Philadelphia 76ers
Gains in trade: Andrew Bynum
Lost in trade: Andre Iguodala, Moe Harkless, Nic Vuevic, Draft pick
Gains in other ways: Kwame Brown, Dorell Wright
Lost: Lou Williams and Elton BRand.
Probably the biggest adjustment to make among all team but happy to say that they're half way there. This team has just become a dark horse getting Andrew Bynum. 76ers have always played small ball and getting Bynum and Brown signifies the end of the era.
Spacing, Bynum needs space to score. Bynum dominates by sprinting down the middle and setting up quickly. The triangle and Pau Gasol made this very Easy for him. Bynum however, can also score easily from 5-8 feet back to the basket, where he'll be most of the time. Sixers should know, however, that Bynum can't do it alone. Shooters or slashers need to be around. If Bynum sprints down the middle or gets in the block there has to be pass in less than a second when he sets up. That pass falls to Evan Turner (very good passer) and Jrue Holiday ( relatively good passer). It will also be key to Spencer Hawes ( his running mate at the 4) to get set up to either feed Bynum when Bynum gets a one-one with Hawes' man covering the shot. Means Hawes has to learn to pass off during his shooting motion. At 6-10, Hawes should have that ability.
Thaddeus Young, the hybrid 3-4 man, will most likely have the biggest change, he won't find the lanes he used to drive on with Bynum setting up but will need to rely on his jumper more or learn to pass to Bynum while driving. What Young does need to read is when Bynum has sealed or screened his man to give Young an open lane. This is a high level of basketball that the Sixers must reach to be offensively effective for Bynum.
The Spacing will also free up Holiday and newly brought in Jason Richardson for jumpers or opportunities. Wright will have dun using his athleticism off the bench or starting to provide more of those to surround Bynum and Hawes but a line up of Holiday, Turner, Richardson/ Wright, with Hawes and Bynum will probably be most effective.
However, the 76ers speed and small ball play may actually help Bynum. Keeping the speed of the game, Bynum can do what he does best by running down the middle with a man on the wing to feed him the ball. This is good for fast breaks and quick 3-point shot misses that Bynum can easily rebound. Granted this will be probably 5-8 out of his 10 - 15 shot attempsts but that is almost a sure 10-16 points easy and if he doesn't score the 3-point shot will be the next option because the focus in on Bynum, another 15-20 points with Bynum making 4-6 of his own.
Defense, Brown and Bynum are the key aspects here. Sixers are capable of chasing any wing players and often are weak in the middle. OF course Bynum will change all that, Lebron James, Dwayne Wade, Derrick Rose will all have to be double careful about going inside with Bynum's hands at wait. Bynum, however, is just one man. The Sixers need to use their speed to force players to go at Bynum rather than around him. Hawes and Young and whoever plays the 3-spot has to box out for players like Rajon Rondo who can grab offensive rebounds extremely quick. Cutters who simply run on the baseline will also have to be covered. Bynum can't guard all directions and that means Hawes need to be blocking force as well. The defence that this team brings can be much better than what the Lakers had the past 3 seasons mostly because of the Sixers Speed but the discipline needs to be there for it to work.
Los Angeles Lakers
Gains: Dwight Howard, Chris Duhon, Earl Clark
Lost: McBob, Christian Eyenga, Andrew Bynum
Gains: Antawn Jamison, Steve Nash, Jodie Meeks
Lost: Ramon Sessions, Possibly Matt Barnes
Offense: The Princeton Offense may not work as well as Howard is still not adapted to handling the ball. Regardless, having a guy like Howard deep in the middle curling for dunks and layups with passers like Nash, Bryant and Gasol will open up so much space. The question is that whether it becomes too organized or too good to be used. The Triangle's weakness was that it became predictable when defences recovered faster which meant 10-5 seconds of creativity is needed from Bryant, Nash or Gasol. That will be the Laker's strength or basically, bringing back Lakers Showtime. Bryant will need to continue to chuck away more jumpers but the post up, his strongest quality, may not be used as much. This is mostly because there will be more passing and less one-one offense. Bryant can still drive and beat his man but it won't happen as much. Most the offense, I predict, will go with Gasol. Gasol was severely underutilized to shooting sometimes rather than passing or initiating offenses. With Nash, Gasol will be able to read defences better. It's like having two brains to solve a two-part question. The result is more Kobe time in knock out time rather than crunch time. Meaning the game won't be as close in the 4th quarter and Kobe won't have to play 48 minutes to keep the Lakers from blowing 15-20 point leads.
How about World Peace? He'll be mostly in for defence but his shooting needs to better and needs to keep driving and be agressive. He'll be left open for more shots that need to fall and must not force his way unless necessary. He needs to recognize open lanes like how he got that winner over Phoenex in his first and championship season. He also needs to continue being an enforcer for Howard. Howard will get hacked and World Peace needs to be there to keep Howard in check.
Defence: Howard will be a huge improvement. They can't be lazy and the second can't be either. Resigned Jordan Hill will serve best to keep the defensive intensity up from the bench. The reason the Lakers actually lost so much is because of their second unit and forcing the first unit to over play themselves.
The defensive rotation needed to be more efficient and to Mike Brown, Hill was a gift from the basketball gods to save them in the playoffs last season. McBob and Murphy was gone from the rotation and Hill and Gasol became the primary back ups which actually tired out Gasol more for the 4th Quarter. The keys weren't lack of talent but a lack of intensity and efficiency. Gasol became the back up because neither Murphy or McBob was good enough offensively or defensively.
Jamison will add offense but a full training camp of guarding Gasol and Howard should help him and Hill get accommodated to Brown's defensive- minded approach.
In the backcourt, adding shooter Jodie Meeks was wise but MWP will have to anchor that unit even as a starter defensively. Much will be expected from MWP when Bryant and Gasol or Howard goes to the bench. He'll have to pick up the faster player so that Meeks and Steve Blake can also start learning to keep up with them. Offensively he doesn't need to do a lot but defensively he has to be the guy keeping Meeks, Devin Ebanks and Blake chasing their man or bring some sort of order to this line up. Unsure of Matt Barnes returning, the Lakers may have to rely on MWP to keep the bench rolling or keeping up with the starters.
