Scanning the blogs and beats following the NBA Finals ...

Mark Heisler, LA Times: "The issue now is making the pieces fit with one problem position, small forward ... where Odom would have to go with Bynum at center and Gasol at power forward. Jackson wants a shooter there badly enough to start his favorite Martian, Vladimir Radmanovic. The weakest part of Odom's game is shooting, a problem that came home to roost with Garnett backing off him. Then there's Odom's $14-million salary, as the Lakers assume as much as $90 million in additional salary and luxury tax over the next three seasons with Gasol. However, from the day they made the trade, the Lakers never thought they would end up paying that much, suggesting they were already thinking of moving Odom."

Christopher L. Gasper, Boston Globe: "Don't expect any drastic changes. Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, and Ray Allen are all under contract for at least the next two seasons. But Ainge always has an eye on the future. "There is a fine balance. Last year we decided to get into this Paul Pierce cycle," said Ainge. "We still want to do that next year. We're not going to do anything to get younger other than the draft and a free agent here and there, but you do have to take into consideration the age of your players every year." Boston has six potential free agents — guards Eddie House, Sam Cassell, and Tony Allen, center Scot Pollard, and forwards P.J. Brown and James Posey. The most crucial is Posey, 31, who has indicated through his agent, Mark Bartelstein, he will opt out of the two-year deal he signed with Boston, forgoing $3.4 million to hit the open market."

Sports Agent Blog: "Mark Bartelstein of Priority Sports may have been the loudest man in the arena on Tuesday night. Actually, Garnett was pretty loud in the postgame interview, so maybe Bartelstein was second loudest. Posey, House, and Brown will all be unrestricted free-agents this offseason, and you better believe that Bartelstein will mention the NBA championship in this offseason’s negotiations. Posey’s girlfriend recently gave birth to a baby girl, Sai Aleke. Time to get his baby and his baby’s momma some dollar dollar billz yall."

Lonnie White, LA Times: "It's always easier to second-guess when a team falls short, and that's the case with the Lakers. They will have some room to maneuver under next season's expected salary cap, but the key will be the desire to sacrifice in order to win. Boston was able to get this done behind the leadership of Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen. But that's still an open question for the Lakers, who are still looking for the right mix of players to put around Bryant since O'Neal was traded."

Dan Shaughnessy, Boston Globe: "What other town could have a world champion basketball team that ranks no higher than third in popularity among the local franchises? Sorry, Celtics fans - the Red Sox and Patriots remain a solid 1-2 in our region and it's going to stay that way for a long while. The Celtics ruled New England in the 1980s, but today's Green have too far to go to catch the Sox and Patriots."

Talking Points: "Kobe’s the problem on the Lakers? Really? So … are you saying that the Lakers beat the Spurs and Jazz despite Bryant? Really? Are you saying Derek Fisher and Vladimir Radmonovic beat the Spurs and Jazz, while Bryant weighed them down? No, you’re not saying that. You know that he’s the best player in the league. Even after the finals fizzle, I don’t know a GM in the league that wouldn’t say that Kobe’s the best player in the league, and if there is a GM who thinks otherwise, he should be fired. Kobe is the best player in the league. That Game 4 collapse sure wasn’t his brightest moment, but he’s still the best player."

The Shamrock Headband: "Ray Allen will forever be the third of The Three but again, I'm sure he's fine with that. His kid's in the hospital, he gets a Deadwood-style eye-gouging in the first quarter and still scores 26 points and hits seven 3-pointers. Here's hoping young Walker Allen gets well soon so he can enjoy what his dad did [Tuesday] night; I'm sure he'll be a popular kid at his preschool. And oh yeah, anyone else get the feeling Rajon Rondo's going to be playing in the All-Star game next year?"

Gail Goodrich, LA Daily News: "Judging by what I saw in this series, some flaws were exposed. I saw a team that, outside of Kobe Bryant, looked afraid to shoot the ball at times. I saw a club that was not in tune defensively, and didn't appear interested in dedicating themselves to that end of the floor. Championships are won on defense — the Celtics proved that again — but it never seemed like the Lakers bought into that. That's mindset. That's philosophy. And that needs to change if the Lakers expect to take that next step."

CelticsBlog: "Bob Ryan was right to declare that the Celtics were an incomplete team after the Kevin Garnett trade went down. But Danny Ainge went out and picked up key pieces to fill in around the New Big Three, including Big Game James, Eddie House, and defensive genius Tom Thibodeau. Then he kept two roster spots open so that he could aquire PJ Brown and Sam Cassell for the stretch drive and playoffs. In addition, I can't post this without once again giving him credit for sticking with Doc Rivers. It seemed like everyone was ready to toss Doc under the bus and blame him for the last few seasons of futility except for the one man that actually had the power to. Danny saw something there that we didn't, and he gets all the credit in the world for sticking to his guns and actually giving Doc a contract extension."

Related: The Internets are alive, 2008 NBA Playoffs