| Doomsday Arrives For Lakers Authored by Patrick J. Austin - May 30, 2007 - 7:17 pm
The Los Angeles Lakers entered the off-season looking to make major changes. Of course, the organization was hoping those changes would come in the form of a second superstar to pair with Kobe Bryant and catapult the team back into the title contending stratosphere. Maybe they could get Jermaine O’Neal. How about Kevin Garnett? Those were the names bandied about just a few days ago in Lakerland. Unfortunately, discussions have changed completely and the tone has been dramatically altered. Superstar, and franchise cornerstone, Kobe Bryant has publicly demanded a trade and vehemently proclaimed that nothing would change his mind.
This is probably the worst scenario for the LA Lakers – aside from say, Kobe suffering a career-ending injury – and it could prove to be the preeminent story of the impending off-season. This once heralded franchise is now entering free-fall mode with a messy landing in sight.
Players demanding trades has become commonplace in the NBA, but to be honest, it’s surprising to hear a demand echo from Kobe Bryant’s mouth. I can’t think of another franchise that has coddled and capitulated to one player than the Lakers with Kobe Bryant. The franchise was there, in full support, during the most arduous and stressful period of Bryant’s life (i.e. rape allegations and trial). They traded away a hall of fame center just so they could completely build around KB24. And, of course, they gave him a boatload of cash ($136 million over 6 years). Even after all of this, Bryant has the gall to insult management and blame the team’s inadequacy solely on them. Never mind the fact that if Bryant was so gung ho about winning, he could have taken a little less cash in order to allow management the additional financial flexibility to acquire another star player. Or maybe he could have implored Dr. Buss to keep Shaq. Yeah, yeah I know Bryant said Dr. Buss was adamant about not paying Shaq $30 mill a year. Of course, that seems rather odd when, the day after Shaq was dealt Bryant signed the aforementioned $136 million dollar contract. I guess Dr. Buss’ penny-pinching is an every-other-day thing.
So here we are now, Bryant has demanded a trade and the Lakers organization is in the precarious situation of deciding whether or not to satisfy his request. Keep in mind, there is going to be a bad result for the Lakers no matter what happens. If they do decide to trade him, there’s no chance they can get equal value. That opportunity evaporated the moment went public with his demands. Don’t be surprised if Isiah Thomas calls up Mitch Kupchak offering Steve Francis, Channing Frye, and Jamal Crawford with a serious tone in his voice. That’s what happens when every general manager knows a player wants out; their value drops significantly. To make matters worse, in the Lakers never-ending babying of Bryant he has a no-trade clause in his contract. This means that if the Lakers were to somehow swindle, say, the San Antonio Spurs and get them to offer up Tim Duncan and Manu Ginoboli for Bryant’s services, Bryant would have the power to negate the trade.
Reports have been scattered about where Bryant would like to go. Some say he wants to be dealt to one team, and only one team. Of course, those same people have no idea which mysterious team this is. Stephen A. Smith, while interviewing Kobe, asked where he’d like to go and Bryant replied with “Not really, I’ll go play on Pluto right now.” If the Lakers do indeed dealt Bryant, this response at least gives them more options when GMs call.
So let’s say, hypothetically, the Lakers caved into Kobe’s demands and officially put him on the open market. What’s the best trade they could get, realistically? The Mike & Mike radio show had some fun with this scenario proposing numerous trades. The one that seemed most feasible was Ben Gordon, Luol Deng, and Ben Wallace heading to the Lakers in exchange for Bryant and Andrew Bynum. However, I can’t see the Lakers ever considering that deal. First of all, if they do in fact trade Kobe they’ll be committing to a full blown re-building process and you don’t trade away a 20-year old, 7’1 center with major upside like Bynum if you’re re-building. Rule no.1 of re-building is simple: acquire and develop your young prospects; don’t deal them away with your best player. In addition, how does acquiring Ben Wallace help matters? He’s making $16 million dollars a year for the next 4 years and he’s on the wrong side of 30. That makes no sense at all.
Another trade they proposed that seemed fair, at least value wise, was a straight up swap of Kobe for Dirk Nowitski. This deal is great…in a fantasy league, but it won’t happen in reality. For one, it’s a lateral move for both players. Dallas wouldn’t be any close to a championship with Kobe and sans Dirk. I mean, is Kobe Bryant and Josh Howard any better than Kobe Bryant and Lamar Odom? For the Lakers, it would definitely be a great return on value, given the circumstances, but Dirk obviously lacks the killer instinct that Kobe possesses and the Lakers would need to make another move in order to take the next step.
The trade that makes the most sense to this writer involves the Phoenix Suns. My deal would send Shawn Marion, Kurt Thomas, the 24th pick and 29th picks in the upcoming 2007 draft, and the Atlanta Hawks unprotected 2008 first round pick in exchange for Kobe Bryant and Vladimir Radmanovic. This move makes a lot of sense for both parties.
The Suns are coming off a disappointing playoff run which saw them get knocked out in the second round by the San Antonio Spurs. The Spurs appear to be the major blockade on the Suns championship road. They need to make a dramatic move if they want to truly breakdown that Texas barricade. Acquiring Kobe Bryant is exactly what the doctor ordered. Pairing him with former MVP Steve Nash in the backcourt in conjunction with stud big man Amare Stoudemire should be enough to get the Suns over the hump. Some may argue that Kobe would hurt the Suns “hustle and flow” offense (thanks Kenny) but I disagree. Kobe has a lot of respect for head coach Mike D’Antoni and is experienced playing the European style of basketball which the Suns system is based upon.
On the Lakers end, they acquire a fantastic player in Shawn Marion to ease the loss of Kobe. Obviously, Marion doesn’t have the flare of Bryant, but he’s one of the most versatile players in the game – evident by his guarding all five positions during the Spurs series – and produces consistently (20ppg & 10rpg). They also get what every re-rebuilding team needs: draft picks. The 24th and 29th picks in this deep draft could fetch some quality talent, in addition to their own pick at 19. Or, they could use all three picks to move up into the lottery. Furthermore, they obtain the Hawks 2008 first round pick, which has no protection. That means if Atlanta has another atrocious season and wins the lottery in ’08 the pick would still go to the Lakers. To top everything off, they get the expiring contract of Kurt Thomas and remove Vladimir Radmanovic’s lengthy deal. This package is perfect for a team entering a re-building phase.
But let’s head back to reality. Kobe is still on the Lakers and there’s no telling where he’ll wind up. Of course, one fact will remain present throughout all the drama and speculation: things are bad in Lala land. Doomsday has arrived for the Lakers and it may take years for the franchise to recover.
Do you agree or disagree with Patrick J. Austin’s trade proposal? Let him know about it pja123@hotmail.com |
