With the Lakers acquiring Dwight Howard from the Orlando Magic, they followed through on Mitch Kupchak’s vow that “we’ll try to hit a home run.” The Lakers didn’t just belt one out of the park. After acquiring the Steve Nash, signing reserve Antawn Jamison to the veteran’s minimum, keeping key reserve Jordan Hill and retaining Pau Gasol, the Lakers hit a grand slam.

Suddenly, the botched Chris Paul trade that led many to believe the NBA’s involvement set the organization back at least five years seems irrelevant. See, the Lakers are championship favorites entering the 2012-13 season with a roster that looks more dangerous than how the team would’ve looked had NBA Commissioner David Stern not interfered last season.

via Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Times