Shouldn't the lakers trade kobe and get a good quality big man? Before Bashing me think about it Now days in the NBA all the top teams have a talented PF/c. Good championship contending team has a good lineup of big men (Miami - Shaq), (Spurs - TD) (Mavs - Dirk) (Pistons - Ben and Rasheed) (Suns - Amare) etc. Guards are something their are plenty of around the league. A quality big man was hard to find. We got out hands on a 7 foot 300 pound monster should have kept him how many other shaq's do you see? I see alot of other players drawing MJ hypes (LeBron, Kobe, T-Mac) TMac with magic never lasted, VC with toronto didnt last either. I say we trade Kobe get a GOOD big man and build around him!
The Lakers can not trade Kobe because of his no trade clause. But even if the Lakers could and wanted to trade Kobe, what big man could you possibily trade him for that is actually worth it. The only ones that come to mind that are indeed worth it would never be traded: 1. Tim Duncan - He loves the Spurs and the Spurs love him. Not to mention that the Spurs are probably the best taem in the league the way they are right now. 2. Shaq - That will never happen. 3. Stoudemire - Phoenix will never trade him. Why? They are doing great this year. And if it ain't broke, why fix it? 4. Yao Ming - Yeah right! He is much too soft. 5. KG - Maybe. But he is in the same situation that Kobe is in, so what makes me think that having KG instead of Kobe would change any thing. I know that this whole big man thing sounds great. And i can not say that i do not agree with it. But i just don't think that acquiring a big man by trading Kobe is the best way to go. A big man will come along one day for the Lakers, whether is through the draft or a trade, but trading Kobe is not the answer.
Instead of trading Kobe, maybe the Lakers should actually try building around him with the right pieces. I'm not ready to give up on Odom and Kobe just yet, they haven't had enough time to learn to play with one another. Once they find their balance the sky's the limit. The Lakers main weakness is at the defensive end. Until they take care of that it doesn't matter how any talented offensive players the team has. All those teams you mentioned above have good big men, but they've all improved because they have stepped up on defense. The Spurs, Pistons, Heat, Memphis, and Rockets are one of the hardest teams to score on. "Defense wins championships." You hear it all the time, but for some reason players don't listen and understand that. The Lakers are 6-32 when they give up 100 points, you would think goal #1 every night would be to keep teams under that mark. The Lakers are 24-6 when they hold opponents under 100.
Kobe can play Jordan Lamar can play Pippen Mihm can be weddington Trade/Sign or do anything possible to get Kurt Thomas (pretty sure he'd get traded) or Melvin Ely So Ely or Thomas could be Rodman And Salim Staudemire or Raymand Felton could be Harper Cook is Kukoc If it worked before it'll work again Dammit
wouldn't trade kobe for anybody. just need the right pieces around him. Everyone is expendable, even Lamar and Mihm.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting bigdaddy:</div><div class="quote_post">Shouldn't the lakers trade kobe and get a good quality big man? Before Bashing me think about it Now days in the NBA all the top teams have a talented PF/c. Good championship contending team has a good lineup of big men (Miami - Shaq), (Spurs - TD) (Mavs - Dirk) (Pistons - Ben and Rasheed) (Suns - Amare) etc. Guards are something their are plenty of around the league. A quality big man was hard to find. We got out hands on a 7 foot 300 pound monster should have kept him how many other shaq's do you see? I see alot of other players drawing MJ hypes (LeBron, Kobe, T-Mac) TMac with magic never lasted, VC with toronto didnt last either. I say we trade Kobe get a GOOD big man and build around him!</div> LOL um u had one and ur GM was dumb enough to let him go. LOL!
Exactly how i feel, Any GM especially west would know to keep a hard to find big man over a flashy not as hard to find sg
it's pretty easy to say that right now, but i don't think even West would have kept Shaq over kobe. He would've received something better than Lamar, Caron and B. Grant though.
really? how do you know that? Even now, if i had the option, i'd keep Kobe. Shaq, for all his greatness, is now 33? Give him 2 more years of dominant play with the Lakers. He still wouldn't have won anything. I doubt West is an idiot.
But he still would've gotten somethign better than Odom, Butler and a fat useless contract that hinders free agent signings for years... what a horrible trade. I never thoght the trade was this bad, until now... I see how bad it is and how badly Kupchak needs to get fired.
Shaq wount win but get to play-offs Kobe would just go to lottery And kobe is replaceble (VC, Bron, Pierce, MacGrady etc) No other player is like Shaq Play-off exit over lottery HMM i think Mr. West would take play-offs better yet get key peices to make shaq a contender and after shaq leaves we get $$$$ and west uses gm magic. Hell when shaq woula left we would be in no worse position than the lakers are right now
agree <div class="quote_poster">Quoting bigdaddy:</div><div class="quote_post">Shaq wount win but get to play-offs Kobe would just go to lottery And kobe is replaceble (VC, Bron, Pierce, MacGrady etc) No other player is like Shaq Play-off exit over lottery HMM i think Mr. West would take play-offs better yet get key peices to make shaq a contender and after shaq leaves we get $$$$ and west uses gm magic. Hell when shaq woula left we would be in no worse position than the lakers are right now</div> especcially when the lakers had earlier turned down a straight up TMac for Kobe deal with the Magic. Makes them look pretty stupid now doesnt it?
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting bigdaddy:</div><div class="quote_post">Shaq wount win but get to play-offs Kobe would just go to lottery And kobe is replaceble (VC, Bron, Pierce, MacGrady etc) No other player is like Shaq Play-off exit over lottery HMM i think Mr. West would take play-offs better yet get key peices to make shaq a contender and after shaq leaves we get $$$$ and west uses gm magic. Hell when shaq woula left we would be in no worse position than the lakers are right now</div> Oh really? And how exactly would the Lakers get VC, Bron, Pierce, or McGrady? People who keep saying the Lakers should have traded Kobe are forgetting one important fact. Kobe was an UNRESTRICTED FREE AGENT last year. They could not trade Kobe. The Lakers don't have any tradeable assets now or then. If West was here, he would find a way to keep both players and do what it took to keep them happy. He wouldn't make a foolish statement and say Shaq is expendable.
They should have traded kobe years before or let him just exit via free agency. I mean im not hating on Kobe, talentwise he is top 5 in NBA. But Shaq how many players like him do you find 0. Every team Shaq is on is guarenteed play-offs. Shaq also attracts free agents (Mourning, Steve Smith) We could have had a solid play-off team instead were lottery bound. I doubt kobe's ability to lead the team because i do not see shooting guard led teams succeed. They need a big man and build around him. Kobe could have been one of the best second scoring options in NBA history.
I think the main thing with building around kobe right now, is that Lamar Odom is playing out of position really. He would fit better as a scottie pippen at SF, and handling the ball more often. He needs more touches and more looks to be an efficient player right now. So what they really need is a PF who can play defense and rebound, because cook can't do crap except shoot. Also, mihm just needs to lose is ADD or whatever makes him so crappy on off ball defense and stuff. Everybody thought he was going to be good, but somethign just went wrong. The lakers will probably be able to get a solid, starting, PG or PF if they choose to in the draft, and then i think that Caron Butler is the most expendable (of valuable assets) right now. So, they could get an important piece with him + whoever else a team would want.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting bigdaddy:</div><div class="quote_post">They should have traded kobe years before or let him just exit via free agency. I mean im not hating on Kobe, talentwise he is top 5 in NBA. But Shaq how many players like him do you find 0. Every team Shaq is on is guarenteed play-offs. Shaq also attracts free agents (Mourning, Steve Smith) We could have had a solid play-off team instead were lottery bound. I doubt kobe's ability to lead the team because i do not see shooting guard led teams succeed. They need a big man and build around him. Kobe could have been one of the best second scoring options in NBA history.</div> What are you talking about? Trade Kobe years before, you mean when the Lakers were winning those Championships? Let's not forget the Lakers were in the finals last year, and still a winning team regardless of the media hyped Kobe-Shaq feud. We could have had a solid playoff team this year with Kobe, and one that will still be intact for the next 5 years. Unfortunately, Rudy T stepped down, and Kobe got injured, otherwise the Lakers make the playoffs. If we kept Shaq and got jurassaic park players like Zo and Steve Smith, what happens next season? What happens two years from now when Shaq's a free agent and 35? What happens if Shaq doesn't make a commitment in the off-season and gets in shape like he did for the Heat? Right now the Lakers need to look forward, what's done is done, no sense living in the past.
HMMM good point Shape Give shaq a contract till 07' and BAM it will end when yao or amare become free agents and build around them.