BY MIKE ROSE
Hello, NBA fans. I'm subbing for Ken Berger today. So I'll try to keep the blog humming for the next day or so.
We should find out today whether the Lakers will lose forward/center Ronny Turiaf to the Golden State Warriors. I highly doubt the Lakers will match a 4-year, $17-million contract for a bench player. Still, who replaces Turiaf? I'm betting the Lakers are planning to slot Chris Mihm into Turiaf's minutes.
Turiaf brings energy to the court. Plus, he appears to be a very good teammate, getting his teammates pumped before games and showing a lot of enthusiasm from the bench.
Speaking of the Lakers, looks like the Dallas Mavericks are out of the Ron Artest sweepstakes. Check out this story in the Dallas Morning News.
The Mavericks were offering Brandon Bass and Jerry Stackhouse. That won't get it done. The Kings wanted Josh Howard and that was the end of the discussions.
Which brings us to the Miami Heat, who are offering Shawn Marion. That deal, however, won't happen because there's no way Pat Riley will want to absorb the contract of Kenny Thomas.
So we're back to the Lakers. The Lakers are offering Lamar Odom, who the Kings would like. But the Lakers are reportedly having second thoughts about dealing Odom. And I'm not sure Jerry Buss would want the Thomas contract, especially since there needs to be a decision soon about what to do with Andrew Bynum. Bynum can become a free agent after this year and he'll want to sign a long-term deal this summer to stay in L.A.
The Turiaf scenario will impact what the Lakers utlimately do with Artest. Turiaf was the one player who brought some toughness to the court for the Lakers. Bynum will presumably do that this season -- if healthy. But after what the Celtics exposed in the Finals, the Lakers need more of it.