"Gasol or no Gasol, I think this Lakers team is down a notch."
???? They have a healthy and often dominant Bynum and they added Artest, while losing only Ariza. That makes them substantially better, when Gasol is healthy. But it also takes a team some time to integrate a new piece into the starting lineup, and in this case, really two pieces, since Bynum was out so much before. The Celtics and Magic are pretty strong and who knows whether the Cavs will gel, but the Lakers will be there in the end once again if Gasol, Bynum, and Bryant are healthy. No one can match up with them. This should show in the regular season, but sometimes veteran NBA teams will cruise in the regular season and turn it on in the playoffs like Russell's last teams.