Kobe Bryant Trade Drama

(Note: the timestamp of this post has been changed to reflect the fact that it was supposed to be posted on Tuesday; I had completed the post at around 1am on Tuesday, but as mentioned in the comments to this blog entry, Blogger reports the time the post was started, not the time the post was completed.)

- The big news here in the Los Angeles sports scene, of course, is the news that Kobe Bryant wants Jerry West back in some capacity for the Lakers. Obviously frustrated by three years without making it past the first round of the playoffs, and fueled by the lack of help he's been getting--unless you consider Chucky Atkins and Smush Parker "help"--Kobe clearly is going to drastic measures to get himself some help. The ESPN article also says that Kobe will seek a trade if he doesn't get the help he wants; I don't see a direct quote suggesting that, though.

Now, I was one that bashed Kobe back in 2004, when he "chased" Shaq and Phil out of town. I called the Lakers "the LA Kobes." I was screaming that Kobe was the GM, and not Kupchak, and that Kobe was ruining the team I cheered for.

(As an aside, I also hate it when NBAers whine about wanting to be traded, as if they are the ones in charge, not the GM. They demand the big bucks, then quit on the team, forcing the team to trade the star for fifty cents on the dollar. The star then gets exactly what he wishes, while leaving his old team in a heap.)

All that being said, I'm on Kobe's side. Call me whatever you want, but the Lakers' front office has had three full years to get the guy help, and all they were able to do is sign superb athletes like Aaron McKie, Vlade Divac, Vladimir Radmonovic, and then compound the pretty awful trade for Shaq by trading Caron Butler and Chucky Atkins for Kwame Brown. Then, they had a chance at Jason Kidd, but decided to keep superstar-in-waiting (maybe) Andrew Bynum, ignoring the fact that you no longer need a true center to win in this league.

When Allen Iverson whined his way out of Philly, he did so while insisting that it was best for everyone to go their separate ways. I hope Kobe doesn't offer the same BS; I want him to demand a trade, pointing fingers at Kupchak on the way out the door!

People who say that Kobe chased Shaq out of town--myself included--need to stop. If Dr. Jerry Buss had given Shaq the huge extension he wanted (I believe it was somewhere in the vicinity of $25-30 million/season), the Lakers would probably be in worse shape than they are now. Never mind the fact that his contract would have become absolutely unmovable (as opposed to tradeable for fifty cents on the dollar, which is exactly what the Lakers did get); does this look like a player worth a max contract today? Worse, if the Lakers had extended Shaq, would they have re-signed Kobe? Probably not; we would probably have had to overpay a second-tier free agent, not anyone even close to #24.

(Yeah, I know...the Lakers replaced Shaq with Odom, Brown, and Vlad, if you do a strict comparison via salaries. Am I suggesting that Shaq is less valuable than Odom, Brown, and Vlad? Maybe.)

(EDITED due to some strange errors)

So what do I think will happen? I think the Lakers will be mediocre next year, playing for a lower playoff seed. If they make the playoffs, they'll be another first round exit. They'll then re-tool in the following offseason, and maybe Kobe will finally be surrounded by players he can trust.

Or, maybe Kobe will never sniff another championship again, until he leaves the team to ride the coattails of an up-and-comer, kinda like a former Laker did...

Hope this all makes sense. Until next time!