It will help, too, that he’ll have the benefit of the doubt when it comes to playing time. The Lakers need him at power forward because they don’t have one. And he can flourish here. Kobe Bryant at shooting guard and Lamar Odom at small forward will be offensive options Nos. 1 and 2, respectively, so there probably won’t be much demand for Kwame to get his touches. The Lakers could use rebounding and defense from Brown primarily, and if they can get nightly double doubles out of him, they will have pulled off an excellent deal.

Losing Caron Butler in the transation is no big whoop in the grand scheme, even though he was a solid player and a terrific human being. The Lakers had a glut of small forwards, and he was going to be a restricted free agent after next season anyway. And Chucky Atkins, another element in the trade, was not a starting point guard. True, the Lakers now need a starting point guard, but Antonio Daniels is out there still, and several lesser Plan Bs.

Many Kwame observers look to the strange case of Jermaine O’Neal when making comparisons. O’Neal was drafted out of high school with the 17^th pick overall in the 1996 draft by Portland. He spent four seasons there, during which he never  averaged more than 4.5 points and 3.4 rebounds. He was then traded along with center Joe Kleine to the Indiana Pacers for forward Dale Davis, where he blossomed. During his first season of 2000-01 as a Pacer, he averaged 12.9 points and 9.8 rebounds. The following season he won the league’s Most Improved Player Award when he averaged  19 points and 10.5 rebounds. He’s been a superstar ever since.

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Much of whether Brown follows O’Neal’s example is out of the Lakers’ hands and inside Brown’s cranium. Some guys never get it. Others take a while. Still others require a change of scenery. Remember that Chauncey Billups was an unheralded journeyman who wore the uniforms of five NBA teams before he found a home in Detroit, where he has developed into one of the league’s best point guards.

Like all sports, the whole game is confidence. If Brown is nurtured along, if he’s led to believe that he’s believed in, and if his fragile young ego develops a thick and impenetrable layer of armor as a Laker, then this is one of the biggest steals since Brinks. But if he crumbles at the first indication of dissatisfaction by Jackson, Bryant or the fans, there may be no saving him.

If nothing else, this deal brought the Lakers a whole new batch of curiosity seekers.

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