The LA Lakers are coming off of their toughest season in a while and after losing Dwight Howard as a free agent, the team is looking to get back to their championship ways in 2013-14 and one way that can happen is to make sure that Pau Gasol is in the best position he can be in the offense.
Last season with Dwight Howard there were often times when Gasol was marginalized and now that the trade talks has passed yet again over the summer, the Lakers can work on getting Gasol back to his elite ways and if they can do that, the team should be much better off than last season. Howard is an elite defender and player, but clearly he did not fit in Los Angeles at all and now that he is gone, Gasol can retake his spot as the top big on the team and if Kobe Bryant can come back and be effective after his injury, there is now doubt the Lakers will improve.
The West will be much tougher this season than last year after Howard joined the Rockets and with the Warriors, Spurs and Thunder all looking strong, it won't be easy for the Lakers to get back into the playoffs. This season the team needs Gasol to be healthy and if he is, there is a chance he can be more effective for the Lakers than they were last season with Howard and Gasol. While Howard is clearly the better player, Gasol is clearly the better player for LA and the system and that may enable him to help the team finish with a better record than they did with Howard on the roster.
This offseason the team added Chris Kaman, Wesley Johnson and Nick Young and also brought back Jordan Farmar and while none of those names are superstars, they are players that can help the team win. Howard was a whiner and people constantly asked him questions about his future and now he is gone and they can stop worrying about that and the Lakers can focus on this season and winning. If Bryant returns healthy, Gasol can help the team do better than they did with Howard since the trust is there and the championship pedigree.
The Lakers had a better record than the Rockets last season barely and this year it will be tough to do, but Howard in Houston is no guarantee of anything. Gasol has averaged close to 20 points and a double-double in his career and he should be able to improve on his numbers of 13.7 points and 8.6 rebounds last year. The Lakers ranked in the top part of the league in scoring and rebounding and they could be there again if Gasol is effective.