Originally posted by Lord Evolution
Yeah and I will apparently put a bullet through my head if he went to Phoenix. Man what the ****!?!?!?!This aint even cool, they should be doing everything in their power to keep Kobe. Instead they are hesitant to trade Bynum and Odom, are you kidding me? This organization is turning into a joke.
The Lakers are hesitant to give up Bynum and Lamar for JO, which i actually agree with. JO and Kobe with whats left over will not be enough to do much in the west anyway and Kobe will still be ready to leave when his contract is up in a couple of years and we havent got any further. If we are still pursuing JO then send them Lamar and Kwame or Bynum, Kwame and a salary filler. But both of our most tradable assets in one swoop is far too much (even though i love JO's game).
Kobe has every right to be disappointed in the Lakers front office for the terrible job they have done trying to get back to the elite level. Smush Parker starting for 2yrs? Extending Kwame, Sasha and Cooks contracts? These are not the actions of a front office that are committed to winning right now. The problem with Kobe speaking out so publicly about this is that he has killed any leverage the Lakers had in any trades this off season, every team the Lakers call now know that they are desperate to make a trade for fear of losing Kobe. This makes me wonder if Kobe just wants to leave anyway, with all the interviews he has done lately he must know he has made it harder for the Lakers to get an impact player and still keep some of their talent in the process (see the JO trade).
This is also backed up by the fact that Kobe still hasnt backed off his trade request even though the Lakers have been in talks with a few teams. He still says that he wants to be moved and i think he will get his wish in the end. As hard as it is for me to imagine the Lakers without Kobe after so many years if he doesnt want to be a Laker then i would prefer he got his wish. I dont blame him at all for wanting out but im a Laker fan before im a Kobe fan and if wants out then i just hope we dont get bent over like the Shaq trade.
Now onto the possible trades, i dont see the Suns being a possibility because not only are they in our conference they are in our division. The Knicks have nothing i would want, which leaves the Bulls. The Bulls are in a position to offer up some nice talent in return and have a high draft pick (#9 i believe). The best deals i have heard so far is Deng, Gordon, PJ Brown (sign and trade 1yr contract) and the #9 pick or Thomas, Sefalosha, Gordon, PJ Brown and the #9. I personally like the second option, Deng is a very good player who plays both ends but i like the potential of Thomas and Sefalosha defensively. Gordon can play the PG in the triangle where the only skill you really need is to be able to hit the outside shot (Paxon, Kerr, Fisher etc) and PJ Brown is an sign and trade expiring contract that with Kwames will take nearly 20mill off our books next year. Obviously you are not going to replace Kobe star appeal if he is traded but if you look at our line up after that trade its not too bad for a team that will be "officially" rebuilding.
PG - Gordon / Farmar
SG - Evans / Sefalosha / Sasha
SF - Odom / Walton / Vlade
PF - PJ / Thomas / Turiaf
C - Bynum / Kwame / Mihm
Thats not a bad team, Kwame and PJ are expiring and you have the #9 and #19 in a deep draft. I would see if a solid defender like Brewer was available with the #9 and spend the MLE on either Pietrus or Mo Williams.
Obviously i would rather keep Kobe but it seems his mind is made up and he can pretty much pick who he wants to be traded to with his no trade clause.
Im pissed that it has come to this, first we trade Shaq (who even though he was on the decline, changes the game) and now probably Kobe the games best player in his prime.
Originally posted by Myth
You'd rather have Thomas and Sefalosha than Deng? I'd prefer Deng the way he has played and he is nearly as young as the other two.
I love Dengs game but if the Lakers are truly rebuilding i'd take a chance on Thomas and Sefalosha. I think Sefalosha will be a very similar player to Deng in a couple of years, he is a terrific defender already and offensively he looks very capable. He is also a better passer than Deng and that is valuable in the triangle offense.
Thomas is all potential as well but i like the way our front line could look with Bynum and Thomas in a few years, if Bynum keeps getting stronger he can hold down the center spot and let Thomas play weakside shotblocker.
If it was just one or the other then i'd pick Deng every day, but if we can get Thomas and Sefalosha then i'd go with that because it fills more needs.
I don't mind Kobe speaking out publicly, obviously this is what needs to be done for the Lakers to even think abut building a contender. After he went public on the radio show, they have backed off and now they are hesitant to pull the trigger. I say, come out and say some more shit and keep doing it until those **** heads in the front office do something. Trade Odom and Bynum to keep Kobe? Hell yeah do that, every Lakers fan wants them to keep Kobe, and if it's at the cost of inconsistency(Odom) and doubt(Bynum) then get on with it. You get Jermaine O'Neal and build around him and Kobe. I don't care if we aren't contenders next year, a core nucleus of Kobe and O'Neal is dangerous in itself.
But that lineup you just put up made me want to cry. If that is seriously what we will end up with I will hunt down Mitch Kupchak.
But like I said, Kupcake isn't very smart.
This shouldn't even be a debate, trade them and build around Kobe and Jermaine O'Neal. It wont take long, with the right moves we will be back in the championship in 09.
But trade Kobe and that will set us back even further than when we traded Shaq, I'm talking #1 overall pick.
Originally posted by Myth
The Lakers starting 5 next year:C: Bynum
PF: Kwame
SF: Odom
SG: Jamal Crawford
PG: Marbury😆
HAHAHAHAHAHAHA. Thats a good one. I hope The Lakers will get something done. Nobody goes to those games to see a crack addict who doesn't want to shoot the ball. As for Bynum, he has no skills. Kwame wants to throw birthday cakes. If Kobe does leave, then a lot of season ticket holders will be refunding their tickets and stay home and watch Kobe and his new team.
Re: cavs need upgrade
Originally posted by kenobi
That is exactly what I have been telling people for awhile. Hughes is always hurt. He was hurt earlier in the season. He was hurt last season. He is not the answer to being Lebrons supporting scorer. They need to get a true power foward. Donyell Marshall likes to shoot threes, Drew Gooden is undersized and overachieves. Varejao is actually alright though. All that aside I am still pleased that the Spurs won. They are my favorite team.
Amen. Boozer really screwed them when he split. I don't really like Gooden but Varejao is great. I think every team would like a high energy defensive rebounding forward like that. Though even healthy I judt didn't think Hughes was that great offensively he add some nice perimiter defense though.
Originally posted by leonidas
not yet. chicago sounds really interested though.anyway, i little different question: who would you take right now if you could have either one: amari stoutamire or kevin garnett?
Garnett. The two aren't all that different talent wise but Garnet has a nice mid range shot, not to mention while they can both jump Garnett boxes out better saving himself the trouble of jumping, also Garnett never looks lost on defense the way Amare does.