Three's a crowd at small forward, but Lakers are managing just fine

Lamar Odom is coming off the bench now, but he continues to receive plenty of crunch-time minutes for the Lakers. John W. McDonough/SI Chris Mannix's Mailbag Submit a comment or question for Chris. Name: Email: Hometown: Question: SEND Follow Chris Mannix on Twitter

LOS ANGELES -- The Lakers have a polished, dominant superstar in Kobe Bryant. They have a sweet-shooting, uber-skilled big man in Pau Gasol. And they have rough-and-tumble center in Andrew Bynum, who not only doesn't hesitate to knock a penetrating guard to the floor but also seems to actually relish the opportunity to do it.

The talented troika generates most of the media attention and could probably win 50 games playing alongside Lakers PR boss John Black and equipment manager Rudy Garciduenas.

But for L.A. to regain its championship swagger, which defined the team earlier in the decade but abruptly vanished against Boston in the 2008 NBA Finals, the ability of another three players to successfully handle one position will be critical.

The players: Lamar Odom, Vladimir Radmanovic and Trevor Ariza.

The position: small forward.

Each brings something different to the table. Odom is a prototypical point forward, a smooth ball-handler who can both ignite a fast break and finish one. Radmanovic is the Lakers' best deep threat, a floor spacer who opens up the lanes for slashing guards. And Ariza is a long-armed defensive maven with superior athleticism and a knack for finding the ball near the basket.

"It's a good problem to have," Lakers coach Phil Jackson said.

Players, however, are not robots, and with Odom (who started 77 games at power forward last season), Radmanovic (a starter for 41 games last season) and Ariza each having a solid argument to play the bulk of the minutes, tensions can mount. That was evident in training camp when Odom initially balked at the possibility of moving to the bench to make way for Bynum's return from a knee injury.

But two weeks into the season, the Lakers appear to have found the right formula. Radmanovic starts (Jackson said he's "playing exceptionally well" and holding his own defensively), Ariza backs him up and Odom fills in at both forward positions. While Jackson says he isn't married to the current rotation, he's satisfied with it for now.

"It's really a combination of personalities and games that fit together," Jackson said. "Hopefully, [Odom, Radmanovic and Ariza] can keep complementing each other so this thing works right. Right now, Vlady works well with that first unit. His shooting ability stretches the defense."

Jackson has kept all three players happy in part through his distribution of minutes. While Odom (26.7 minutes a game through Tuesday), Radmanovic (22.3) and Ariza (22.7) get close to equal playing time, Jackson has appeased Radmanovic by making him the starter while giving both Odom and Ariza significant action in crunch time. Odom (9.2) and Ariza (9.0) are among the team leaders in fourth-quarter minutes.

That's especially important for Odom, who is making $14.1 million in the final year of his contract and will be looking to secure a lucrative, long-term deal in the offseason. Though Odom still considers himself a starter, he has accepted the current situation.

"It is what it is," Odom said. "We lost in the Finals and our mission is to get back there. I won't divert that. I'm going to do what I have to do. Whether it's come off the bench and play five minutes or 20 minutes, it doesn't make a difference to me. I'm 29 years old. This is my 10th season. My goal is to win by any means."

Around the league

• With a 2-5 start, Dallas is a team still searching for its identity. But the Mavericks may have found part of it from an unheralded offseason acquisition. Gerald Green, a former Slam Dunk champion whose career looked to be on life support after being released by Houston last season, has emerged as a key role player in the Mavericks' rotation. With Josh Howard sidelined with a wrist injury the last two games, Green stepped into the starting lineup and averaged 15.0 points and 7.0 rebounds.

"I feel really comfortable playing here," Green said. "The coaches work with me every day. They make sure I don't make the same mistakes."

Said coach Rick Carlisle: "Expectations were low for [Green]. We knew we were getting a guy who, from an ability standpoint, was in the top five percent in the league. Ever since he came in, he has been a worker. He's been humbled. The spectacular elements of his game always stand out, but the things that are really important to help us are his consistencies defensively and playing the game at a steady pace."

• One Eastern Conference coach on the Allen Iverson trade: "Detroit's strength over the last six seasons has been their defense. They always started five guys who were very strong defensive players. But when Iverson is in the lineup, all of a sudden they have a weak link. You can post him up with big guards, and when you have someone quicker, you can put him in pick-and-rolls all day. At the end of the day, that's going to hurt them the most."

• While the Celtics appear to be in midseason form, at least one assistant coach isn't sold on Boston's replacing James Posey with Tony Allen: "When we play them, we tell our guys that when [Allen] gets the ball, back way off. Posey's strength was his ability to stretch the defense. When Allen's out there, we're hoping he will shoot." For the record, Allen has misfired on all eight of his three-point attempts this season.