There you have it, the battle for Lamar Odom has ended.

Lakers fans celebrate the extension of their valuable forward, while the Heat wonder what could have been had they succeeded in signing Odom. Additionally, the fact that they didn’t sign Odom is a legitimate blow to the team’s chances of extending Wade after his contract expires this season.

Getting back to Los Angeles, does this re-signing assure the Lakers a repeat at the NBA Title? Let’s take a look. In my previous Lamar Odom article, I brought about that regardless if the Lakers were to re-sign Odom or not, they would remain as the most powerful team in the NBA.

Some might disagree with my stance that the Lakers win with or without Odom, but the fact that he will return as a Laker really makes it difficult for anyone to rank another team above the Lakers going into the new season.

Not just because they are the defending champions of the NBA, but for the fact that they have the best player in the league on their team, arguably the best defending forward in the game, a top five 7 footer in the NBA, and the best sixth man off of the bench amongst the entire league.

Put that all together and this organization is stronger than Arnold Schwarzenegger in his body building prime. Is it even a question that the Los Angeles Lakers will repeat during the upcoming season?

This team has the veteran experience, yet no players are old enough to be considered on the way down. They have one of the greatest coaches in NBA history. Sure, some other teams have made a few nice moves, but no one will touch the Lakers in the West.

When previewing their 09′-10′ NBA season, it is not out of harms way to state that the Lakers have an excellent chance at winning 70 plus games. Even though we are in the midst of off-season, the Los Angeles Lakers have managed to win the Lamar Odom sweepstakes and come up with yet another “W”.