ship him over to miami baby! i can see it now: "shaq and kobe reunited at last!" haha. shaq + kobe + wade = CHAMPS! (i know it aint gonna happen, but i can dream, right?)
Um, instead of thinking or taking this as a demand, take it as a bigger demand for change. I like the way Kobe is approaching this, he is publicly calling out Mitch. He wants Jerry West, this to me is just saying Kobe really wants West and he is scaring Mitch and the Buss' by saying he wants to be traded. I'am 95% sure that Kobe Bryant will not be traded this offseason. I really can't see this happening. Even Mitch isn't stupid enough to trade the best player right now.
<div class="quote_poster">hoops4life Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">ship him over to miami baby! i can see it now: "shaq and kobe reunited at last!" haha. shaq + kobe + wade = CHAMPS! (i know it aint gonna happen, but i can dream, right?)</div> LA would certainly take a package of Jason Williams, Jason Kapono, and James Posey for Kobe.
<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">"I would love for him to be a part of this," Bryant said. "But it's not something where I demand he comes here. All I can do is offer my thoughts. I love being a Laker. I want to retire a Laker. I want to fix this thing, or at least help any way I can."</div> http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-lakers...ack=2&cset=true I also love how some Laker fans are getting mad when Kobe's supposedly asking out if the team doesn't change...when they want Garnett to do the same thing. EDIT: I also love how Bucher doesn't have an exact quote from Bryant...it's an article written to be read. They twisted his words so they could get some media buzz.
<div class="quote_poster">GatorsowntheNCAA Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">I thought the ones for this season(regarding Kidd/Bibby) were just rumors and nothing really materialized in any of them. I know the Artest one was true, but you can't really blame him for scrapping that with his Artest's attitude. I wouldn't give up anything to get Artest and he would be an ABSOLUTE perfect fit on the Magic.</div> From what I've heard on the radio and through the internet was that Bynum was the only piece holding the deal up...and everybody was on board except Jim Buss. What I've heard about the Bibby trade is that Sacramento backed out at the last minute because they didn't want to help us because of the rivalry. The Artest one is true. I'd gamble on him. As crappy as his attitude is...he's far more consistent and durable than Odom. And Boozer for Caron Butler and Chris Mihm? Yeah, Jim Buss says no to that and instead we have to settle for Kwame Brown.
As i have stated before, the trade is just mind boggling to think about. There is too much value for Kobe at his prime. Please don't say " A superstar never gets eqaul value in a trade."
<div class="quote_poster">The Legend Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">As i have stated, the trade is just mind boggling to think about. There is too much value for Kobe at his prime. Please don't say " A superstar never gets eqaul value in a trade."</div> Well it's true.
<div class="quote_poster">Legacy Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">Well it's true.</div> Kobe Bryant is not just any ordianry superstar. He is one of the best to ever play the game of basketball. There are such superstars at this time to build around, like LeBron, Bosh, etc... So at this point, who would the Lakers trade for Kobe, if they were to? A Bosh or a LeBron? That is not going to happen. The Lakers managers are not stupid enough to ship Kobe off for some garbage players at his prime.
<div class="quote_poster">The Legend Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">Kobe Bryant is not just any ordianry superstar. He is one of the best to ever play the game of basketball. There are such superstars at this time to build around, like LeBron, Bosh, etc... So at this point, who would the Lakers trade for Kobe, if they were to? A Bosh or a LeBron? That is not going to happen. The Lakers managers are not stupid enough to ship Kobe off for some garbage players at his prime.</div> Good point. I guess Kobe is in a class of his own during this time of his career. But then again, you never do get equal value in a trade, especially for a Kobe or Lebron.
<div class="quote_poster">The Legend Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">As i have stated before, the trade is just mind boggling to think about. There is too much value for Kobe at his prime. Please don't say " A superstar never gets eqaul value in a trade."</div> Think about it, why would a team trade for Kobe without keeping a key piece? No team is really going to trade for Kobe giving up it's best piece, because they will just essentially be how the Lakers are right now. They want to build around Kobe and [insert piece here]. Portland rumors, they will either be keeping Oden or Roy, they won't give up both of them. Chicago is keeping Deng, they won't give him up. Look at the past when teams trade a superstar and try to contend the year after: Tmac trade Houston kept Yao. Shaq trade Miami kept Wade. They could get fair value, maybe 2 of Hinrich, Ben Wallace, Gordon for Kobe/fillers but you won't be getting Deng for him. More often then not you will get talent for him, but you won't get the most valuable player on a team for him.
<div class="quote_poster">The Legend Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">Kobe Bryant is not just any ordianry superstar. He is one of the best to ever play the game of basketball. There are such superstars at this time to build around, like LeBron, Bosh, etc... So at this point, who would the Lakers trade for Kobe, if they were to? A Bosh or a LeBron? That is not going to happen. The Lakers managers are not stupid enough to ship Kobe off for some garbage players at his prime.</div> You are going to have to get multiple players. Just look at the Tmac trade as a good example. Tmac on the Magic was essentially what Kobe is now on the Lakers, except Tmac had less talent around him and Kobe plays in the West. Tmac led the league in scoring his last 2 years with the Magic(if I remember right) and was arguably one of the best players in the game. He had an all-around game and the Magic got lower-tier all-star(Francis), underrated good role player(Mobley), and a average big(Cato) for Tmac and fillers. You likely won't get a superstar for Kobe, but maybe 2 all-stars at absolute best. You say don't say "you never get equal value", but then you are talking about getting a Bosh/Lebron and Toronto/Cleveland would NEVER even think about letting either of them go, even for Kobe. Kobe is one of the best players to ever live, what value do u really think you will get for him, do you send Larry Bird in his prime for Kobe or Magic Johnson in his prime, lol.
Holy crap. It happened. Well, my thoughs is that even if West joins the Lakers, I'm not sure he will be able to make miracles. If they get him, my guess is that we will have another sucky year, and Kobe wanting out before the deadline. As for the trades, I'm not sure, but I'd like to see the Lakers go young.
It didn't happen, Bahir. There is no direct quote from Kobe. Bucher took Kobe's words and twisted them to get views on his article, to get publicity. Bucher is known to do that. Like when he stated Kidd was waiting league approval for his trade to the Lakers.
some of you guys have convinced me, i think kobe is just letting our organization know that they need to make some moves to win. but regardless who we have as our GM, we still dont have any trade bait, odom, no, injuries and his play last season make it pretty stupid for us to trade him, because we wouldnt get anyone better, same goes for kwame and bynum. we cannot make many, if any, offseason moves this offseason because all our trade bait have injuries. and even if we did get kg, who else would we have? kobe and kg isnt enough to even make the playoffs, you need some other good guys on the team, and we dont have any and will find it extremely hard to get any. this is why kobe is our only moveable peice, yet i dont beleive he will go, unless he comes out and says "trade me", which is entirely possible since we dont look to be improving this offseason at all.
All i can say is... Kobe will never be traded... and that the Lakers are f*cked if they trade an MJ type player like kobe.
<div class="quote_poster">AKIRA Wrote</div><div class="quote_post"> and even if we did get kg, who else would we have? kobe and kg isnt enough to even make the playoffs, you need some other good guys on the team, and we dont have any and will find it extremely hard to get any.</div> I think the Lakers would make playoffs with KG, and probably be a better team than last years team. Lets say they trade Odom, Radmonovic, Bynum, and a 1st rounder. Laker's would look like: PG: Jordan Farmar/Vujajic SG: Kobe Bryant/Evans SF: Luke Walton/Cook PF: Kevin Garnett/Turiaf C: Kwame Brown/Mihm
<div class="quote_poster">XSV Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">I think Kobe has every right to demand a trade. He busts his ass for a franchise that just doesn't seem to give a **** anymore. The Lakers sell out every game regardless, so I guess management doesn't have that much incentive to put out a contending product, which is absolute bull for a franchise as proud as the Lakers.</div> Jerry Buss and even Mitch is not content to just put out a product and lose and neither is Phil Jackson. Can't believe you would accuse the Lakers of all teams of doing that. I'm sure Kupchak/Buss THOUGHT that guys like Kwame, Lamar etc. would step up playing for Phil and that Kobe's greatness would inspire the rest of the team. They made a mistake, big deal.
Kobe came out today and kind of denied that he had demanded a trade, so I'm not flat out condemning him. I'm sticking with the same stance I've held: I have no problems with him saying this stuff to get his front office motivated and all of these posts only apply if he demands a trade. <div class="quote_poster">huevonkiller Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">Well what about Guys like KG? The guy keeps his mouth shut and is content with losing, that doesn't seem right. And I don't think you should be comparing Kobe to Alonzo or VC because he tried his best to win games every night, whereas VC/Alonzo half-assed themselves into new teams. The Lakers can't live up to the commitment they made either, which was a verbal agreement.</div> I don't know how you got the idea that KG is content with losing. Just reading his interviews and watching his demeanor on the court, he looks like one of the most frustrated players in the NBA. He's said everything to express his displeasure with Minnesota's situation, without fully demanding a trade. I would lump Kobe into the same category as VC and Mourning, although I'd consider his situation to be a lot more like McGrady's. T-Mac signed a contract with Orlando and, when their plan fell apart (Grant Hill's injury problems), he felt that he was entitled to just ditch the franchise. The Lakers made a commitment to try and build a contender around Kobe and I don't see where they haven't. They've failed obviously, but by demanding a trade, Kobe's either ignoring or completely disregarding how difficult it is to build a championship team. Even the GM he's idolizing failed in Memphis. There are no guarantees in the NBA. <div class="quote_poster">Quoting yodawgsup:</div><div class="quote_post">Well, to be fair, his contract doesn't prevent him from asking for a trade either. So technically he isn't breaking any part of his contract. Point is, the issue is not as simple as you're making it out to be. The contract isn't the be-all-end-all of his commitment to the club. And by that same token, it isn't the be-all-end-all of the club's commitment to HIM. Prior to signing his contract, he was verbally assured by Mitch and the Busses that they would surround him with winning pieces. They haven't. Kobe, on the other hand, has elevated his game each of the last three seasons, more than earning his paycheck and keeping his mouth shut the whole time. If anything, management isn't playing by the rules, not the other way around. They passed on Iverson and Kidd, on Artest, Boozer, not to mention the idiotic trades for Kwame and Shaq and the untimely resigning of Brian Cook. As they say, I think you've got it twisted.</div> How isn't he breaking his end of the contract (if he demands a trade)? The Lakers are paying him the max amount to play for them for a certain amount of years. If he decides not to, he's breaking the written commitment he made to them. It doesn't have to be explicitly written down, because its so obvious. The Lakers didn't have to promise to build a contender, but they did. And personally, I think Kobe should be grateful that they even bothered to do so. You're assuming that building a contending team is a fairly simple thing to do. But it isn't. So much of the process is left up to chance, that no player should feel entitled to playing on a winning team. Personally, I think Kobe's doing what a lot of players tend to do by thinking he can play GM. Its easy to judge moves after the fact, but its a lot more difficult to make those decisions at that time. The only thing Kobe should expect is that his management has the goal of building a contender. LA's front office clearly does, but their execution and judgment is lacking. That's just something he should live with. <div class="quote_poster">Quoting Mamba:</div><div class="quote_post">Chutney, you fail to realize one thing...the organization didn't promise him a contender...but the organization did promise him they'd do everything in their power to put the pieces around him. They had a deal in place to get Artest and Jim Buss scrapped it. They had a deal in place to get Boozer, Jim Buss scrapped it. Just this season they had deals in place to get Kidd or Bibby and Jim Buss wouldn't let go of Bynum for Kidd and Sacramento didn't want to help us out. There has been no effort on the organizations part to fulfill their promise.</div> Show me where the organization has been content with letting Kobe play on a losing team and I'll back Kobe in his trade demand. Those examples you pointed out are cases of bad judgment, not lack of effort. LA wasn't the only team to pass on Artest and his well-documented problems and, looking at his stay in Sacramento, I'd argue that they made the correct decision. The same applies with Boozer, who Utah was considering dumping early in his contract. Obviously he's redeemed himself this season, but the Lakers weren't the only team to shy away from him. As for the Kidd trade, they almost had that one nailed if I remember correctly, but Thorn nixed it at the last second. And as you mentioned already, Sacramento wouldn't deal Bibby because they have this stupid idea in their heads that LA is still their rival. In every one of those instances, the Lakers thought it was in their best interests to do what they did. And the same applies to their other moves, like trading for Kwame, signing Radmonovic, etc. Most of those moves have proved to be a mistake, but that doesn't show a lack of effort, it just shows bad judgment and that's not enough to justify a trade demand, IMO. Kobe had the opportunity to join a team with a good front office (Colangelo tried to bring him to Phoenix, I think). He either believed that LA's front office was good enough (a mistake) or he didn't bother to consider it (an oversight). Either way, he should have to live with his decision.
<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">here's another trade, and i know my last one was a bit sucky for the suns, but if they did decide that they need to trade one of the big three i imagine it would be amare. anyway here's a trade that sort of benefits all teams, sort of, well not completely but its just an idea, so dont take it too seriously. Boston Celtics Incoming Players Vladimir Radmanovic Salary: $5,215,000 Years Remaining: 5 PTS: 6.6 REB: 3.3 AST: 1.2 PER: 11.02 Lamar Odom Salary: $12,348,596 Years Remaining: 3 PTS: 15.9 REB: 9.8 AST: 4.8 PER: 16.20 Outgoing Players: Paul Pierce Los Angeles Lakers Incoming Players Paul Pierce Salary: $15,101,626 Years Remaining: 5 PTS: 25.0 REB: 5.9 AST: 4.1 PER: 21.73 Steven Hunter Salary: $3,024,000 Years Remaining: 4 PTS: 6.4 REB: 4.8 AST: 0.4 PER: 12.37 Pau Gasol Salary: $12,364,000 Years Remaining: 5 PTS: 20.8 REB: 9.8 AST: 3.4 PER: 24.22 Outgoing Players: Andrew Bynum, Vladimir Radmanovic, Lamar Odom, Kobe Bryant Philadelphia 76ers Incoming Players Kobe Bryant Salary: $17,718,750 Years Remaining: 4 PTS: 31.6 REB: 5.7 AST: 5.4 PER: 26.13 Outgoing Players: Steven Hunter, Kevin Ollie, Andre Miller Memphis Grizzlies Incoming Players Andrew Bynum Salary: $2,030,280 Years Remaining: 2 PTS: 7.8 REB: 5.9 AST: 1.1 PER: 15.44 Kevin Ollie Salary: $3,196,050 Years Remaining: 2 PTS: 3.8 REB: 1.4 AST: 2.5 PER: 8.44 Andre Miller Salary: $8,966,666 Years Remaining: 3 PTS: 13.4 REB: 4.4 AST: 7.8 PER: 16.18 Outgoing Players: Pau Gasol </div> wow i like that trade. Kobe and Igoudala would be like MJ and Pippen. The sixers would be contenders in the east if that trade went down.
