After winning their 15th NBA Championship with a 2008-09 roster full of talented players, the Lakers most important decision for the 2009 post-season seamed to be how much money they wanted to spend to re-sign free agents Trevor Ariza and Lamar Odom. But in a very unexpected move they stopped negotiations with Ariza and signed Ron Artest.

Other than that, Kobe decided no to opt out of his contract and they will try to sign him to a three-year extension on top of his two remaining years. Phil Jackson will be back if his doctors say he is ok.

Shannon Brown is also a free agent and no other major changes are expected on a roster that performed great and even could won a championship with players such as Sasha Vujacic and Andrew Bynum playing well below what is expected from them. Their improvement would be more than enough for the Lakers to be a contender again in 2009-10 despite missing Ariza or Odom.

Rumors
It was though that after the 2009 playoffs the Lakers would have to decide between unrestricted free agents Trevor Ariza and Lamar Odom. But both players were key parts of the Championship roster. Now with Artest on the Roster and Ariza gone, all the negotiations will be centered on Odom.

But the Lakers have already committed $81.5 million to 11 players for the 2009-10 season (including 23 million for Kobe) and the chances for Odom to get a big and long contract in L.A. have become very slim. He made $14.1 million last season and would have to take a big pay cut to stay. He could even sign a one-year deal and try free agency again next season when more teams will have money to spend. If they sign Odom, the Lakers could be paying salaries for about 90 million, not to mention another $20 million in luxury taxes.

Update July 1: The Suns and Spurs are interested in trying to sign Odom. Detroit, Oklahoma City, Memphis, Atlanta, Toronto, Portland and Sacramento are the teams with salary space to sign him. Rumors archive

Ron Artest
After Ariza rejected their first offer, the Lakers didn't wasted any time and agreed to terms with small forward Ron Artest. He is one of the best defenders on the NBA, he is very tough and have good scoring skills, averaged 17.1 points, 5.2 rebounds and 4.3 assists for the Rockets last season and seemed very happy to be a Laker despite having to take a pay cut after making $7.4 million in 2009. The Lakers offered him a 5-year deal using the team's mid-level exception that would pay Artest a little more $32 million based on last season's mid-level amount of $5.585 million. It could also be a 18-million 3-years contract.

But it will be a risky experiment for L.A. While Artest is a better player than Ariza, he is also very volatile and has a long history of on and off-court problems (remember him starting the brawl with the fans in Detroit?). It is fair to say that he has almost been a model citizen last season at Houston and Phil Jackson won 3 championships while coaching a similar player on Dennis Rodman. The big question is how will he fit in a Lakers roster that won the title with a no-drama philosophy.

Kobe Bryant
After winning his 4th championship with a team full of talent, Kobe decided not to opt out of his contract and is expected to sign three-year extension on top of his two remaining years. He will make a guaranteed $47.8 million over the next two years and depending on NBA salary-cap figures to be determined in 2011 he could earn another $86 to $91 million with the extension,

With that extension -- which is expected to be signed sometime this month -- Kobe would be a Lakers until the end of the 2013-14 season. He could opt out again at the end of 2011-12.

Josh Powell and DJ Mbenga
The Lakers picked up team options for Powell and Mbenga who will be payed $959,111 each in 2009-10.

They stay?

Coach Phil Jackson
In fact Jackson is under contract for the 2009-10 season when he will earn $12 million and in April he said he would "be shocked" if he didn't come back. But he will evaluate his health before giving a final answer. Jackson, 63, missed a game in Portland late in the 2008-09 regular season because of painful swelling in his lower right leg. He also has had both hips replaced and underwent an angioplasty procedure in 2003 to open a clogged artery in his heart. His contract indicates he is required to decide near NBA draft day, but the team will give him a few extra weeks. One option being considered is the Jackson could skip some road games that would be coached by assistant Kurt Rambis.

Sun Yue
The Lakers holds team option for next season on Sun Yue ($736,000).

Shannon Brown
He is an unrestricted free agent, the Lakers want him back and he's willing to stay but the Odom/Ariza situation will say how much money is available for him.

Trevor Ariza
The Lakers offered him $5.6 million a year which he refused and then the Lakers instead of keeping the negotiations open, signed Ron Artest for a similar amount. Ariza who was hoping for $7 or $8 million agreed to terms with Artest's former team the Rockets who will pay him the money the Lakers were offering, around $33 million over 5 years.

He was a key member of the 2009 Championship. As the starting small forward, he played good defense and made many key plays while averaging 11.3 points, 4.2 rebounds and 2.3 assists in the playoffs.