Andrew Bynum's knee injury is worse than expected. Bynum will miss the next 2 to 3 months with a torn MCL in his right knee. His injury will likely keep him out until at least May. Even though Bynum may recover, the Lakers shouldn't count on him coming back at all this season. It will take Bynum time to get in game shape after his knee heals and no one knows how long that will take. Remember last season he was sidelined almost the entire season with a left knee injury.
Bynum's injury seriously hurts the Lakers chances of winning a NBA championship this season. Bynum's injury weakens the Lakers frontcourt and their depth on the bench. I expect that Lamar Odom will move back into the starting lineup. The Lakers won't miss Bynum as much against the Mavericks, Hornets, Nuggets or Jazz. But Bynum's toughness will be missed in potential playoff matchups against the Rockets, Spurs, Suns or Blazers. Pau Gasol lacks the toughness to defend Tim Duncan, Yao Ming, Shaq or even Greg Oden. Expect Kobe's scoring to skyrocket as the Lakers will rely on #24 even more.
The Lakers may want to explore trade possibilities to add a proven low post scorer and defender. I like Pau Gasol as a player but he is definitely not the answer at center. And don't get me started on the possibility of Chris Mihm playing major minutes during the playoffs at center. There is no way that he could deal with any legitimate big man. I will be looking at some of the Lakers trade possibilities over the next few days.
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