<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Bynum has been the subject of Internet trade rumors, although Kupchak downplayed them, even saying he joked with Bynum about them. "I kidded with him that we're not going to trade him. I said I wanted to see one more year of play before I make that decision. He jerked his head and looked at me," Kupchak said. "We're not going to trade Andrew. We're very happy with his progress." Miami won its first title last week, but Kupchak said the Lakers would pull the trigger on the O'Neal trade again. "We would not do anything different today than we did two years ago regarding the Shaquille O'Neal trade," Kupchak said. "I understand you'd probably like to ask that question, but the response is ? we would have made the deal today, the same deal we made two years ago."</div> Source Kupchak needs to blow off the Shaq trade questions and just say yeah we would have demanded Wade, he's great. And laugh it off. I wish he'd also elaborate on Bynum's progress. What is he specifically happy about? Kupchak is so damn vague and monotonous with his answers it's frustrating.
That's Kupchak for you. You can never get a good answer out of him. But I'm kind of happy to see Bynum not going anywhere.
Bynum needs to start from day one. If they are not going to trade him then Bynum needs to be the starter at center from day one of this season. In his second year, Stoudamire broke out and Phil needs to give this kid his chance. Krume Brown sucks and should be the back up or traded for a future draft choice.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting whatthef?:</div><div class="quote_post">If they are not going to trade him then Bynum needs to be the starter at center from day one of this season. In his second year, Stoudamire broke out and Phil needs to give this kid his chance. Krume Brown sucks and should be the back up or traded for a future draft choice.</div> It's a tough situation for the Lakers. They are in limbo with the current roster because the team is stuck on whether to win now with Kobe or continue rebuilding. I just hope the series against the Suns showed managment this team is close to winning now and makes the right moves to ride Kobe Bryant into the Finals. Playing Andrew Bynum may or may not accomplish this. I don't think you give Bynum the starting role, you make him earn it. The Lakers can't afford to lose games experimenting with Bynum as the starter. The Western Conference is going to be competitive again this year and the Lakers will have to fight for low seed. One of the main reasons the Lakers made the playoffs last year was their star players being healthy. Both Kobe Bryant and Lamar Odom didn't suffer injuries and most of the key role players were available every game. Next year the Rockets will be right back in the mix with Yao, TMac, plus the lottery selection and maybe a free agent like Mike James added. If the Jazz can stay healthy they will also contend. You can never count out KG and the TWolves. Maybe the Warriors finally turn it around, and Seattle could get back to being a playoff team depending on moves they make. If they resign Chris Wilcox, they'll be significantly better than last year. Every win is crucial next season.
