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I definitely believe the Lakers can win it all, whether they will I am not sure. They have the potential, with their bench who can most of the times increase their leads, offense which is as explosive as any, and semi increasingly good defense. Kobe Bryant can just about take over any game and turn it around, but that is not the game plan for the lakers. With the recent play of Lamar Odom, Pau Gasol and the more recently surprising play of Luke Walton (17 ppg and 5 apg in the playoffs) he might not have to do that until western conference finals or the finals. And if you add Bynum into the mix you are looking at a very scary team. They can run with any team and play very good half-court offense. My only concern is the defense. At times they can look transparent, and other times lock down. Bynum will obviously help that, but for right now they can't work under the assumption that he is coming back, but work with what they have. Gasol is not that great of an inside force so guards like to run at him. What they have to do is make sure the help defense is quick at rotating and not leaving gasol alone with the driving guard and force a pass. Obviously the last two games they have not shown what looks like not such good defense, but the Denver Nuggets are the second best scoring team in the NBA (behind Golden State), but still many times in game 2 especially in the first quarter it looked as if the Nuggets were hitting every shot the only thing that kept them in it was that Lakers were doing the same on offense. One injury that Phil Jackson said has the possibility of coming back in the first round that will definitely make an impact on the defensive end is Trevor Ariza who the Lakers acquired midseason from the Magic specifically for his defensive talent, but has greatly contributed on both ends. Now with the Bynum factor. I don't think Bynum should be rushed back. He is only twenty and if he hurts it even more; the Lakers not only might not win it this year, but also have sacrificed their chance in winning it all in the coming years. Even if he doesn't come back this year the Lakers still have a very good chance at the championship with what they have. It is not like they have a bad team without him, they have a superb team, but with him they have a great team. that is the difference he makes on both ends of the court. They could put him in before he is 100%, and have him coming off the bench then slowly put him in the starting lineup, and that would be fine. but make sure he obeys doctors orders and not come back before they okay it. I would obviously like Bynum to be back A.S.A.P, but I would like him to be effective and comfortable when he comes back, not someone who is back just to be back. So for right now the Lakers must work under the assumption that he is not coming back and if or when he does than work hard and safely at returning him back to Bynum standards.