The 'Kobe Bryant Will Leave The LA Lakers' thread

Re: The 'Kobe Will Leave The Lakers' thread

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Re: The 'Kobe Will Leave The Lakers' thread

 

There is NO absolutely ZERO fucking way the Bulls will trade Hinrich, Gordon and Thomas for Kobe. Kobe's not worth that much.

 

agreed. And I'm a huge Kobe fan, albeit less and less every day.

 

I agree with you Doc. I wouldn't change a thing if I was Chicago. They have a really good thing going for them right now.

 

I agree, but that scenario has been discussed.

Here's one where the money works:

Deng, Hinrich, Thomas for Bryant

It's actually a little light money-wise, on the Bulls side. A stiff might need to be thrown in. Remember, it's not just about the talent involved, it's about the contracts. It has to work all the way around.

Personally, I would rather have Deng over Gordon if I were the Bulls. But he might make too much to be part of this deal. We'll see what Kupchack can negotiate, if this is the team Kobe goes to.

 

Any trade involving the Bulls will include Nocioni in a sign-and-trade for salary purposes. Paxson has publicly stated he has no intention of trading Deng under any circumstances. It likely would be Gordon, Thomas, Nocioni and the No. 9 pick. Or a third team could be worked in.

 

Doc is dead on. It was going to be Deng instead of Nocioni, but that was before Deng began to emerge and show what he might turn into.

If only the Bulls had re-signed Elton Brand a few years ago. They'd be phenomenal.

 

Thanks for the clarification of my errors, Doc and Clever.

Those names make a heck of a lot more sense from a Bulls perspective than the ones I mentioned. Thank goodness for Nocioni's contract.

 

In regards to the first part of your rambling post, let's say the Lakers trade Bryant to Chicago for Gordon, Tyrus Thomas, Nocioni and the No. 9 pick. You're telling me the Bulls aren't the best team in the East, quite easly? Think about it:

PG: Kirk Hinrich
SG: Kobe Bryant
SF: Luol Deng
PF: PJ Brown/Michael Sweetney
C: Ben Wallace
Top reserves: Duhon, Sefalosha and whoever doesn't start between Brown or Sweetney. And, there's probably one or two other key reserves that play well, and someone like Doc who follows the team would be able to point out.

That team is younger and more talented than the aging Miami Heat and would be battling the Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference finals every year.


As for your second point, the L.A. Times is reporting that the post on Bryant's web site actually was written a couple of weeks ago, when he did the radio interviews. It's not anything new and AP is misreporting it. Here's the link: http://www.latimes.com/sports/basketball/nba/lakers/la-sp-lakers18jun18,1,5219071.story?coll=la-headlines-sports-nba-lakers

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Rok, your obsession with Kobe Bryant is reaching a frightening level. Seriously, you've ripped on the guy so much and so often that you've lost your voice when it comes to the subject, meaning, you've yammered on and on and on and on about it that you're becoming easy to tune out.

Living in L.A. as I do, the whole Kobe Bryant-Lakers situation sucks. It should never have come to this. Bryant deserves some of the blame with the Shaquille O'Neal debacle, but O'Neal also deserves his share of the blame as well. It takes two to tangle, in this case, and if most any other player had done what Shaquille did his final years with the Lakers, they'd have been skewered by the press (i.e. showing up out of shape; having surgery 'on company time'; demanding a maximum contract extension and showing up his owner during a preseason game on the court; threatening not to play defense if he didn't get the ball). It wasn't just Bryant that did this. Shaq did it, too.

So far, most Laker fans out here haven't turned on Bryant. Why? Because he's essentially saying what the fans have been sayin for the last couple of years. Anyone who follows the team, game in and game out, knows that Kupchak is incompetent; Jerry Buss, for whatever reason (whether it's his advanced age or the young hotties) doesn't seem willing to fork over the extra money to exceed the luxury tax to get the right pieces in here; Jim Buss, someone who has no basketball background and has a troubled past, has fast become a force in the Lakers front office and, along with Jeanne Buss, are leaving their fingerprints upon the organization. Does it suck that Bryant wants out? Yeah. But, I can't say I blame him, either. His only hope was to get Jerry West back. West, according to all that know him, loves Bryant like a son likely would come back if it didn't mean he'd be replacing Kupchak. West is a fiercely loyal man, which sucks because that means Kupchak isn't going anywhere.

The Lakers fans will remain strong, with or without Kobe Bryant because the Lakers are "THE" franchise here in Southern California. Bryant, as great as he is, isn't bigger than the Lakers. Whether he stays or goes, the Laker train will keep rolling. It's going to suck, though because with Bryant on the court, you knew he was going to give 100 percent of himself each and every season and, at the end of a close game, there was NO other player in the NBA you'd rather have shooting for your team, than Kobe Bryant.
Most people are content just to rip Bryant. I don't know Bryant, the person (do any of you?) and I'm not privy to the "behind the scenes" doings of the Lakers front office, so I don't know exactly wha happened with he and Shaq and Buss and the "Laker insider." (do any of you?)
So, all I can judge him on are his basketball skills and, for me, Bryant is the best player in the game.

 

Well, it's hard to argue with the first part of your post, Big Game. But regarding the PF situation, both Brown and Sweetney likely are gone, especially Sweetney. They'll probably use their mid-level exception (about $5 million) to add a PF, because no one else on their roster can play the position. The other scenario is to add Duhon and subtract either Thomas or the No. 9 pick (which would be used to draft a PF).

 

OK, sounds like you guys need some help at power forward. I think the Lakers would be wise to hold out for the draft pick. Let's figure this out. If the Bulls trade Gordon, Duhon, Nocioni and the No. 9 pick for Bryant, here's the two teams:

BULLS
PG - Hinrich
SG - Bryant
SF - Deng
PF - Thomas
C - Wallace
Top reserves: Sefalosha, (don't know the depth of their roster enough to say who else would contribute).

LAKERS
PG - Duhon
SG - Gordon
SF - Walton
PF - Odom
C - Bynum

Top reserves: Farmar, Turiaf, Nocioni, K. Brown, 2 draft picks

The end result is the Bulls have arguably the best starting 5 in the East, while the Lakers are much deeper, but probably don't end up much better in the always-tough/deep Western Conference, especially considering the Trail Blazers are adding Oden and Seattle is adding Durant.

As a Lakers fan, I'd rather they keep Bryant, but if they do deal him, I hope it's to either Chicago or Phoenix.