Either Ric Bucher hates the Lakers with a passion or Lakers management is truly desperate and incompetent. Because when I heard the Lakers were trading Kobe and receiving Ron Artest and Ben Wallace in return, I almost fell out of my seat. That's not getting 50 cents on the dollar. That's getting a nickel and a butt tap.
Ben Wallace has three years and 15 million left on his contract, and is a liability 50 percent of the time he's on the floor. Not to mention, he's also aging poorly and refuses to part with his headband. The only place Ron Artest will take the Lakers is to jail. Neither of those guys will push the Lakers into the playoffs without Kobe. Nor do they help in any kind of rebuilding effort. The deal would be ten times worse than the Caron Butler or the Shaq trade.
The Luol Deng trade doesn't strike me as a great deal either, though I do like Deng's game and his character. But he's not a No. 1 option. As a complementary player, a No. 2 he could be a borderline all-star in the west, but any team that comes in with Deng as its star will not be feared.
Desperate times call for desperate measures but in this case, I'd rather see Kobe for two more years and then leave for free agency (Gasp!). Yeah, you read right.
"How can you get no one in return for Kobe?" you may be asking.
Well, you get the chance to convince him to stay because you can offer him the most money and you get $20 million in cap space in return if he leaves. LA is still a hot destination and there are plenty of stars the Lakers can get with $20 million. If you get players in return for Kobe, like Deng and Gordon, that inhibits the Lakers from signing top notch free agents and they'd be stuck building around what they got in the Kobe trade.
So if Kobe leaves fine. We'll sign someone else and we'll get to watch a special player for two more years.
Ben Wallace has three years and 15 million left on his contract, and is a liability 50 percent of the time he's on the floor. Not to mention, he's also aging poorly and refuses to part with his headband. The only place Ron Artest will take the Lakers is to jail. Neither of those guys will push the Lakers into the playoffs without Kobe. Nor do they help in any kind of rebuilding effort. The deal would be ten times worse than the Caron Butler or the Shaq trade.
The Luol Deng trade doesn't strike me as a great deal either, though I do like Deng's game and his character. But he's not a No. 1 option. As a complementary player, a No. 2 he could be a borderline all-star in the west, but any team that comes in with Deng as its star will not be feared.
Desperate times call for desperate measures but in this case, I'd rather see Kobe for two more years and then leave for free agency (Gasp!). Yeah, you read right.
"How can you get no one in return for Kobe?" you may be asking.
Well, you get the chance to convince him to stay because you can offer him the most money and you get $20 million in cap space in return if he leaves. LA is still a hot destination and there are plenty of stars the Lakers can get with $20 million. If you get players in return for Kobe, like Deng and Gordon, that inhibits the Lakers from signing top notch free agents and they'd be stuck building around what they got in the Kobe trade.
So if Kobe leaves fine. We'll sign someone else and we'll get to watch a special player for two more years.
1 comment:
Kobe for Marion plus cash considerations...
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