Hariyahu,

The reason I brought up the three month waiting period is because the trade you proposed requires it by CBA rules. There's no way around it, unless I'm just not understanding the rules. Or I'm not explaining myself clearly or following your proposal.

AK

Let's face the truth. Kobe wants out because he wants to win. But, he wants it the "easiest way possible", that is thru the east. We´ve seen that anything can happen in "The finals". This is "his" Truth and there is "NO HONOR". IMO.

No Lakers, no fans, no teamates, no West, no Magic, no PJ, no history, no zip. He thinks he can take "The finals" by assault. Almost single-handedly. So he says F*** the fans.

To be able to do this, he's gone ballistic. Reason: he "needs" to lower his trade value to get out. There is no match for Kobe basketball wise (he IS the best player on earth). So he has to get a match money wise (he IS one the most expensive players on earth). He knew this from the start, since the Shaq affair, since he re-signed, and some Sonic guard "warned" us then, and his predictions are comming true NOW. "He'll score 40 points a night and demand a trade."

I said, "Kobe is different. He's not like Shaq (max extension, company time, etc).". But guess what. I WAS WRONG!!!!!!

Who in his right mind could possibly think that we can "magically" be contenders with trades that only benefit "THE LAKERS". The "Beat LA" Lakers? The greatest franchise, with the greatest player. Does anybody think that any team will be willing to hand the 2008 NBA Championship to us? Because that's pretty much what Kobe is demanding. C'on. No way Jose.

He's demanding the impossible. He's demanding the unreachable. It's absurd. It's out of this world. It's ... just like Kobe.

Let's wish him well (it´s more than he'll wish us, remember, if he wins, we don't. And we all know what's important to KB), and let him go.

The truth isn't either good nor bad, and it has no remedies.

Vamos Lakers! We have ALL but seen our finest hour.

HRZ

Gino

" I Miss Van Exel and Eddie Jones "

"That's got to be the stupids person on earth to have his blog name dedicated to those loosers....

I think everyone will conquer"

Hey Gino,

I have been a fan of the Lakers since I was born and have been watching the team since the 70s.

Van Excel and Eddie Jones (Threat, Divac, A. Peeler, Ceballos etc.) were a damn exiting team to watch. Watching Nick the Quick back in those days was a hell of a lot of fun and Eddie Jones remains one of the class acts in the NBA.

Needless to say I dont "conquer".....

"we'll give you Cookie, if you give us Head?"

haha

Hariyahu

Rashard had some contract issues with his FA being legit. Has that been cleared up yet? The intial thought was his agent didn't file paper work timely which meant he would not be a FA.

Fatty

Dear Kobe Haters,

Do you guys realize how ridiculous y'all sound? Plashke and the rest of the media are really doing a number on you guys. You sound like a group of ugly step sisters gossipping about an ex-boyrfriend. The Lakers are a BASKETBALL team, not a cheerleading squad. Let me summarize for you what I've read from the Kobe haters today:

"Wa waaa, Kobe hurt my feelings. He's not a nice guy, he's a meannie. He doesn't like me anymore. Mommy, he likes himself more than he likes me. What a selfish jerk. Waaaaaa Waaaa. He cares more about winning than he does about his teamate Bynum. How dare Kobe compare the great and legendary Andrew Bynum to Jason Kidd. Kobe should love Andrew because he's got potential. Who cares if Andrew blatantly disrespects Kobe and Phil publicly and doesn't have any work ethic. That's not the issue here, Kobe being a meannie is the issue. Boo hoo. Why can't he just accept things and not complain like what I do at my job? I make minimum wage, so how can anyone making $20 million have any complaints? The nerve of this brat. I would never compalin if I was making that much money. boo hoo. I can't believe Kobe hasn't changed his stance yet. So what if none of his complaints have been addressed. I agree with all his complaints but how dare he open his mouth. Who does he think he is? He has no right to demand a trade. Yeah, the owner lied to him, insiders are leaking lies to the media, the front office is a complete mess, but Kobe needs to shut his mouth. If he does, Jim Buss and Kupcake will make the right moves and save us. They haven't in three years, but I have confidence they will this time. Trade his a$$, he don't like me no more. Wa Waaaa."

This blog is turning boring.

Suddenly the briiliant guys with marvelous post are gone.

We have only left some "WE will trash Kobe at no cost", versus the guys in the order corner, The same theme, same diatribe, same argument.

KLbeast, Gunner and Steven recicle the same words and write more than half of the blog tread.

Sorry to say it, but ....

This is ridiculous.

Hari,
Yes, I am saying that I would rather have the number 3 pick in this year's draft than Bynum.

I disagree with the "the dude can ball" statement. He was on a team with the best player in basketball, whose game creates all kinds of opportunities for others. A "legit seven footer" without a lot of scoring responsibilities should be cleaning up on the boards. You would expect occasional monster games from someone like that, and you didn't get that from Bynum.
I don't see the drive that will be requiired to get him to that point.

Gambling that he will develop that drive, which apparently he does not have inherently, is a much bigger risk than picking up Horford.

jorema,

yeah, i miss the days of zakee.

i miss the days when our biggest worries were smush parker not tripping over his own two feet or kwame fumbling cakes like entry passes.

i guess you don't know what you got til it's gone...

Faith,

Sorry, wanted to respond yesterday regarding trading for KG when I said that he was too expensive.

You responded that he's better than anything else we could possibly get or already have (other than Kobe), so he is worth it, especially since we don't have any salary cap flexibility anyway (I'm paraphrasing from memory, so forgive me if I'm missing anything here).

My only concern with putting all of our chips on KB and KG and 10 guys from the Staples Center parking lot is that we already tried that with Shaq and Kobe in 04. We had no depth whatsoever, and if it weren't for a lucky incredible shot by DFish, and a complete meltdown by the TWolves, we wouldn't even have made it to the finals to lose to the Pistons in the first place.

And that team had Malone! This team with KB & KG wouldn't even have that. To me we'd just be burying ourselves with the hopes that 2 players can score 100+ points per game while defending 10 people.

Now, if we had a promise from KG that he would opt out after next season and resign for less money, I'd be all over that.

Just my opinion.

MR

No way does Kobe sit out for a season. He is too concerned with his place in basketball
history. To lose one of his prime years would tarnish his career goals. I don't think he could put up with a year of 0 points and 0 dollars. The points probably mean more to him than the dollars.

Roger

Jorema,

I'm not one of the "brilliant guys" you refer to, but I have been pretty silent the past few days, and I agree all this rehashing of arguments is getting boring. It's also exhausting.

I'm also not as creative as you and G1. Both of your posts have been bright spots. Props also to Fatty, Larry(Mamba24) and Tha Show. LakerBlake has also had some good stuff to say. Apologies to others if I've omitted you.

Laker Tom and Tim-4-Show are missing so far today. Until something happens, there's little more to say.

Does anyone except Rick Bucher of ESPN have any sources? He's the only one still doing any new reporting, and we have no way to know how accurate it is. He insists that Kobe will never wear a Laker uniform again. He's saying the Lakers have explored getting KG, but lack the rebuilding pieces McHale is looking for.

Frankly, I'm just numb at this point. I'm content to curl back on the sidelines until something happens or doesn't happen.

if you're here to talk about the Kobe and not the Lakers, then get off the blog. I want the Lakers to win, not to appease Kobe. Find another blog.

Posted by: I Miss Van Exel and Eddie Jones | June 22, 2007 at 01:41 PM

Yeah, stick it to Steven,aka KL Biatch, aka Gooner24,aka Fakerz,akaTarugo,aka Luigi.

Oh, and also to yourself!

Fatty

"Andy L's mom makes astounding predictions." I humbly thank you for noticing. Even I laughed when mom served up these predicitions (at my request) but now it's getting a bit eerie. There actually IS a chance in Hell! Oops, I shouldn't mention Hell in these supernatural circumstances... One small correction though, she never said we'd lose in the 1st round. She said we'd be worse off than this season. That could mean a worse regular season record. The answer wasn't specific there. One could always hope that we'd stink up the regular season and then light up the playoffs. It'd be hard to get there though if we'd suck worse than this year...

I won't be asking mom any zombie questions. That could be REALLY scary!!!

AK, hari, etc. etc.

http://members.cox.net/lmcoon/salarycap.htm#80

"For sign-and-trade transactions, the initial trade which completes the transaction is obviously allowed, even though it occurs right after the player is signed. What's not clear is whether the player's new team can subsequently trade him prior to three months or December 15. While a literal reading of the CBA might suggest that such players cannot be subsequently traded, the league actually considers this situation to be undefined, and won't resolve the matter until a team actually tries to make such a trade."

I have to agree with JC that THE major problem with the Lakers is the front office. As much as Mitch Kupchak is a nice guy, I don't think I'd let him run my youth basketball team. Sort of the same way I feel about President Bush. Nice guy, but I don't want him in charge. But Dr. Buss is just so damned loyal - as if that's a bad thing.

Unfortunately, that loyalty is killing the team. So far, the highlight of Kupchak's GM career is pulling the string on the Butler for Brown deal. Wow! So from that perspective, I can totally understand where KB is coming from. But that's no reason for him to go outside the team, bash his teamates, demand a trade, and generally act like a child. I'm willing to bet that if instead of blowing up in the media Kobe had sat down with Dr. Buss and said, "it's either Mitch or me, but one of us has to go," Kobe would have been the winner. That would have left the door open for West to come back - something which won't happen as long as Kupchak's there - or to turn the team over to Phil, the only other guy Kobe trusts.

Shaq is strenghtening his goofy image!

Last thing I heard was Shaq flying kites and stepping on nails in the Bahamas (I believe). Yes that's right, according to hottie Elisha Cuthbert who told the story on Conan.

Hariyahu,

Okay, just take my word for it (because I'm apparently not explaining it well). The trade you're proposing can't be done within CBA rules. You'll have to think of a different approach.

AK

Andrew Z,
I have had similar thoughts, if other teams actually think as highly of Bynum as is claimed!

Trade Bynum for the #3 pick. Trade Kwame for Artest.

Lakers would have the #3, #19, Lamar, Kobe, Artest. Turiaf, Farmar, Walton, Mihm,Vlad, Evans on the bench, or starting depending on who is obtained with the draft picks and how ready they are. That is already a much better lineup than last season, and by next season is a title contender.

Of course, Artest's behavior is a risk. Potentially weak at the center position, depending on Mihm's ankle. Could use the MLE to bolster that position.

If Sacto won't trade Kwame for Artest, try Vlad + ? (possibly the #19). Then Kwame is available mid-season for a trade.

That assumes Kobe is staying (and playing.)

Andrew Z,

"I'd trade Bynum for any pick in the top 10, let alone the #3."

So would I :) Unfortunately, the FO doesn't see it that way. The real question to ask is whether teams 3 through 10 would be willing to trade their pick for Bynum. I say if you are a team building for the future, do it. If you want to win *now*, don't.

Warning: long post ahead, sorry for it.

Matt R.

It's a different time, and a different era in my opinion. Yes in this era there are more talents, and more athleticism, but if Cleveland's recent finals appearance and Miami's win last season has showed me, it's that the league is very very wide open. With possible exception of the Spurs of course, but they too have a tendency to win one year and not the next. I'm of a mindset that the gap between Dallas, Suns, Detroit are not that far off from really the other teams in the league (with possible exceptions of Atlanta, Clippers and the other sucky team haha). And I think we have the biggest x-factor in the playoffs in Kobe. Although it has been argued that he's not much of an x-factor cause you know what he will bring...I'm speaking more in the sense that you can never rule a team out if he's in it. I still believe that, even in light of all that has happened.

I believe that KG + Kobe + PJ and scrubs can get to the finals easy. Of course there's always the idea of injuries, but you never really go into a season thinking of such injuries. The track record of KG is also pretty good. I understand your point of view, the salary cap restricions and all, but I think the off side is far too tempting. KG + Kobe! That's a winning combination in my mind. But just thinking logically, let's say we trade the same 4/5 guys I mentioned for KG, we will be left with essentially 4 guys under contract I believe at almost salary cap range, I see where that can be scary. But the off side to that is, we will once again get the appeal of getting players to take less to win. There are always players that will forgo money to play for a championship...off the top of my head, Chris Webber, Grant Hill, and while they are flawed flawed players (I've never been a fan of choke Webber), they, combine with our winning combination should serve us well. We will still have the MLE, the BAE (not to be used this year because of Shammond), and the veteran's minimum (I think).

There is always the train of thought that KG can opt out and resign for less. Unlikely I admit, but not impossible. He knows what it takes to win, and if I remember correctly he once considered (or did I'm not sure) taking less money to have Spreewell and Sam I Am back. So it's not unheard of.

In any case, some part of me thinks making the finals is at least better than what we have now, and what I forsee our future to be. If it comes to pass that we simply make the finals and not win, as it had happened in 2004, that is still a step off the first round exits, if not straight out no playoffs we've had. I'm very pessimistic regarding Bynum's future (ironic because I used to champion him, but has since been convinced by the dark side lol). And when you realize that PJ's record in the finals is 9-1, and Kobe's also astounding, that finals appearance can lead to championships.

As for the 2 guys having to score 100, I think we're underestimating the power of having two guys as opposed to one taking pressure off the ball. Double teams will be all over the place, with "scrubs"scoring with the opening. Defensively, I admit 2 guys couldn't possibly defend the other 5, but I think a well ran offense contributes to defense in a sense. And in another, we'll just have to rely on team defense, hopefully better than what we did this season. I will say though that KG is very underrated defensively, I think we will definitely miss Kwame's one-on-one defense against the bigs, and LO's speed in the rotations, but I hope we can pull more Mo Evans kind of trade (a defender for essentially nothing)...actually I hope that regardless.

LAKER-PHAT-GURL

“Imagine a supervisor spending his time on a basketball blog the whole day.
Whoever owns that business is in deep sh*t.”

I actually use my brain to get things done. plus, I usually scan the blogs during lunch and near days end.

ROGER B.

“No way does Kobe sit out for a season. He is too concerned with his place in basketball
history. To lose one of his prime years would tarnish his career goals.”

I think kobe’s career is already tarnished beyond repair to those of us without our heads up kobe a$$.

THA SHOW,

“not that you [Mitchell] ever claimed to be, but are you even a laker fan?”

Show, Mitchell is kobe’s agent in disguise or kobe’s secret lover.

JO

“KLbeast, Gunner and Steven recicle the same words and write more than half of the blog tread.”

be nice senorita Jo……I miss you too.

MITCHELL=KOBE’S AGENT=BOB SUGAR

“Do you guys realize how ridiculous y'all sound?”

to all blogger, please read mitchell’s posts and you’ll note Mitchell is a self loathing fool cuz his buddy kobe “me first” Bryant is making him look bad or Mitchell is just kobe’s agent and desperately (but failingly) trying to clean up kobe’s damaged image.

GUGY,

“Once we have a major star alongside Kobe, he will be quiet because:
• he can't complain anymore about the lack of talent of the Lakers team
• he will have his wish granted
• he knows his best chances to win will be in LA
• he knows the money and prestige is in LA
• he knows fans and the public in general will not buy his whining attitude anymore.”

so what was kobe’s excuse in 2004. too much talent, too high of a probability to win, too much money and prestige?

PETE MCGUIRE

“He also needs a big name guy to deflect some of the press because he is to stupid to be representing the team anymore.”

perhaps kobe can fly to Miami and beg shaq to come back? I remember shaq making the comment to Stupid Kob that shaq takes a lot of pressure off “them other guys” because most of the criticism was on shaq. What does kobe do in return? kobe badmouths shaq in public. I love this guy Kobe “I’m and idiot b-ball player” Bryant. You think Bynum respects kobe? You think Mitch Kupchak respects kobe?

Kobe has to learn to count his blessings.
He is already a lock for the basketball hall of fame. He has 3 rings
and lots of scoring titles. He is a lock.
Phil Jackson is already in the Hall.

Unless, Kobe plays a Pete Rose type of move.

Kobe has to learn to play the character part now. This is what will keep him out of the
Hall of Fame.
Teammates and people just don't like him. Why? He should look in the mirror. And the clippings. Is he a Motumbo?

Kobe has to realize that basketball isn't all about winning. It is about winning with class.
Basketball is about the moment.
It is about making lifetime friends with teammates.

With teammates saying, this guy was a great guy to play with. Kobe was tough,
but he watched your back. Like Michael.

The Lakers have been watching Kobe's back for a long time now.

It is time for Kobe to return the favor.

David Peterson

"I can totally understand where KB is coming from. But that's no reason for him to go outside the team, bash his teamates, demand a trade, and generally act like a child. I'm willing to bet that if instead of blowing up in the media Kobe had sat down with Dr. Buss and said, "it's either Mitch or me, but one of us has to go," Kobe would have been the winner. "

"it's either Mitch or me"? hum, where have i heard this before......."it's either him or me". Sounds like standard operating procedure for kobe, "it's either him or me"..............kobe and winner is an oxymoron. yes, i called kobe a moron.

Oh, Phoenix flirted with Kobe a couple of years ago. They won't go down that road again. Spurs, they have a real Laker champion in Horry. Why would they want to fuss with Kobe? That is not a team that wants to deal with babies. This is a team coached by a United States Air Force officer. Pop wouldn't put up with Kobe's antics and nor does he need to. I do wish SA would get over its dislike of Shaq, though. He did go to high school there. Let Kobe go to the East and leave the West alone. See how he likes the pace of the East.