You have to take in consideration of how well the Lakers were playing before Lamar got injured. We were one of the top teams in the league, and Lamar Odom was just fantastic. He was scoring, making plays, rebounding, and playing with a brain. The team was also really starting to mesh, so at the time, I don't think anyone wanted to give up Lamar Odom, for Kevin Garnett. Especially considering Garnett's age, and his contract. Also, like Shape said, had we aquired Kevin Garnett, we would have to give up a lot of our depth. If someone went down with an injury, we would've been screwed
<div class="quote_poster">AMS_ice Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">Hmmm... someone's pants are on fire </div> thank you
<div class="quote_poster">AMS_ice Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">hmmm... Luxury tax with a chance for an NBA championship or no luxury tax without a shot for an NBA ring? What do I do, What do I do? Anyway... I'm rooting for a Kobe/Kidd combo after the all-star break!</div> Most owners aren't willing to pay the luxury tax after the latest penalty increase of $1.5 dollars for every dollar over. So if you're over by $1Million it's going to cost you $1.5Million in luxury tax penalties. Odom was averaging 19.3 PPG 8.5 RPG 5.1 APG in the first month of the season. Those are All-Star caliber numbers, and the Lakers were 10-5 (.667 winning%) at the time. Kevin Garnett 21.6 PPG 11.9 RPG 3.4 APG in the first month of the season. Overall better numbers than Odom, but not anything to justify an addition $9M per season it would cost to land KG.
I love the trade that Dallasdue (sorry if I misspelled this) made. Now...let's spam email each respective GM. Who's with me?
<div class="quote_poster">Brian Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">You have to take in consideration of how well the Lakers were playing before Lamar got injured. We were one of the top teams in the league, and Lamar Odom was just fantastic. He was scoring, making plays, rebounding, and playing with a brain. The team was also really starting to mesh, so at the time, I don't think anyone wanted to give up Lamar Odom, for Kevin Garnett. Especially considering Garnett's age, and his contract. Also, like Shape said, had we aquired Kevin Garnett, we would have to give up a lot of our depth. If someone went down with an injury, we would've been screwed</div>I agree that a lot of it had to do with the Lakers success early on in the season, especially with Kobe recovering from an injury. <div class="quote_poster">shapecity Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">It's not crazy, you have to understand the salary cap implications if the Lakers acquired KG. The Lakers owner, Dr. Buss, is not going to pay the luxury tax. KG would cost $9M more than Odom, which means the Lakers would likely have to give up Kwame Brown in the deal, and wouldn't have any capspace to re-sign Luke Walton without going over the luxury tax threshold. They would have to find a taker for Radmonivic inorder to re-sign Luke. So now you're talking about trading 3 starters for 1.</div> With the current roster they have to find a way to re-sign Luke Walton, and trading Odom + Kwame they would have pretty much the same salary situation as before. It would be 2 starters for one. I don't know if the Timberwolves would be interested in Odom + Kwame for KG, but who knows. Maybe Odom + Vlad Radmon + Mckie + 2009 1st rounder + cash? (also not sure if the Timberwolves would like this) Then only giving up 1 starter. EDIT: I can understand Laker fans being hesitant about trading Odom for KG early in the season, but I think Odom isn't the aggressive guy who can be a strong second option, (and isn't a down low threat the way KG is), and the Timberwolves might not get KG's value atm.
