The Rockets

Landing Artest is a total coup. For a team with chemistry but lacking toughness, he's the perfect addition. Prediction: all the McGrady haters won't have their "can't get out of the first round of the playoffs" retort next season.

Another irony - which allows me to get back to Kobe bashing - this is a much better fit for Artest than the Lakers. How does Artest fit into the Lakers? He's basically Kobe who can rebound and play a lot tougher, without the offensive skillz. He's redundant on the Lakers. The only thing good for the Lakers in signing Artest is he won't be covering Kobe.

And this is the problem with Kobe and the Lakers - they're aren't many players that "fit" with Kobe. If they're too good, he can't have them around, because he needs the spotlight. And if they happen to be pretty good, they also need to be soft to put up with Kobe's shit. Hence, you get Gasol and Odem, who down the stretch against a tough team can't get rebounds.

For Kobe to win he needs the following: a big man who can get easy buckets, rebound, and be intimidating on defense; he needs a mature, veteran player whom the younger players like and respect, he needs a couple of guys who can hit open jumpers and not have gaping holes in the rest of their game. And that's it. He's good enough that maybe he doesn't need the "trio" of awesome players to win. Although, a good trio will probably beat a great duo.

Problem is Gasol offers only one half of the package (although offensively he is exceptional)

MAYBE - if you combine Gasol with a tough inside player - a Kurt Thomas/Dikembe Mutumbo style center - and then you kept Farmer, Sasha, and Fisher - you could win. Although, I think you need a better shooter than the Laker's trio. You don't need Ray Allen, but at least a John Paxton.