At least not until '09.
Somebody tell Kobe to sit his ass down somewhere.
Yes, I know he's stuck under the realm of the Kupchack era. *Shivers* But, seriously, who really thinks the Lakers would be stupid enough to trade KB? Anyone?
Here's a better question. Do you think L.A. would actually trade him two, two years before he can opt out of his contract? Hell no.
What is happening with Mamba is this: he sees the roster assembled around him and knows its not good enough to compete for a championship and he's frustrated. That's fair. He also saw Billy King and Kevin McHale waste the latter prime years of Allen Iverson and Kevin Garnett and doesn't want the same thing to happen to him. Completely understandable.
But some things to consider here:
1. Jerry Buss already traded his biggest attraction and the main person that kept the Lakers contending each year in Shaquille O'Neal. He's not going to trade his only (good) marketable asset - and not to mention the best player in the game.
2. The Lakers have about a 3 percent chance of getting fair value for him. If you are in the Lakers front office, who else would you want to get back for Kobe? Only two names come to mind as far as talent and market value: Lebron James and Dwyane Wade. Cleveland would never, ever trade Lebron for anybody, especially somebody who doesn't make his teammates better (and let's face it: Kobe has it much better than Bron Bron in terms of surrounding talent.) Also, James isn't quite the dominant player Kobe is, though he matches him in marketability (maybe more).
And you think Miami is going to give up a player that has shown he can A)Get along with teammates; B)Make said teammates better; C)Co-exist with Shaq; D)Actually lead a team to a title (key word: lead)? Of course, not.
What other stars are there? T-Mac's not as dominant and injury-prone; plus, Kobe would seriously corrupt Yao Ming; Carmelo can't get out of the first round either, and there's no way Kobe is going back to Colorado; Gilbert Arenas is too erratic with not as much star power as Kobe, though Kobe would love to go to the East and Gil0 would love to back in L.A.
My suggestion to Kobe would be to play out this next year and, if the team fails to make any significant trades, threaten to walk the next summer if they don't trade him to wherever his heart desires. By the summer of '09, Chris Paul and Deron Williams will be unrestricted free agents and might possibly want to head to Hollywood.
Just hope for Kobe's sake it won't be to the Clippers.
3 comments:
Topic for the next post. How LBJ makes his teammates better. I think thats an overrated aspect of his game. I agree that LBJ is a physical speciman. However based on the Cavs bread and butter play. Let James dribble at the top of the key for 10 seconds, run a man out to set a pick for him and then stand in the corner waiting for 3 pointers if james cant beat the defense to the rim makes it seem like hes making people better. Its kind of like the marbury thing. Just because you get assts doesnt mean you are making people better it might just mean that you have the ball in your hands alot.
You have a great point with the top of the key dribbling, but let's consider the fact that he's had mediocre coach after mediocre coach who didn't know how to use him. Think about it, when was the last time you saw a 6'8-6'9 forward with that much speed and agility (and power) to go along with the court vision. Watch Lebron closely, rarely will you see him miss an open teammate.
And for the record, please let's never compare Lebron James and Stephon Marbury to each other. Ever. That's like comparing Nike to Starbury.
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