There was an interesting article in this week's SI written by Jack McCallum. He puts his own probablity for each of the main personnel coming back.. McCallum claims that the probability of Shaq staying is 80%. He then brings up a trade rumor (which I have never heard before) that would ship Shaq to Indiana for Jermaine O'neal...(the Pacers would be fools to make that deal IMO) The probability that Kobe stays is only 20%. It cites that Kobe does not want to play for Phil anymore, nor does he want to play with shaq. The probablilty that Malone stays is 80% The probability that GP stays is 20% This is nothing new... and the probablity of Phil staying is 60%. They claimed that Phil has a higher probability of staying if the lakers do not re-sign Kobe...Apparently, Phil and Kobe's relationship is very rocky, and neither want anything to do with one anthoer What r your thoughts on this??....for the most part, I agree with the probabilities given. But I'm 100% confident Shaq will be back...I'm pretty skeptical on the credibility of the Shaq trade rumor...
I think Phill is gone, especially if they win it all. Then he can leave the egos and the drama behind and leave as the winningest coach. The rest depend on the Championship. Win the Championship: Kobe and Shaq realize they need each other, and promise to play nice. Both Stay. Karl has his ring, and may be to tired of the Lakers drama. He retires and lives happily ever after. Gary decides that without Phill, the triangle is dead, decides to stick it out at least one more year. Without the Championship: Kobe says the hell with this, "Him or Me" and Buss is forced to shop Shaq. Buss convinces Karl to stay, reminding him without Shaq, there is a lot more room for him to score and steal the title from Kareem. Plus even without Shaq they are still contenders for next years title. GP decides it isn't worth it and looks for another team. Somewhere quiet, without all the press and drama of LA. (Charlotte?) But maybe I am just crazy.
I think that, if they win the title, the only ones going anywhere will be Payton and Malone. I think that it is likely that Malone will retire with his ring and go out on top. The ideal retirement basicaly. Payton might leave. I'm not sure if he knew exactly what he was getting into when he came to LA, even though he said he did. He's been complaining about his touches and what not. And, if you seriously think about it, he should have known, when coming to LA, he wasn't going to get nearly as many touches as he did in what, 13 and a half seasons in Seattle and his half season in Milwaukee. It is possible that he stays, cause, if Malone does, he will cause he's been saying that the only reason he's in LA is cause of Malone, so, I think that will be the only way he'll stay. Also, if they win, Kobe will resign because he'll realize a couple things. The only way either him or Shaq will win a title right now is with eachother. They may not like eachother that much, but, I think that they know that truly do need eachother to win the title. Also, out of the soon to be 30 NBA teams, the Lakers can offer him the most. And, in the end, I think that ploy will bring him in, and the fact that he also has the best opportunity to win. And, he also realizes that, slowly but surely, this team is becoming his. They now look for him more down the stretch of games to hit the clutch shot than Shaq. They let him penetrate or shoot the jumper instead of dishing it down low to Shaq. But, on the other hand, if they don't win, I think Kobe will likely leave. Malone might stay out the rest of his contract to try and win his title, same with Payton. Other than those, I really don't know.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting eginobili20:</div><div class="quote_post">Kobe is going, Phi will stay .. gp is prob gone, malone .. no idea. Iwouldnt let nobody go tho</div> I wouldn't be letting them go either. But, unfortunately for us, the front office doesn't have the final decision on what they do, that's all up to the players.
Jermaine for Shaq, no possible way. Jermaine is good but hes still young. Shaq is a season veteran, and is probably the most dominate player in the NBA. Like LOS said, if the Lakers win the championship, Kobe will stay but if the Lakers lose in the playoff, there is a possible chance that Kobe is leaving. And GP will most likly leave. Nearly all of his stats have gone down since he was in the Lakers. In his last 9 seasons with the Sonics and the year with the Bucks, he has averaged over 18 PPG. And with Karl Malone, I don't know if he'll stay or go.
If they win: Kobe stays cause no other team can offer him so much money. Shaq will not be traded to the Pacers(no way the Lakers are that stupid). Malone will retire. Gary Payton will move to another team. Something quiet like Charlotte. Without Championship: Its either Kobe or Shaq that will be forced to leave cause the Lakers will have those problems again with Shaq and Kobe.Everyone knows they cant get along. Malone will stay cause they need a big man. No matter what happens GP is gone. He is not happy in LA. He cant handle the LA press.
If they win, phil, malone, gp, and kobe will leave. If they lose, phil, malone, gp, kobe, and fisher will leave.
Although I had my doubts earlier in the year, I really don't think there is much chance Kobe is leaving L.A. Fans love him here and have supported him through all his legal troubles, whereas other cities have booed him and made rude signs about it. I guess that was to be expected, but I think it makes a huge impact on a player who is going to become a free-agent, and I really don't think he would want to go to teams that booed him. The Lakers can also pay him the most money and offer him the best chance for another ring, so I really can't see him leaving. As for Karl, I really think he will be back to test himself for one more season. With one ring, I think he will try to get one more before he goes out. As for Gary and Phil, I think Phil will end up retiring and Gary staying. I've heard that Phil's children have been trying to talk him into retiring after this season, and if he is not there I don't think Gary would want to leave. If there is no triangle, Gary has his best shot at winning another ring in L.A. if he still wants to put up decent stats. Any other title contender in this league already has a good starting PG, and he'll likely be off the bench with those teams.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Phreeze:</div><div class="quote_post">Although I had my doubts earlier in the year, I really don't think there is much chance Kobe is leaving L.A. Fans love him here and have supported him through all his legal troubles, whereas other cities have booed him and made rude signs about it. I guess that was to be expected, but I think it makes a huge impact on a player who is going to become a free-agent, and I really don't think he would want to go to teams that booed him. The Lakers can also pay him the most money and offer him the best chance for another ring, so I really can't see him leaving.</div> Good point. Because look at the cities he was interested in like Denver? Now even though I'm very positive he wouldn't go play for the state where he committed adultery, why would he go to another city where he's been treated very harshly? It seriously makes no sense to me. Us Laker fans have supported him to the best of our abilities, and we've stood by him 100%. I really believe Kobe understands that once he resigns with the Lakers, he'll be an instant legend in years to come with his uniform retired alongside the greats of Chamberlain, Abdul Jabbar, Goodrich, Magic Johnson and others. And like you already mentioned, a seven year contract worth 141 million dollars. The most any team can offer him. Why not stay? <div class="quote_poster">Quoting Phreeze:</div><div class="quote_post">As for Karl, I really think he will be back to test himself for one more season. With one ring, I think he will try to get one more before he goes out.</div> I disagree. Karl came here, took a serious sacrifice to play for a ring in Los Angeles, and now he has the golden opportunity to get one. I think one ring will close the chapter book on him. As for him returnig next season, it looks very unlikely. Somebody very close to him died tragically, and that really shifted his mind whether to return to basketball for one more season, or just simply retire. And with himself being 40 years old, his body is very fragile. With himself missing a huge number of games with his injury this season, and almost hurting himself in the season finale at Portland, I just feel he'll be putting a tremendous risk on himself. <div class="quote_poster">Quoting Phreeze:</div><div class="quote_post">As for Gary and Phil, I think Phil will end up retiring and Gary staying. I've heard that Phil's children have been trying to talk him into retiring after this season, and if he is not there I don't think Gary would want to leave. If there is no triangle, Gary has his best shot at winning another ring in L.A. if he still wants to put up decent stats. Any other title contender in this league already has a good starting PG, and he'll likely be off the bench with those teams.</div> As for Phil Jackson, I think it all comes down to that tenth ring. If Phil Jackson passes Red Auerbach by the most championships by a head coach this year, I think he'll ride off into the sunset and soon will be replaced by one of his assistant coaches, Jim Clemons or the former Nets coach Byron Scott. As for Gary Payton, all his whining, complaining about his role on the team and the triangle offense, and his inability to shut down the quicker guards in the league, will soon force him to leave the Lakers. I've been fed up with him since this playoffs, and I'm sure other fans will be content to see him depart too.
