<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">By now, it has become apparent that as long as Bryant and Lamar Odom share the same floor and the same ball, they cannot share success. That is not an indictment of either, simply fact about two players at their best with the court as their canvas. To watch Odom lost at the 3-point line is to lose all perspective on the remarkable strides the forward made last season with the Heat. And no longer is it sacrilege to suggest a team trade its best player. That ship sailed when O'Neal was dealt. Before Vince Carter was traded from Toronto. After Tracy McGrady was moved by Orlando. With the Lakers lacking cap space for at least one more year, and with visions of luring Yao Ming or Amare Stoudemire in the 2007 offseason more fantasy than fact, Tomjanovich's departure provides the perfect moment to reassess. What if one of Chicago's big men (Eddy Curry, preferably, or even Tyson Chandler) and, say, Ben Gordon could be acquired from Chicago? Or Baron Davis and P.J. Brown from New Orleans? Or Pau Gasol and someone else from Memphis' abundance of talent? And what if a quality first-round pick would be included? Based on what the Lakers got for O'Neal, General Manager Mitch Kupchak remains an executive capable of rapid restocking. Yes, Bryant comes with strings attached, his offseason free-agent contract loaded with salary-cap complications. But, for the moment, leave the math to others. Instead, as the Lakers pause after Tomjanovich's resignation, ask how far this team, as currently configured, can go. If they remain locked into their current lineup, the Lakers will have long-term questions at point guard and ongoing issues in the power rotation. While the results weren't what they wanted, at least the Bulls realized it was over. No sooner did Michael Jordan leave than Scottie Pippen and Dennis Rodman were shown the door. The difference was, even in the absence of those stars, the Bulls continued to thrive at the box office. By contrast, as the Los Angeles Times revealed last week, even with Bryant, these are not the best of times for the Lakers. Attendance is down. Broadcast and advertising ratings and revenues are in decline. Merchandise sales have fallen. Certainly the Lakers can wait, hope it gets better, count on Odom and Bryant to find their way when given more than half a season. But with the backlash, this could be the time for a clean break from both a championship era and a player likely forever linked to the downfall.</div> Source
How about trading Odom for a good point guard (and perhaps a decent forward to fill Odom's space) instead? That way, Kobe wont hog the ball as much and will be running behind screens instead to get good looks.
Nice article. Does any1 know what happened to Real Deal? Just curious.. For this matter, I think the guy writing this article isn't right. Why would you want to trade laker's best player after signing him for long term. I think there's a higher chance of odom being traded.
Real Deal doesnt wanna come here anymore. He was banned or something. You can find him at www.clublakers.com Back on subject. Trading Kobe is not an option. I would rather see Odom leave. Good call to trade him for a good PG and perhaps we could loose Brian Grant too. He is not but wasted money.
The guy who wrote this article has the right idea but it should've been done before the dismantling of the Dynasty. Kobe Bryant is a stat padder, period. This little #!$@% had the nerve to hold a stand out by opting out of his contract after all that we did for him. Shows you how much he really wanted to be a Laker He has a lot of trade value and it'd be easier to replace him than Shaq but his contract is absolutely horrible (another Mitch Kupchak special). I would still trade Kobe if we can get some good pieces in return. I think a PG, SG, and PF in return would be straight. We'd definetly be a better team and we wouldn't have so many bandwagonners around (you know who you are)
Lamar Odom should be traded, allowing Grant to play the power foward postion, and helping The Lakers aquire an allstar caliber point guard. I truly believe if The Lakers could gain a point guard who could take some of the ball handling responsibilites off of Kobe's shoulders, it could allow Kobe to concentrate more on other aspects of his game. The ideal would be a point guard with ball handling skills, who could get The Lakers into sets, a point who shows great leadership, but more important is still a scoring threat. The Lakers don't really have a bonafide second scoring option, a Scottie Pippen if you will, Atkins and Odom are nice but they're not showing up on a nightly basis. So a scoring point guard who actually has typical point guard skills, that would be the ideal in LA.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting King James X3:</div><div class="quote_post">Lamar Odom should be traded, allowing Grant to play the power foward postion, and helping The Lakers aquire an allstar caliber point guard. I truly believe if The Lakers could gain a point guard who could take some of the ball handling responsibilites off of Kobe's shoulders, it could allow Kobe to concentrate more on other aspects of his game.</div>If BG was capable of playing legit starter minutes I'd think we'd see him starting and Odom would move to SF. He's a health liability and can't be trusted with so many minutes in so many games. I'm tellin you if Lamar Odom we're allowed to score as much as CEO/GM/Coach Kobe Bryant he would be the best player on this team. Instead, like everyone else, he has to take a step back to allow Kobe to shine and the Lakers to lose. Note to Lakers Management uhh I mean Kobe: Don't trade Odom! He's the best player on the team and he always tries to get everyone involved THEN looks for his shots.
I kind of agree. Do not trade Odom hes the best all around player we have. Do not trade Kobe. Do not trade Caron. We have the pieces we just need to put them together. Let Kobe come back then well see the situation. Because once he comes back this team is going to be rolling with lamar creating Kobe slashing. Its going to be totally different fro mwhat it was before Kobe got injured we just have to wait and see.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Mihm4MVP:</div><div class="quote_post">The guy who wrote this article has the right idea but it should've been done before the dismantling of the Dynasty. Kobe Bryant is a stat padder, period. This little #!$@% had the nerve to hold a stand out by opting out of his contract after all that we did for him. Shows you how much he really wanted to be a Laker </div> I really do not understand your logic, Kobe is nothing at all like a stat padder. He is only averaging 2 more shots than last year, that really isn't padding stats. His teammates don't hit half of the wide open shots he creates for them either. Numerous times he finds a wide open Caron Butler in the corner, or a wide open Chucky Atkins diagonal from the basket, and they brick it...none of that lies on Kobe, he does everything to get his teammates the ball. <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">He has a lot of trade value and it'd be easier to replace him than Shaq but his contract is absolutely horrible (another Mitch Kupchak special).</div> And, if it wasn't for him signing that contract, we would be headed for a top 5 pick this year... <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">I would still trade Kobe if we can get some good pieces in return. I think a PG, SG, and PF in return would be straight. </div> Kobe isn't going anywhere, if Atkins could play like a PG, Kobe's shooting % would go up, his shots would go down, and he would be able to play better D. None of this goes back to Kobe, he is giving it 110% every night, its his teammates, Mihm, Chucky, Caron, Lamar, that are far too inconsistent for this club to get anywhere. <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">We'd definetly be a better team and we wouldn't have so many bandwagonners around (you know who you are)</div> I don't see how we would be a better team at all, we have played with a lot of heart with him out of the lineup, but we are a bad team. We would be a top 5-7 lottery team if we didn't have Kobe. I will ignore that bandwagoner comment, you haven't been at JBB long enough to know who the bangwagoners are.
2 ways to look at this...... 1 - Trade Bryant: Right now you could get alooottt for him. No matter what goes down, his name will be linked to the deconstruction of the dynasty. True or not, this will be the case. I can never remember a time in which Lakers players have been so venomous (He and Shaq). His trial, the spat with Malone, the dissolution of the relationship with Phil, these things will continue to linked to the KB name while wearing the purple and gold. 2 - Keep Bryant: I respect Kobe for leadinging by example. He's making his teammates better and gives them confidence (I wish they would have won that Rocket game) and his trust. When he was playing before, I still noticed that he was doing alot more for his teammates than everyone expected he would. I believe he should know that he owes alot to the franchise for backing him in the most trying times. He still should have a bright future and many games to be played. He's charismatic and marketable. .......but how can you guys, so easily, forget what Odom is doing for your franchise? He's putting in work. .....actually, 3 things to think about: If your going to rebuild.....who else would be a candidate to build around? Will you make Odom your teams well-known personality ("Tonight, Lamar Odom and the Lakers take on Peirce and the Celtics")? Hell, by going the article, you should trade everybody who has anything to do with the championship era...meaning Butler, Grant, Odom, and Bryant. THAT would erase the comparison and you would start from scratch.
The trio of Caron, Odom, and Kobe is sick! Keep them... We need to find the role players.... The team is good. We've seen what they are capable of. Now we just need those role players.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Mihm4MVP:</div><div class="quote_post">If BG was capable of playing legit starter minutes I'd think we'd see him starting and Odom would move to SF. He's a health liability and can't be trusted with so many minutes in so many games. I'm tellin you if Lamar Odom we're allowed to score as much as CEO/GM/Coach Kobe Bryant he would be the best player on this team. Instead, like everyone else, he has to take a step back to allow Kobe to shine and the Lakers to lose. Note to Lakers Management uhh I mean Kobe: Don't trade Odom! He's the best player on the team and he always tries to get everyone involved THEN looks for his shots.</div> Kobe hasn't been playing for a few weeks now, how come Odom hasn't turned into a scoring machine? Simple, whether Kobe plays or not, Odom is not a scorer. So Kobe allowing him to shoot, as you would put it, is irrelevant. And I'm really wondering if you really watch games or not. Do you honestly believe that Kobe tries to "shine" at the cost of a Lakers win or are you just hating? Trading Kobe would be a stupid move. The author of that article points to a decrease in attendance and whatnot but fails to realize that LA is full of bandwagoners. Unless the Lakers are competing for a championship, no matter which players are the helm, Laker game attendance will be lower than usual.
Trade Kobe? .....ok, that makes sense.....lets just trade a guy who's 26 yrs old, 7 time allstar and most likely the best shooting guard since Michael Jordan. *sarcasm* You dont trade kobe....not now, other then lebron james Kobe bryant has prolly the most upswing of any guard in the league. (IMO) Kobe hasnt even reached his prime. The lakers need a true PG, chucky is no starter....hes simply a good roleplayer off the bench. They need a true ball handler at the point, to allow kobe to move without the ball more which will help when he gets doubled even triple teamed. The lakers in my opinion need a player like Bobby Jackson, i just think he would fit in nicely. As for Lamar, i dont think anyone in the league can cover Odom when he's on and aggressive. Lamar's problems consist of not getting himself involved more early in the game, instead he gets into foul trouble (on alot of questionable calls) but mainly thats from him being at the 4 position. Move him to SF and get a True garbage man PF (which would send caron to the bench, but might not be a bad thing). If caron went to the bench, it could actully work to benifet everyone. Caron could get quality production out of his minutes, and use his advantages to change the pace of a game when the opposing team's bench is in (fresh legs, tight Defense and explosiveness attacking the basket) all could be good for the lake show off the bench. Back to the PF spot, like i said....lakers need someone who scraps for every rebound, every loose ball and that can help on creating a defensive presence in the lane (fortson,ratliff etc.) People are just attacking the lakers basket and other then mihm and occasionaly cook, noone does anything about it. Lakers need a garbage man. At Center, mihm has show some very nice flashes of a really solid player. He can block shots and jump and run very well....his problem is, he misses alot of "chippys"....though he will hit a 12 foot turn around hook (go figure). Mihm needs to watch some shaq tapes and realize, the easiest thing for a big man to do is...get close position to the hoop get the ball and turn into the basket hard, draw contact and go up strong....you can take alot of the opposing big men out of the game, and mihm is no lil boy...he has decent size (not diesel size) but he makes up for it with his athletic ability. His confidence is comming along. Okay, im just rambling now....but like i said before, im happy with what the lakers have brought to the table so far this season....they just need that fire, that hunger and that confidence. A nice young athletic team....ATTACK THE BASKET! DMK
<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Okay, im just rambling now....but like i said before, im happy with what the lakers have brought to the table so far this season....they just need that fire, that hunger and that confidence. A nice young athletic team....ATTACK THE BASKET!</div> I agree 100000000%
In my opinion....only person other then Kobe and Maggette (ok Shaq) that should be getting to the line more is Caron Butler....the guy can create around the basket, and i think he will once he realizes..."yes i have great hops, but maybe a layup and a AND1 is better then putting someone on a poster" .... Caron can attack the basket...just doesnt as often as i like... Odom does, but he either blow's it or doesnt draw the foul....no excuse. DMK
