There are rumors flying around the net, mainly Laker boards (Realgm, LG, and CL) that the Lakers and Hawks are talking S&T. In the deal, the Lakers would trade Andrew Bynum, Smush Parker, and a future first for Al Harrington. The rumor was reported on AM 570. I'd also bet that if this deal happens, McKie and one other player will leave L.A. for cap reasons. I don't think this deal is going to be to popular hear, but I'm actually do'nt mind Harrington. I support Bynum, I dislike Smush. Kobe and Phil want to win now. Harrington gives us a better shot at winning now than either Bynum, Smush, or them two put together. I like Harrington, but how will this effect our lineup? Do we go big with Odom, Kobe, Vlad, Harrington, Kwame? Do we go Farmar, Kobe, Harrington, Odom, Kwame with Vlad off the bench? I don't know how we work our lineup if this happens.
<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Lee Hamilton on AM 570 led off today's 5:00 PM headlines stating that Atlanta approached the Lakers directly about a sign-and-trade that would send Al Harrington to the Lakers for Andrew Bynum, Smush Parker, a 1st Round Draft Pick and $3 million in cash. </div> More info about it...
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting TheBlackMamba:</div><div class="quote_post"> Lee Hamilton on AM 570 led off today's 5:00 PM headlines stating that Atlanta approached the Lakers directly about a sign-and-trade that would send Al Harrington to the Lakers for Andrew Bynum, Smush Parker, a 1st Round Draft Pick and $3 million in cash. </div> Directly, wow... I'm not sure what to think.
Ugh, I don't care if we give up Smush, but not Baby Bynum, I loved his progress in the Summer League.
I don't get this trade. All this for Harrington? Who will start at point then? That's giving up too much IMO. If we weren't going to give up Bynum for Artest, why would we give him up for Harrington? Maybe something like this would work: Smush, Mihm, 1st round pick for Harrington and a PG?
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Brian:</div><div class="quote_post">I don't get this trade. All this for Harrington? Who will start at point then? That's giving up too much IMO. If we weren't going to give up Bynum for Artest, why would we give him up for Harrington? Maybe something like this would work: Smush, Mihm, 1st round pick for Harrington and a PG?</div> There's a couple possibilities I can think of to answer your questions. During the Artest trade, Dr. Buss did not want to involve Bynum as he was our future hope. The label "potential" on Bynum is something Dr. Buss does not want to get risk of. However now after almost a year later, Phil, Mitch, Dr. Buss, and the whole coaching staffs must see something in Bynum that we do not. Bynum did not seem to progress as expected. Yeah he's only 19 (the only excuse Lakers fan could made) but honestly how good Bynum can he be? I don't see him anything special than any big man in this league. He has slow feet and look fragile for his size. Let face it, Phil is not a Bynum's type of guy. He does not want to waste his years with the Lakers to wait for Bynum to develop. Kobe's age won't go down, and Dr. Buss wants to win it now. The NBA is wild open. Anybody can win now if they have the right piece put together. Pistons no longer the obvious favorite to win it all. Miami won't win again. Spurs go as Duncan go, Mavs still bad at defense and defense wins championship, Suns put their money on Amare being 100%, Bulls signed Ben Wallace but wont be enough to be the stand out favorite. So if you telling me, adding Al Harriton won't make us one of the top contender? Of course we would love to go back to Artest and make that trade but it's too late. The only way we can pursue him is in 2008. Harrington might not be the force on defense like Artest but offensively he is equal or better than Artest. Also Jordan Farmar's progress in the summer league has something to do with it if this trade goes down. Farmar seems to pick up the triangle fairly quickly and he is our future triangle starting PG. Signing a big free agent is no longer a possibility as teams are getting smarter to extend their franchise players contract. I do not want to waste Kobe's prime because of Bynum. There is a chance he can turns into a beast or a bust. But right now, he is no where near the NBA level. By the time he contributes anything to the Lakers, Kobe will be in his 30s! and Phil is gone! I'm 50/50 on this trade if it goes down. Either way, I won't be disappoint in Lakers' management if this trade occurs or not.
You made some very good points. But from all I have read, KAJ is drooling over Bynum's potential, and saying that he has improved a lot over the past season. Also, I am not quite sold on Farmar just yet. Sure, he had a terrific summer league, but keep in mind it is only the summer league, and he has yet to see any NBA action. Either way you look at it, this trade would leave our point guard position extremely thin. Getting Al Harrington would probably make us one of the top teams in the west, and with Kobe Bryant and Phil Jackson, it could quite possibly make us one of the top 5 teams in the league. But we are still far from being NBA Championship material. For that to happen, we still need a better point guard (Farmar is only a rookie), and we need an inside presence. I still dont see us beating teams like Dallas in the playoffs One more thing. If we are going to trade Bynum away, why not try to get Kevin Garnett? Lamar, Bynum, 1st round picks and maybe a filler for KG? Who knows, maybe the Wolves will bite.
You also have to put into factor of how much Al Harrington will want to get paid. Personally, I'm not in favor of this trade. If we are going to trade away Bynum, I'm sure we can package him with someone else on our roster for a better deal. I'm also not that big of a Harrington fan. The guy is a perfect example of a tweener. He doesn't really have a natural position, and from what I have heard, he doesn't try hard on defense. <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Getting Al Harrington would probably make us one of the top teams in the west, and with Kobe Bryant and Phil Jackson, it could quite possibly make us one of the top 5 teams in the league. But we are still far from being NBA Championship material.</div> I take back this quote. I think getting Al will us a top 5 team in the west, but I in no way think we can be a top 5 team in the NBA just by aquiring Al Harrington, let alone compete for a championship. I don't think we can compete with teams like Dallas, Miami, Bulls, or even the Spurs. Bottom line is, we still need a starting point guard, and another inside presence. Shape has mentioned this before. This team that we have is extremely soft. Besides Ronny Turiaf, nobody else likes to take contact.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Franchise4Ever:</div><div class="quote_post">.....Uh no... Al is not something we need or want....anyway isn't Al Harrington on the Pacers now?</div> Al was supposed to be a Pacer, but then he fired his agent and I guess a deal couldnt be reached. But like what I said, I don't think aquiring Al Harrington will put us on the top. If we are going to trade away Bynum, we should look to package him for a better deal.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Brian:</div><div class="quote_post">You also have to put into factor of how much Al Harrington will want to get paid. Personally, I'm not in favor of this trade. If we are going to trade away Bynum, I'm sure we can package him with someone else on our roster for a better deal. I'm also not that big of a Harrington fan. The guy is a perfect example of a tweener. He doesn't really have a natural position, and from what I have heard, he doesn't try hard on defense. I take back this quote. I think getting Al will us a top 5 team in the west, but I in no way think we can be a top 5 team in the NBA just by aquiring Al Harrington, let alone compete for a championship. I don't think we can compete with teams like Dallas, Miami, Bulls, or even the Spurs. Bottom line is, we still need a starting point guard, and another inside presence. Shape has mentioned this before. This team that we have is extremely soft. Besides Ronny Turiaf, nobody else likes to take contact.</div> Al may not put any teams he's in to be the top 5 team in the NBA but with our core players Kobe, Lamar, Kwame, and now adding Vlad and Al, talent wise, we are one of the top 5 automatically. We can beat Dallas but I'm not sure about the Spurs as they're a defensive team, something our team can't compete with. Also with an improving Kwame, an aggressive Odom, 3-point killer Vlad, and now a consistent 2nd scoring option Al, we may be the odd favorite to win it all. Kobe can takes the game over if our team get close which we will if we 2 legitimate scorers Al & Vlad. However you're right, our PG is the weakest spot. But I think Phil will play Farmar limit starting minute, then put Odom/Kobe in a PG position during the sketch of 2rd, 3rd, 4th quarter depending who's the opposite PG is. Also with the addition of Al, we have 2 huge traiting baits, LO and AL. Either one of them can go for a true PG.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Brian:</div><div class="quote_post"> One more thing. If we are going to trade Bynum away, why not try to get Kevin Garnett? Lamar, Bynum, 1st round picks and maybe a filler for KG? Who knows, maybe the Wolves will bite.</div> keep dreaming
