The Los Angeles Lakers didn't disappoint last season, as they accomplished what they had promised: the championship. They were the second best team in the regular season and in the postseason, although some unexpected letdowns against the Rockets, the Lakers never lost consecutive games. The Lakers look now to win consecutive championships, something that no other team has achieved since?the Lakers.

On paper, this team looks stronger than ever and that's the scary part for their opponents. The only noticeable change in the off season was the Ron Artest for Trevor Ariza trade and the Lakers kept intact his core of players. Many can argue that Ariza is a better player than Artest, as he played greatly during the playoffs last season with several key plays. However, that wasn't enough for GM Mitch Kupchak, as he decided to sign Ron Artest, who is a better defender than Ariza will ever be and it's his offensive inconsistency and temperament that could cause some problems to the Lakers. However, Head Coach Phil Jackson knows how to deal with temperamental players, just remember Dennis Rodman and it shouldn't be a problem for him to deal with Artest. Also with so many offensive weapons in this team, Artest won't have the pressure to be the go-to guy in this team, like he was in the past in Houston or Sacramento for several times, so the Lakers will apparently be fine with him. One scary part about this team is that last season their "length" was tough to match for their opponents. Now with Artest in the mix, this size advantage will be even bigger this season.

Kobe Bryant is hungry to get another ring and once again, he will lead this team. I will not waste more time to praise Kobe's skills because anyone knows them. The interesting part is that the Lakers don't need him to put 40 points every night to win and so, Kobe will be more effective and assertive on the field. Last season he averaged 26.8 points, which was his lowest in his last 5 seasons, but by shooting 46.7 % from the field, he set his best mark in the last 7 seasons! He is widely considered to be the top clutch player in the league and this won't surely change this season. The only issue regarding Kobe Bryant is that no other player in the league played more games than Kobe in the last 2 seasons and Phil Jackson surely knows that and so, he will need Kobe to keep his cool with his minutes per game during the regular season.

It hard to say that the Lakers would be a legit and perennial contender without Pau Gasol. The fact is that since Gasol's arriving, the Lakers turned themselves into one of the best teams in the league. Gasol had a terrific regular season by averaging 18.9 ppg, 9.6 rpg and 3.5 apg, while shooting 56.7 % from the field, but it was in the postseason that Gasol played terrifically well. He was labeled as 'soft' in the past, but with his stellar defense against Dwight Howard during the last NBA Finals, while averaging 18.6 ppg, 9.2 rpg and shooting 60% from the field, that was enough to show that Kobe Bryant has a legit All Star player playing along with him.

Andrew Bynum returned to action last season after a season ending injury two years ago and he struggled at times to get back to his old form. As the Lakers had Gasol and Odom, Phil Jackson was patient with Bynum during the season by not rushing him and to make things worse, he suffered an injury and missed 32 games. For this season, Bynum looks to remain healthy all season and at the same time he wants to show some progression and get back to the form he had in 2007-08.
Meanwhile in the off season, Lamar Odom passed through some stressing moments, as it took some time for him to sign a new deal with the Lakers. Last season he adapted pretty well to the 6th man role and when Bynum went down, he played awfully good as a starter (In Cleveland against the Cavs, Odom had his best performance of the season by scoring 28 points - 13-19 FG and grabbing 17 rebounds). For this season, his role will be basically the same and his versatility is a huge boost for the team.

The weakest position for the Lakers is the Point Guard spot, as Derek Fisher will earn the starter nod, despite being 35-years old. He is one of the leaders of this team, but his speed and explosiveness are gone and last season in the playoffs, this fact was over exposed by a lightning guard Aaron Brooks. Nevertheless, he is a terrific clutch player and he will help this team. Phil Jackson counts with Shannon Brown and Jordan Farmar to be his backups and actually Brown outplayed Farmar last season, with his better overall defense. Farmar needs to bounce back this season, as last season wasn't a good season for him.

The second line of the Lakers is a solid unit who can help the team in different aspects. Luke Walton knows like no other the Phil Jackson's offensive triangle system, Sasha Vujacic was once a deadly shooter from the perimeter, but somehow was overshadowed last season and Josh Powell played well, when Jackson needed him.

The Lakers are the top favorites to win it all this season and they have all the tools to succeed. There will be some problems early on the season related with their team chemistry, now with Ron Artest in the roster, but as soon as Artest get used to the offensive triangle system, the Lakers will be the premium team in this league. The San Antonio Spurs did a terrific job in adding great pieces to their team, but the Lakers are still the team to beat in the West and unless something weird happens to this team, they will be present in the mix for the championship later on the season.