For a while, the Los Angeles Lakers' frontline was becoming a mess. There was uncertainty in the tenure of Andrew Bynum as a Laker and the departure of Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom in a trade that left the versatile frontline into a reed-thin shadow.
But since then, only Odom was traded and Gasol and Bynum remain. The loss of Odom is mitigated by two new free agent signings: Josh McRoberts and Troy Murphy.
Josh McRoberts is a solid power forward that gets makes the hustle plays and does above average defense. He's pretty adept in deflecting passes in the paint and blocking shots. In limited minutes, he produces on a decent level. His glaring weaknesses are his limited offensive game and inability to get more offensive boards. I see him getting 15-20 minutes a game backing up Gasol.
Troy Murphy's game is more specialized than McRoberts. For a big man, he has developed a long range shooting game that you'd normally find in small forwards and he rebounds at a very good rate. If he's healthy enough to log 20 minutes a game, I'm expecting him to contribute on the three-point shooting and quality minutes backing up Bynum.
That said, both those players have very different games and skills compared to Odom. In Mike Brown's system, those two can be big contributors in the Lakers' pursuit of a championship.
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