The Zen Master worked his magic, leading this team that had Kobe Bryant, Lamar Odom and, uh, did I mention they had Kobe Bryant? Well, Mamba led the Lakers back to the playoffs but they ended up choking against the Phoenix Suns in the first round, ending a positive season on a very serious down note. Last year’s Lakers were a pretty good example of how a team will score a certain number of points, so somebody will end up having some value. We all knew that Kobe would be among the elite, that Odom would be a not-quite-superstar and that Kwame Brown would suck it hard. Other than that, we really weren’t sure. After a preseason in which people thought that Aaron McKie – Aaron McKie! – might end up as the team’s starting PG, Smush Parker emerged as an unlikely fantasy asset. Not much has changed this year, save the addition for Vladimir Radmanovic, who might finally get that starting spot he’s long desired, which might make him even more of a fantasy tease. Still, everybody knows this is Kobe’s show and if last season was any indication, there’s no telling what he might do.

The Stud: Kobe Bryant, SG
It’s not like we didn’t know that he had it in him. Bryant came through with the third-highest non-Wilt Chamberlain scoring season in the history of the league, his 35.4 ppg behind only MJ’s 37.1 in 86-87 and Rick Barry’s 35.6 back in 66-67. The highlight was, of course, his 81-point outburst against the Raptors. Not to be a shill for the NBA full court package, but I actually watched that happen live. It was pretty great. Besides the career-high in points, Kobe also set a career-high with 2.3 3pg, 10.2 FTA (while shooting an awesome 85%), and his 1.8 spg was the second best mark of his career. Sure, his boards and assists dipped, but he also knocked one whole turnover off from 05-06 and managed to shoot a very respectable 45% while taking a ridiculous 27 shots per game. After missing big chunks of time in each of the previous two seasons, it was a perfect season of health for Bryant, as his only missed games came after he gave a Macho Man-worthy elbow to Mike Miller. It all added up to the second-best fantasy season in the league. So what can he do for an encore? We all know Kobe is one of the most gifted scorers in the history of the league, but expecting him to average 35 ppg might be asking a bit much. His offseason knee surgery wasn’t of the dreaded microfracture variety, but it’s at least a small concern. We just ran our draft order in my league and I drew the fourth pick, so I’ll be paying close attention to Kobe until draft day. Assuming that LeBron, Marion and Garnett go as the top three, that leaves Kobe and Dirk Nowitzki as the two most logical options at the #4 spot. I’m torn. Thoughts?

The Support: Lamar Odom, F
He was the #2 option on his team, played 80 games and averaged 40 mpg in those contests. So while you may look at his stat line and see slight drops in points, rebounds and blocks, it was still a very productive season for Odom. This isn’t to say he isn’t a frustrating player to own. You probably won’t find another player taken in the first three rounds who had more than 20 games in which he didn’t even take 10 shots. But that’s just how Odom operates, so accept it. He was just outside the top 20 in total assists, a great competitive advantage for someone who qualifies at PF, especially since he was still near the top in boards. The knowledge that just one sweet, sweet bong hit could knock him out for the season is still a bit scary, but we’d like to think that Odom has matured, especially in the wake of his tragic offseason. He finished 20/24 on the player rater – probably considerably lower in leagues that count turnovers – but you probably don’t want him as your second best player. He does make a pretty excellent third best player, though, as FT% is really his only weakness, as you can pretty much count on him for somewhere around 15/10/5 with around 1 each in 3s, steals and blocks. He’s earned Phil Jackson’s trust and should continue to see tons of minutes, and you know we love that.

The Supporting Support: Vladimir Radmanovic, PF
It’s mostly for lack of a better alternative, really. Everyone’s always enamored with a big man who can hit 3s, but that only works if the 3s come with the usual big man stats. Otherwise it’s just trading one strength for another weakness. Radmanovic has a sweet stroke but is a terrible percentage shooter, doesn’t grab many boards or block many shots. So yeah, he’ll hit a couple of 3s per game, but he acts just like any of a number swingmen. It looks like Radmanovic will be the starting SF for the Lakers, but this is a guy who has always struggled to reach 30 mpg and I don’t really see that changing this year, especially with the Lakers best depth at this position with Luke Walton and Brian Cook. He is strictly a three-point specialist, and if you spend a late-round pick on him strictly for that purpose, fine. But if you’re waiting for some sort of Dirk Nowitzki breakout, well, please stop.

The Sleeper: Smush Parker, PG
It’s hard to call a guy who finished last season at #60 on the player rater a sleeper, but I’ve got a feeling that people are still skeptical of Parker. He’s not your typical starting PG, but that’s not really necessary on Phil and Kobe’s Lakers. Everyone kept waiting for him to drop off as the year went on, but he remained a remarkably consistent fantasy contributor throughout the season, averaging between 11 and 12 points in every month. Not many starting PGs will average fewer assists than Parker, but he makes up for it with solid numbers in 3s and steals. There’s nobody on the Lakers roster who seems likely to displace Parker as the starter – not rookie Jordan Farmar, not Euro League signee Shammond Williams, not noted bricklayer Sasha Vujacic. Parker doesn’t need to show any real improvement to remain a solid option, and it’s probable that he won’t. Still, it’s nice to have someone who will get you 1.5 3s and 1.5 steals, especially when you can probably grab them late in the draft. Don’t reach for Smush, but there’s little chance of you needing to do so. Grab him as a PG3 or for one of your utility slots and you should be fine.

The Slacker: Kwame Brown, FC
Oh, like it was going to be anyone else. Brown actually found a decent little niche for himself in Los Angeles by the end of the year. And that was as someone who crashed the boards, didn’t take many shots that weren’t layups, missed tons of free throws and had pure stone hands. After five seasons in the league it’s time to stop waiting for Brown to become any sort of offensive force. It’s just not happening. He’s shown very little skill on the offensive end, since he has those terrible hands and tends to travel or get called for charging every other time he tries to back someone down. He may beat out Chris Mihm for the starting center spot, but he’s still not worth starting since he has never shown that he can block shots. He averaged just 0.6 bpg while receiving 27.5 mpg last year, absolutely terrible for a center, especially one contributes nowhere else. The bottom line is that he’s simply not worth drafting.

Double Dribbles: Chris Mihm is one of those guys that’s often on the center waiver wire carousel, capable of putting up 12 and 7 with 1.5 blocks when things are going well. He’s still not fully recovered from the ankle injury that derailed his season last year, and he’ll have to show that he is before he’s worth considering … Luke Walton’s a good guy to have on your team in real life, as he does those “things that don’t show up in the box score.” Unfortunately, us fantasy folks only care about the things that show up in the box score … Brian Cook is like VladRad without the bushels of 3s, just a handful of 3s. Good guy to bring off the bench, but not your fantasy bench … Maurice Evans can put the ball in the bucket, and should Kobe Bryant go down with an injury at some point, he might be able to put up some decent numbers.