Lakers working in off-season, non-laker fan thoughts on Blake, Barnes, Ratlif

[westkoast]

The Lakers off-season has been just as active as anyone and was wondering what you guys think of the Lakers moves for:

Re-signing Fisher
Grabbing Steve Blake as his back up

Then signing Theo Ratliff (Gasol/Bynum backup) and Matt Barnes (Artest/Bryant backup depending on matchups)

Obviously we are very happy that our team kicked it up a notch to defend our title but wanted the opinion of non-Laker fans on how they think this has gone.

[Joe Vancil]

Keeping Fisher - solid, understandable move.  Losing him would have been bad.

Grabbing Blake - GREAT move.  Blake's a perfect fit for the triangle.  Might replace Fisher.

Signing Ratliff - I like this move.  Ratliff is a solid big body who will see limited minutes, but who will be effective for those limited minutes.  A good defender, and that will be good for the times that Bynum is resting.

Barnes - at the price, it's a great move.  I don't see him getting enough minutes to keep him happy, though.  It really depends on his mentality.  I like the skill set, but I see this as the prelude to another move.

Losing Farmar - This is the move that bothers me.  This was the team's future at point.  I can't really say that he's been great, but he's been solid.  And that's what a triangle point guard needs to be.  Fisher isn't going to play forever, and Blake will fill the gap nicely as a backup, but where's the future Laker starter?

[westkoast]

.

Losing Farmar - This is the move that bothers me.  This was the team's future at point.  I can't really say that he's been great, but he's been solid.  And that's what a triangle point guard needs to be.  Fisher isn't going to play forever, and Blake will fill the gap nicely as a backup, but where's the future Laker starter?

I don't think there was much the Lakers could do to keep Farmar.  His reason for leaving was that his role wasn't expanded.  I took that as he wasn't too happy to find out Fisher was going to be the starting PG for another year.  I also think he felt slighted this year by the fact Shannon Brown got more playing time and was more of a fan favorite.  IMO that has more to do with Farmar not working on his game enough than it does anything else.  He did not develop a strong mid range game like he was asked and his defense continues to be lacking. 

My thinking is the Lakers want to work Steve Blake into being their starting point guard as he is signed for 3 years.  He seems closer to Fisher in terms of skill than Farmar.  Especially considering he is a better shooter from long range.