2013-14 NBA Bench Power Rankings

January 15, 2013; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Los Angeles Lakers head coach Mike D

27. Los Angeles Lakers

The Robert Sacre Era has officially arrived in the City of Angels. As currently constructed the Los Angeles Lakers are a mediocre team, but they are mediocre based on the esteemed nostalgic talents of their starters. Everyone knows what the aging trio of Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol, and Steve Nash can theoretically do on the court. Chris Kaman can craftily score and Nick Young is a man without conscience determined to cleanse the basketball world of its Moneyball aspirations one ill advised three at a time. Jordan Hill showed a little something last season (other than the fact that he kind of looks like a lion), and his namesake, the returning Jordan Farmar, may still remember the feeling of disappointing Kobe so keenly that he’ll play the role of reserve point guard perfectly. As for the first string point guard, I almost assume Steve Blake will be the de facto starter, as his namesake, Mr. Nash, is not the same player he was even two years ago and his body, already on the slight side, has taken a merciless beating over his storied career. He’ll miss games and a lot of them and if the Lakers find themselves twenty games under .500 at the All-Star Break I assume they’ll find a way to trade Nash to Toronto for a second round draft pick and some maple syrup. Wesley Johnson has been awful in Minnesota and awful in Phoenix and now he’s ready to be awful in Los Angeles. In his defense, Johnson’s personality seems decidedly not awful. It seems strange to say, but Metta World Peace could have been a stabilizing presence on this bench unit. The Lakers are entering a brave new world of “Who Cares?” and the bench is ready to lead the way.