Kobe’s Backup: Assessing the Hole on the Lakers’ Bench

With the addition of Theo Ratliff, Matt Barnes, and Steve Blake, the Lakers bench looks to be the best since 2007 when Sasha was the Machine and Ariza was on the bench; but this lineup is still missing a reliable backup to Kobe Bryant. Sasha Vujacic is no longer the Machine, and is relatively useless unless you need to annoy a backup point guard. Shannon Brown filled this spot last season, but he could potentially join the New York Knicks for more money and a chance to start. Even though most of the free agents have already found teams, there are still some good Shooting Guards that the Lakers could acquire for cheap.Begin Slideshow

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