Where does Kobe Go?

[Just John 0]

Stupid ESPN-perpetuated drama.

 

At least I'll get some more milage from my new Kobe 24 jersey.

[UZI Suicide 0]

Buss needs to just sell the fucking team to Magic already. Get his old drunkard ass and his incompetent son out of our lives for good.

[Guest]

There's only one problem with that. Since the Lakers play at Staples, the guy that owns the LA Kings has first buyer's rights whenever the Lakers come up for sale. He has billions. Magic will never be able to be the majority owner unless it is given to him.

[alfdogg 0]

I said it once and I'll say it again

 

The biggest mistake Kobe has ever made was not signing with the Clippers.

 

Elton Brand is the perfect guy to play with Kobe.

 

Too bad Kobe let his love for the Lakers blind him to the obvious

I listened to much of the SAS interview on the way to work, and Kobe actually did say something to the effect of "I could be with the Clippers right now". That's pretty fucking surreal.

[Guest]

A little before I go to bed update.

 

Jerry West is "absolutely not coming back as an executive."

 

The Jermaine O'Neal possibility is legit, with Phil having told him right before he went on the air with that last interview in which Kobe stated that he did not want to go anywhere.

 

Someone is about to get fired.

 

The other GM's think that someone is about to be Mitch Kupchak.

 

If it is Kupchak that's about to get fired, Kobe will have a say in the new GM.

 

I did a little website search before I went to bed. West news is in the LA Daily News, O'Neal news is in the NY Post, the someone is about to get fired is something that I was told by a reliable person that doesn't work for the organization, GM's think Kupchak is about to get fired is from Chad Ford.

 

Now I'm going to bed and hopefully when I get up this shit is about to be resolved because it is driving me nuts. The thought of Kobe getting traded makes this man ill.

[bobobrazil1984 0]

this, in hindsight, seems like more of a ploy to force the Lakers to make a real move than him actually leaving.

[JohnnyBlaze 0]

this, in hindsight, seems like more of a ploy to force the Lakers to make a real move than him actually leaving.

 

You are most likely correct, but the speculation gives me something to do (and as Kobe Bryant hater, I'd like to see him tear his image to shreds once again).

[Ripper 0]

You know, that Simmons article where he is talking about KG and Kobe to the suns, its insane, but neither of those deals would be a BAD deal for the teams they trade them to. I know it will never happen, but hey.

 

And as for Amare for KG...

 

 

...

 

 

Yeah...I would take that trade. You have KG for 20 mil for 2 years instead of 6 more years of Amare who will eventually make that kind of money. Plus KG is a better shooter and can finish at the basket just as well as Amare, a better defender and rebounder. Amare has that whole being 24 years old thing on his side, but KG is only 30.

 

Plus Amare has the personality that seems to alienate teammates(Everyone can see how great the chemistry was last year as opposed to this year) while KG's teammates not named Wally seem to love him.

 

I think a KG, Marion, Diaw, Bell, Nash starting line up with Thomas, Barbosa and who ever the fuck else would be a upgraded lineup (once again, this is D'Antoni...they aren't giong any deeper that 7-8 anyway.)

[Cheech Tremendous 0]

I was just listening to Ric Bucher on the radio and it doesn't sound as if this is a dead story. It may be more of a shut up while we try to work something out. Kobe has a fractured relationship with management and there is not a lot they can do to win back his trust. Could be a long summer in LA land.

 

It's likely that Jermaine O'Neal will become a Laker after the trade moratorium ends. That's a good start but I'm not sure how much better it makes them if they have to give Odom+pieces to make the deal work.

[Ripper 0]

Injury prone forward for Injury prone forward.

 

Don't get me wrong, I like O'neil, but Odem is a better passer, ball handler and when he goes to the block can be a match up problem.

 

What exactly does Jermaine bring to the table except alot of time on the bench after the Laker perimeter defense gets blown by and he has to foul while trying to block everyones shots?

 

The Lakers need a physical defensive point that can hit the open 3, and a athletic slasher on the wing and they will be a winning team. So basically...they need Caron Butler and Derek Fisher.

 

...

 

 

yeah...I see why he wants to get traded.

[Guest]

The one positive about getting Jermaine O'Neal regardless of whether or not Kobe gets dealt...if he does get dealt we have a star to build around with a lot of players coming in. If he comes and Kobe gets happy, we keep our best player. Looking good for the Lakers right now regardless of what happens.

[iggymcfly 0]

Injury prone forward for Injury prone forward.

 

Don't get me wrong, I like O'neil, but Odem is a better passer, ball handler and when he goes to the block can be a match up problem.

 

What exactly does Jermaine bring to the table except alot of time on the bench after the Laker perimeter defense gets blown by and he has to foul while trying to block everyones shots?

 

The Lakers need a physical defensive point that can hit the open 3, and a athletic slasher on the wing and they will be a winning team. So basically...they need Caron Butler and Derek Fisher.

 

...

 

 

yeah...I see why he wants to get traded.

 

Bingo. The Lakers are pretty good inside as they're already one of the better rebounding teams in the league and Odom's shown the ability to score the ball too. As guys like Turiaf and Bynum develop, they're only going to get better inside. All they really need is that good shooting point guard. I think Derek Fisher's a little too far past his prime at this point, and while he would have been nice a couple years ago, the Lakers would be in about the same spot they are now if he was still playing in LA.

 

I still can't figure out who really fits that bill that the Lakers could actually make a deal for though. The only real trading chip they have is Bynum, so it has to be a young team looking toward the future who's not already set inside. I just don't see any good shooting young PGs around the league that fit that bill.

[Guest Vitamin X]

I still can't figure out who really fits that bill that the Lakers could actually make a deal for though. The only real trading chip they have is Bynum, so it has to be a young team looking toward the future who's not already set inside. I just don't see any good shooting young PGs around the league that fit that bill.

 

I hear Portland is looking towards getting a dominant young center soon. I think the only trade I'd be okay with the Blazers doing would be to trade the 1st pick and Randolph for Bynum and Kobe. I think everyone wins there. The Blazers get their young guy to develop in the middle, plus the best player in the league playing alongside a very good young team, and the Lakers can have a monstrous front court with Oden, Randolph, and Odom. There'd be a huge gap in that backcourt, but I'm sure they can work with that.

[Guest]

We're looking at Marcus Camby...

 

Maybe revisiting Kidd for Bynum too.

[iggymcfly 0]

That would be a terrible deal for the Lakers. They'd be stuck with eight C/PF types and would have no one but Farmar even remotely decent in the backcourt. If anything, you could maybe trade Roy and Oden for Kobe and Bynum, but my whole point was that they don't need to redo their frontcourt. They need to keep Kobe and find a point guard who can get him the ball while hitting the occasional open jumper. Looking at Portland's roster, who the Lakers could really use would be Jarrett Jack, but I don't think trading him straight up for Bynum would give LA good value and I can't see Portland being interested in any of the other assorted frontcourt types that the Lakers would have to offer.

 

Even if the Blazers got Bynum, he wouldn't be a good fit as they already are set in the frontcourt with Randolph and Oden in place. Maybe, they could work some kind of three way deal where Jack and a decent shooting wing go to LA, Bynum goes to some young team looking to build around a big man, and Portland gets some good defenders at the point and at the 3, but I'm really at a loss as to how you'd actually work such a deal.

[Guest Vitamin X]

Even if the Blazers got Bynum, he wouldn't be a good fit as they already are set in the frontcourt with Randolph and Oden in place. Maybe, they could work some kind of three way deal where Jack and a decent shooting wing go to LA, Bynum goes to some young team looking to build around a big man, and Portland gets some good defenders at the point and at the 3, but I'm really at a loss as to how you'd actually work such a deal.

 

You must've missed the part where I said Randolph AND the #1 overall pick in the draft.

 

And how would having Oden or Durant, Odom, and Randolph on the Lakers be a bad deal for them? If anything it'd be a bad deal for the Blazers because they would overload their backcourt, which would cut into Roy and/or Jack's minutes and be missing someone at forward.

 

Although again, I said that might be the closest thing to a trade scenario I'd like to see with Kobe. I'm pretty happy with the Blazers as they are right now, anyways.

[iggymcfly 0]

I should have paragraphed better. The first three sentences though were the ones that were referring to your proposed trade. The rest were devoted to a potential deal for Jarrett Jack since I think he's the kind of player the Lakers could really use right now.

[BruiserKC 0]

This is what Kobe wanted...to be the toast of the town, get his 50 every night, and all the props, wasn't it? He did this himself, no matter how much he tries to throw Buss under the bus.

 

I'm enjoying that we can finally see how overrated of a coach Phil Jackson is...proves he can't win unless all the pieces together and that when he has to actually coach he shits his own pants.

[Gert T 0]

I liked liked a Kobe trade to the Hawks that then set up a trade to the Blazers for Randolph to the Lakers.

 

I really do not think Kobe can win anymore win the Lakers. Not with the West still being a superior conference for at least 5 more years. Go East where you only have to play one West team. And I still acknowledge too that if I am a team in the East and I don't have LeBron on my team, I trade anybody for Kobe.

 

Jermaine O'Neal & Kobe will not win in the West, and if I am New Jersey, I up the ante on Kidd for Bynum since the Lakers balked earlier.

[alfdogg 0]

Kobe Bryant met with Los Angeles Lakers owner Jerry Buss in Barcelona, Spain and reiterated his demand to be traded, according to Los Angeles-area media reports citing unnamed sources.

 

The Press-Enterprise of Riverside, Calif. cited two unnamed league sources, who said Buss was shocked by Bryant's continued demand for a trade, and left the meeting uncertain if he would comply with the disgruntled All-Star's wishes.

 

A source told the Los Angeles Times that Buss wanted to appeal to Bryant, reassuring him that winning remains the team's focus and that trades take time to engineer, but that Bryant remained concerned about the team's direction and did not budge from his demand.

 

Team sources told the Times the Lakers still have no plans to trade Bryant and remain hopeful that the situation can be resolved.

 

The Lakers confirmed the meeting took place but would not go into details. Bryant had been vacationing in Spain, while Buss has been in China for the past two weeks.

 

"Our position is that it's a private meeting between the two of them and it shall remain private between the two of them," Lakers public relations director John Black said.

 

Bryant's agent, Rob Pelinka, didn't return messages seeking comment, both newspapers reported. But on Friday, he told ESPN.com''s Chad Ford, "Kobe's position remains unchanged ... Kobe would like to be moved."

[Prophet of Mike Zagurski 0]

I wish Kobe would shut up. You won 3 NBA Championships. Reggie Miller has none. How fair is that? Your salary is taking up most of the cap. Shut up and the Lakers will retire both you jerseys eventually.

[In Credible 0]

Where does Kobe Go?

 

To Hell, fuck that whiney bitch.

[JustJoe2k5 0]

ESPN's basketball insider said before game four of the finals that even though the story has cooled off, Bryant still wants to be dealt. He said that Bryant has stopped working out at the Lakers' training facility and instead has been at U.C.L.A. the past couple of weeks. He says this means alot more than some people may think. Bulls are still the #1 possibility and the deal would likely include Ben Gordon and the #9 pick in the draft. He said the Bulls would probably offer to add Andres Nocioni to the deal, but the Lakers would want Luol Deng.

[Guest George's Box]

1% chance that Kobe goes to the Bulls, but I think I could finally find a place in my heart for him if he did. I'm such a whore.

[Guest]

Oh well. As long as we get the right deal (hopefully from the Bulls) and keep Bynum and Odom, we'll be better off than we were with him.

[TheSSNintendo 0]

I'd rather have the Bulls keep Ben Gordon and Luol Deng. Don't need Kobe's soap-opera B.S. stinking up Chicago.

[Ripper 0]

Because the gordon/skiles drama is alot better.

[Edwin MacPhisto 0]

Oh well. As long as we get the right deal (hopefully from the Bulls) and keep Bynum and Odom, we'll be better off than we were with him.

I'm trying to come up with ways this can be true and not coming up with much.

[Guest]

Trade him to Chicago, get some of their young players, wait for Bynum to get better...and then we'll be a hell of a lot better than riding the 7th spot year after year. Hell, we'd be better than the 7th spot in year one of the post Kobe era if a trade with the Bulls took place.

 

I'd love to trade Kobe to the Bulls even if he didn't want dealt. There's a lot to get, and a lot that has to be received since contracts have to match.

[St. Gabe 0]

Straight Up Kobe for Gilbert, then they can be unhappy elsewhere