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Originally Posted by King Glorious
Here's the deal. I have NO IDEA what Kobe is doing. I don't think he does either. He's demanding to be traded. Well, does he think that HELPS his trade value? Look at how that went when Shaq demanded to be traded. Look at the Iverson deal. Get the picture? When these players come out and demand to be traded, the teams around the league know they have the upper hand. They know that the Lakers are over a barrel and there is no way that the Lakers can now get actual market value for Kobe. No way. Add to this the fact that Kobe has a no-trade clause in his contract. He's mentioned NY, Chicago, and Phoenix as places he'd like to get traded to. What if the Lakers work out a deal with Milwaukee or Utah? U think Kobe would waive his clause then? How about Sacramento or Memphis? I don't see him agreeing to any of those places. Does he even realize what a team would have to give up in order to get him? First of all, Chicago, in my opinion, would have to be idiots to give up Wallace, Deng and Gordon or Hinrich for Kobe. Do people realize that Kobe has played 11 years in the league, has played another 120+ playoff games, and had his knee operated on last year? He's on the downside of his career. Sure, he's going to be very good till he's done but I think he's done in another three or four years max. The Chicago guys are all young and have plenty of years left and as Cannon just said, they are right on the cusp of being a contender to make the finals every year being in the Eastern Conference. There is no reason for them to make that deal. Even if they were idiots and did it, what would Kobe be coming to in Chicago? The guys that would be left would be no better than the team he has here in LA. I think they'd be worse. And now I hear people talking about Phoenix? Give me a break. The talk I've been hearing is maybe Shawn Marion, Barbosa, and the pick that the Suns get next year from Atlanta (likely a lottery pick). For the Lakers, that would be a great deal. But would they believe that they are then better than a Suns team of Kobe, Nash, and Stoudamire? Wouldn't they virtually be handing the title to Phoenix? How well would that go over in Lakerland when the Suns w/Kobe come into Staples and knock the Lakers out of the first round again with Kobe going for 35 a night?
The deal is that Kobe is already hated by his teammates and the things he's said about them lately aren't helping matters. He's almost forcing the team's hand. And he doesn't have many aces in my opinion. If he wanted to be traded, there were other ways to go about this. Now, the other option is to not trade him at all. The problem is that in order to get the kind of players that Kobe wants, the Lakers almost HAVE to include Odom and/or Bynum. They are very reluctant to trade Bynum. They could have had Jermaine O'Neal for Odom and Bynum but said no. I actually think that deal would hurt far more than help though. I wouldn't look to trade Odom at all. He's an underachiever but he still does so much for that team that isn't recognized by most because they want more.
If they indeed do intend to trade Kobe, I'm thinking that there are a few teams that might make sense. I'm thinking that it has to be a team with some young talent that the Lakers could use but that would still be left with a few pieces once they made the deal. I'm thinking that Kobe is interested in playing in a large metropolitan area. I'm thinking that he'd prefer to be in the East because the path to the Finals is easier over there. With this in mind, I'm coming up with........Atlanta, Boston, NJ, Charlotte and one Western team, Golden State.
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