attitude like Swaggy P’s would not work for a player like him. In his hometown, in the middle of Tinseltown, it plays amazingly.

Rome, who is a Southern California native, understands what I’ve been saying about the Lakers for the past few years. In Los Angeles, you can’t just be good. Whether you’re a singer, actor, or athlete in this town, being relevant in Hollywood is probably more important than being good.

The Buss family knows they aren’t going to be good, so the least they can do is make it fun to come watch every night. Nick Young will almost guarantee that. He is fearless to a fault and we haven’t seen as much of his on-court interaction with Kobe Bryant as I was hoping for at the beginning of last year. Watching their interaction alone will keep me tuned-in, even when games get out of hand.

Don’t get me wrong — the Lakers will be bad. They might be .500 if everything falls into place. If it doesn’t, they might not be much better than they were this year.

At least they won’t be ridiculously boring though.

Rooting for a losing team is informing. It helps a fan stay grounded and take pleasure in the little parts of athletic competition. It also winning — when it comes around again — much more fun and satisfying. The Lakers’ last five titles would not have been as sweet without the mid-90’s mediocrity. Those mid-90’s teams were fun though. Rooting for Pig Miller was never a winning proposition, but it was entertaining.

Nick Young is entertaining — about that there is no question in my mind. Whether he can be good on a very good team is still a question I ask. For the next few years, in a Lakerland made gloomy by the dark clouds of Kobe’s contract and aging, Swaggy’s ability to be good on a good team may be a moot point.

So I’ll say it again. In this city, where entertainment is the main currency, the Lakers re-signing Swaggy P just makes sense.

Swaggy P will be in Los Angeles for another four years. By Keith Allison, via Wikimedia Commons

Don’t worry Lakers fans. On the biggest day in NBA free agent history, your Lakers weren’t left out. No, they didn’t get LeBron, Carmelo, Bosh or Wade. They didn’t trade for Kevin Love and they didn’t lure a free agent away from any other team.

Instead, they reportedly locked up Nick Young for four more years.

Co-hosting the Sports Bite on ESPN Radio 1280 this week, Mike Wozniak asked me in as many words how long Lakers fans should be prepared for the team to be bad for.

I got the answer today. About four years. Don’t get me wrong though — I love Nick Young.

If my team can’t be good — and let’s be clear, the Lakers are going to be bad again next season — I at least want them to be entertaining. Nick Young is definitely that.

Young will give fans a reason to be in the building. On one side of the court you’ll find Kobe Bryant. Bryant, the consummate professional, will continue to hone his craft late into his career. He is a beacon of the Lakers’ dominant past and his riding off into the sunset sometime in the next few years will mark the end of a great era in Lakers history.

Contrast that with Nick Young. Swaggy P is as entertaining as they come. I watched three quarters of a game last year where he went toe to toe with LeBron James. For as much as Young is really bad defensively, he has never seen a shot he doesn’t like and he doesn’t have any conscience. If Manny Ramirez were a basketball player, he might be Swaggy P. Think about it — no defense, offensively gifted, comes off as slightly air headed. It’s a perfect fit.

In the town where he went to college, the USC product should be an entertaining sideshow while the Lakers try to rebuild. He will do things from time to time that keep them in the spotlight. He will have lots of memorable moments over the next four years. Don’t expect him to lift the Lakers a lot higher than they went this year.

What’s that you say? You’d like a full hour of Nick Young offensive highlights from last year? You got it!

YouTube is great, isn’t it? Here are some sweet older highlights. Hunker down, Lakers fans. The next four years are going to be at the same time impossible to watch and, if we’re lucky, impossible to turn away from.

The 2013 NBA offseason had major implications on the fate of the league in the coming years. This offseason brought fans many unusual moves. Big-name players switched teams, the “bad” teams got better, and some of the most historic teams in history look as they are going to fall off the map for awhile. Clearly, the league is going through some changes both in players and perception.

Can LeBron and the Heat win a third straight NBA title or will another team de-throne them? By Steve Jurvetson (Flickr: LeBron James), via Wikimedia Commons

Josh Smith joined the Pistons, Andre Igoudala joined Golden State (this one happened before Howard), Al Jefferson joined the Bobcats, Chris Kaman and Nick Young went to the Lakers, Metta World Peace joined the Knicks, Paul Millsap went to Atlanta, Brandon Knight and Brandon Jennings were traded for each other, Monta Ellis went to Dallas, Greg Oden and Michael Beasley joined Miami, Chauncey Billups went back to Detroit and Andrew Bynum and his hair move to Cleveland, where (of course) a bank is located.

Within all the madness, there were a few retirements and coaching moves too. Doc Rivers left Boston to become the Clippers coach, and Jason Kidd became the Nets coach. George Karl and Lionel Hollins lost their jobs despite the Nuggets and Grizzlies having great seasons. In addition to Jason Kidd retiring, Grant Hill and Tracy McGrady also decided it was time to hang it up.

For me, one move made me feel sick to my stomach and I’m a Lakers fan. Longtime Celtics Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett were dealt to the Nets and for some reason that makes me mad. It has recently come out that LeBron and the Miami Heat are critical of the move since both Pierce and Garnett criticized Ray Allen last season for leaving Boston and joining Miami. Unlike Allen, Pierce and Garnett were traded away, and although Garnett waived his no trade clause he did it because he wanted to keep playing alongside Pierce. The move of Pierce and Garnett means the Celtics (like the Lakers) will probably have less than spectacular seasons ahead.

The NBA looks as it is shaping up to be great in the next ten or so years and I for one, am very excited. There is so much young talent in the league and it will only get better. The 2013-14 season tips off in a couple weeks and I will be glued to my TV all season long.

Who do you think was the biggest NBA move of the summer? Comment below!

Ahh the NBA season is upon us in the form of pre-season games. While the pre-season may not count towards actual standings and won’t show what teams are really capable of, it does provide a chance for coaches and fans to watch as younger players try to prove themselves on the court and earn their right onto the team. This is especially true for the Lakers this pre-season. With injuries limiting Steve Nash and Pau Gasol, the youngsters and role players are getting a chance to make a name for themselves with coach D’Antoni.

Without Nash, Gasol and Kobe, the Lakers beat the Warriors showing promising talents. Maybe Kobe does have something to smile about this season. By LDCross, via Wikimedia Commons

They were hustling back after offensive possessions and were flying to guard the ball. The energy they brought was unlike anything we saw from a D’Antoni-run team. Only allowing 95 points to the Warriors was impressive as the Warriors played their starters and main role players most of the first half.

Without Kobe Bryant, Steve Nash and Pau Gasol, the young Lakers led the Warriors starters by three at halftime. Granted Xavier Henry earned the lead on a half-court heave at the buzzer but a lead is a lead nonetheless. Free agent signees, Chris Kaman and Nick Young led the way in the first half for the Lakers and really set the tone for the rest of the game. In the second half Jordan Farmar and Xavier Henry carried the load with a 12 point and 27 point games respectively. Henry showed off what everyone thought he was capable of doing when Memphis drafted him number 12 overall back in the 2010 draft. If he keeps this kind of play up, he will most certainly be granted a roster spot and it would be well deserved.

It may have been just one game but that one game showed a lot of hustle and heart from a team that really needs a lot of both this year. If Kobe, Nash and Gasol can all come back and play to the level we have grown to expect from them, this might actually be a scary team in the Western Conference. I’m not saying that the Lakers would be a championship contending team. I do, however, think they could become a team that nobody wants to see come playoff time. Also, this was the Lakers first pre-season win since 2011 and Mike D’Antoni’s first of his Laker career. Keep up the good work, boys.