Los Angeles Lakers Roster & Trade Updates: Lin, Boozer Ready for New Start, Kobe & Nash Finally Healthy, Eyeing Return

No matter what the Lakers do in the offseason, the team will rise and fall with its leader, Kobe Bryant. As the season inches closer fans and analysts are wondering how Kobe's injuries are doing, and if he will be in top shape to command the new-look Lakers. Carlos Boozer and Jeremy Lin were the team's biggest offseason acquisitions, and both players are looking to revitalize their careers.

Lin's claim to fame was an epic month way back when the New York Knicks were a viable team. He rode 'Linsanity' all the way to a major deal with the Houston Rockets. Lin's style of play requires that he touches the ball a lot, but with James Harden joining the squad the Rockets were not able to utilize Lin as they should have.

Carlos Boozer is getting up in age, and his career with the Chicago Bulls seemed on the downturn from his time spent with the Utah Jazz. Boozer was once a top-ten scoring threat, but Chicago's brand of defense-oriented basketball may have taken its toll.

While Lin and Boozer remain question marks until the season gets underway, Steve Nash and Kobe Bryant are both coming off major injuries, and are still the biggest pieces to the puzzle. Nash is a highly paid Laker, and with his unlucky streak of recent injuries, the Los Angeles fanbase has seemingly turned against him for not retiring in order to free up cap space. If Nash believes that he can still compete on high level then, Laker fans expect to see results.

Longtime Laker trainer Gary Vitti spoke to Mike Trudell about the progress of Kobe and Nash's injury. "  When speaking about Kobe, Vitti said, " I have 100 percent confidence that he'll be healthy because of the way he handles his body and the style of play that we'll compete at."

Vitti went on to give his assessment of Nash, "He's playing full-tilt, unrestricted soccer. He's doing all the corrective injury and performance exercises he's supposed to be doing, and right now he's 100 percent healthy."

Vitti was quick to mention that Nash did suffer severe nerve damage, which could be a lingering injury. As of now Nash looks to be all set, which will be key for Laker fans. Money going to an injured player is never a good deal, fans will hope that Nash can do what he was brought in do a couple seasons ago, win.