<div class="quote_poster">phunDamentalz Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">Right now some of the potential trades with the Bulls would be GREAT for the Lakers. This is still a 5-man game. Ask San Antonio and Detroit. You don't want to overrate one player - - - he is after all just one player. Common basketball sense says forget building around 1 superstar and instead find character guys who play hard, who know how to defend and make plays and are team-first. This is the recipe that Detroit and SA used to win. If you're going to base a team around 1 superstar, he better be unbelievable not only as a scorer, but also as a teammate, playmaker and leader. i.e. Tim Duncan, Steve Nash, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, MJ, Jason Kidd... but not Kobe, he doesn't make plays for others and doesn't inspire greatness in others the way those guys did</div> He doesn't have the players who can finish and he doesn't have veterans around him who's priority is to win. Look at the age of the Lakers supporting cast built around Kobe. Most of these guys are young, single, rich athletes who are living it up as NBA celebrities. Their priority is partying, getting laid, and video games. PJax took a shot at his team last year saying they spend more time watching porn and playing video games instead of watching game film. No one is going to help Kwame Brown catch passes, except for Kwame himself. I do agree with you on not building a team around one superstar. NO TEAM has ever won anything with just one player. However, I don't think the Bulls package is enough for Kobe.
^^ Well on the way I see the things is that there is no trading package good enough for the Lakers. Were giving up someone who I think is better than Jordan and will end up being better.
<div class="quote_poster">shapecity Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">He doesn't have the players who can finish and he doesn't have veterans around him who's priority is to win. Look at the age of the Lakers supporting cast built around Kobe. Most of these guys are young, single, rich athletes who are living it up as NBA celebrities. Their priority is partying, getting laid, and video games. PJax took a shot at his team last year saying they spend more time watching porn and playing video games instead of watching game film. No one is going to help Kwame Brown catch passes, except for Kwame himself. I do agree with you on not building a team around one superstar. NO TEAM has ever won anything with just one player. However, I don't think the Bulls package is enough for Kobe.</div> Maybe...possibly...but I'll bet Barbosa and Diaw and Stoudemire love getting laid too yet they somehow miraculously are able to finish the plays... But that's an unfair comparison cause Kobe is not a point guard. The Lakers need a semi-decent point guard more than ANYTHING IN THIS WORLD. Look down the West - Paul, Williams, Nash, Parker, JT/Devin, Cassell, I mean the Lakers stand out as having no point guard. The burden of blame for the Lakers should go to Mitch Kupchak. I don't understand the fascination with Lamar Odom, thinking you could "change" Kwame showed a real lack of insight into human behavior, and the draft picks leave a lot to be desired. Now are you saying as a Laker fan you wouldn't trade Kobe for say Gordon, Nocioni, Tyrus Thomas and the #9?
<div class="quote_poster">phunDamentalz Wrote</div><div class="quote_post"> Now are you saying as a Laker fan you wouldn't trade Kobe for say Gordon, Nocioni, Tyrus Thomas and the #9?</div> I would take that trade.
<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Now are you saying as a Laker fan you wouldn't trade Kobe for say Gordon, Nocioni, Tyrus Thomas and the #9?</div> That would be an incredible deal. The Lakers wouldn't finding anything better or close to it from any other team. I can't see how you can say no, especially if Kobe wants out.
Yi The Key To Kobe Deal? <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Okay, Jerry Buss, are you ready to transition from the former World Champions into the new Los Angeles Lakers? Retooled and ready to put “show” back into your “show business?” Well, clean off your glasses, Dr. B., because it’s time to envision the future. And the future is a two-letter word: Yi. If ever there was a time for an international (Chinese) star in Los Angeles, it’s right now at the beginning of the “China Century.” Beyond Greg Oden and Kevin Durant, the dynamic duo of this year’s draft heroes, there is only one player with the marketing potential to fill the seats at the Staples Center. Yi Jianlian, the 7-foot power forward who already looks ready to light up the nets in the NBA. Not only does Yi have the potential to be a star (and admittedly, potential is a two-sided coin), he is a marketing opportunity just waiting to be tapped. Think of the worldwide hype, the demand for seats from Hong-Kong and Shanghai businessmen, the heightened attention of Asian-American communities of Southern California. Think of all those wide screen tv’s tuned to the Lake Show. And ask yourself, with the Southland all abuzz about Yi, how long before Jackie Chan puts him into one of his movies? Will the NBA’s international presence benefit from having Yi in LA? You bet. How about Nike? Think they’d like to get a bigger foothold in the China market? The Lakers are already showing interest in Yi, as has Yi’s agent in them. Conveniently, Yi has been holding all of his work outs in Los Angeles. With Kobe Bryant already paving his yellow-brick-road out of Los Angeles, the timing couldn’t be better for Yi. The catch is, there is only one team in the NBA who can make this dream come true for David Stern, ahem, I mean, Jerry Buss. The Chicago Bulls. Fortunately the heavens are converging onto just the right team. The Bulls are one of three teams Kobe has said he will consider. New York, one of the others, doesn’t seem to have the pieces and certainly can’t get their hands on Yi. The Clippers or Suns are likely the third team, but no one believes Buss will give away Bryant to a conference rival. That leaves the Bulls, who just happen to have the #9 pick in this year’s draft. It is up to the Bulls (and to Yi’s agent Dan Fegan) to get their hands on Yi at #9 , or above, if necessary. That way the Bulls can offer the Lakers two stars in Yi and Ben Gordon, two excellent role players in Andres Nocioni (sign and trade) and Thabo Sefolosha, and future picks and spare parts creatively crafted to match salaries. The Lakers would likely have to give the Bulls back their first round pick this year, #19, so that Chicago can complete their front line and be competitive enough for Kobe to want to land there. This is the moment, Jerry Buss. It’s all coming full circle. Look West toward the East and get ready for a brand new day.</div> Doubt Yi will fall all the way to the 9th pick. http://lakers.realgm.com/articles/116/2007...y_to_kobe_deal/
<div class="quote_poster">lakersfan171 Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">Yi The Key To Kobe Deal? Doubt Yi will fall all the way to the 9th pick. http://lakers.realgm.com/articles/116/2007...y_to_kobe_deal/</div> out of topic. but i dont know about this yi fella the lakers are pursuing, i have'nt seen any footage of him. anyone think the guy could be a flop??
