<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">With the goal of adding a post player, the Lakers are trying to acquire troubled Kwame Brown from the Washington Wizards in a trade for Caron Butler and a player to be determined ? point guard Chucky Atkins, forward Devean George or aging center Vlade Divac, depending on the Wizards' preference. The Lakers might also include the 2006 first-round pick they acquired from the Miami Heat in the Shaquille O'Neal trade last July. If Butler is traded and if the Lakers take advantage of a one-time opportunity to waive Brian Grant to save almost $30 million in luxury taxes, Lamar Odom will be the only original piece left from the O'Neal deal. Brown, 23, is a restricted free agent who received a qualifying offer of $6.9 million from the Wizards, giving them the right to match if another team signs him to an offer sheet. Wizard President Ernie Grunfeld, a longtime friend of Laker General Manager Mitch Kupchak's, is mulling a handful of sign-and-trade offers from other teams involving Brown. The main sticking point in the Laker trade is negotiation of the length of Brown's contract. The Lakers offered only two guaranteed years so they could stay on track for their long-range goal of getting under the salary cap by the summer of 2007, when Amare Stoudemire and Yao Ming could become unrestricted free agents. Brown's representatives wanted a guaranteed third year, a potential deal-breaker, while the Lakers had offered only a team option for the third year. Kupchak, who met Tuesday with Brown's agent, Arn Tellem, declined to comment specifically on Brown. "Whether it's prior to the trade deadline or during the off-season, in particular when you win 34 games, it's my job to look for ways to improve the team," Kupchak said. "You can do that through the draft, via free agency or via a trade, and we'll continue to do that." The Wizards are looking for scoring punch after losing unrestricted free-agent guard Larry Hughes to the Cleveland Cavaliers. Butler was one of the Lakers' most consistent players toward the end of last season, averaging 21.9 points over the last 15 games. Brown, 6 feet 11 and 243 pounds, was the first high school player taken with the top pick in the NBA draft, but he has been an enigma through his first four seasons. He was suspended a total of seven playoff games last season because he had pouted as his playing time decreased, claiming a stomach illness and skipping a practice before Game 5 of the Wizards' first-round series against the Chicago Bulls. As a rookie in 2001-02, he had run-ins with the Wizards' then-coach Doug Collins and guard Michael Jordan that seeped into the 2002-03 season. Collins and Jordan made demands of Brown that went largely unfulfilled.</div> Source
I love how the media portrays Kwame...it's great..."he pouted about playing time"...that is BS. He was pissed because in the first half of game 1 of the Chicago series, he had 12 points. You figure to give him the ball in the second half, right? No...not Eddie Jordan, he lets his guards jack up shots left and right in the second half, causing Washington the game. Kwame didn't receive one shot during that half, and it continue'd over into game 2, where he saw limited touches. That simple, he didn't pout. Any player would be pissed at that situation.
I don't know too much about this guy... That would be great if the deal went through and he became a big factor to the team; even better, the team it's self plays great and makes every non-believer eat their words?
