Original Airdate: Thursday, April 9, 2009. This is a part of the 93-Second Sports Shot series. 93-Second Sports Shots air weekday nights at 6pm.

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After missing 32 games with a torn medial collateral ligament in his right knee on January 31st in Memphis, Lakers' center Andrew Bynum will return to action tonight against the Denver Nuggets. Before injuring his knee, Bynum was averaging 14 points and 8.2 rebounds per game, shooting an impressive 56% from the field. Last season, the 21-year-old phenom missed the entire post-season after dislocating his left knee cap. Bynum's interior presence was sorely missed, as the Lakers dropped in 6 games to the Boston Celtics in last year's NBA Finals.

What does Bynum's return mean for the Lakers? Assuming Bynum returns to full health, he should take minutes away from forward Josh Powell and center DJ Mbenga. Prior to the Bynum injury, Powell averaged just under 6 minutes a game; Mbenga had only played a cumulative 3 minutes. Since then, Powell and Mbenga have averaged 15 and 8 minutes a game, respectively. Both players are fringe NBA bigs, and Bynum's return should enhance the Lakers' scoring and rebounding production.

Lakers' coach Phil Jackson has stated that Odom will move back to the bench. This will strengthen the Lakers' second unit offense, while providing Jackson with a 6th man scoring option that has been severely lacking.

With the Lakers most likely to face the Cavaliers in the finals, Bynum's defensive presence will be critical to limiting Lebron James. James still lacks a consistent jump shot, and relies heavily on slashing to score points and collapse the defense. Bynum will provide an additional shot-blocking presence in the interior that can disrupt Lebron's slashing tendencies. Bynum's ability to erase mistakes on the defensive end will allow perimeter defenders like Derek Fisher, Trevor Ariza, and Kobe Bryant to play tighter defense on opposing guards.

And finally, Bynum will provide the Lakers with another go-to scoring option. Bynum's ability to catch the ball on the low-block and score adds balance to this already potent Lakers-offense. The threat of Bynum scoring on the low-block may force teams to collapse on to him, thereby creating open jump shot opportunities for sharpshooters Sasha Vujacic, Derek Fisher, and Jordan Farmar. Opposing defenses will also find it more difficult to double-team Kobe Bryant, who is still arguably the game's best offensive weapon.

If Bynum returns healthy and is able to log in 20+ minutes a game, I don't think there is a team in the league that can compete with the Lakers. The offensive production, defensive presence, and depth he adds puts Los Angeles in a league of their own.

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