The McKie to more trades?

Wow the K Bros working overtime. 3 threads, I can't keep up! GO Ks! Well getting Marion for Shaq is a big steal-ish lol. By the way I hear Memphis is cheering on Kwame. Are we sure it's not a sarcastic cheer?

The Lakers could still trade Karl Malone!! haha

There was the trade between Toronto and New Jersey, where Vince Carter was swapped for Eric Williams, Aaron Williams, Alonzo Mourning, and two first-round draft picks. Alonzo then forced Toronto to buy him out so that he could go sign with Miami (and win a ring). The first draft pick turned into Joey Graham, and the second was (I think) traded along with Jalen Rose to NY for Antonio Davis. I think Davis might also have been subsequently bought out by Toronto.

Mbenga's last game for Lakers is this Sunday.
Say it ain't so - support the Congo!
How much money is this guy making? - Buss probably spends more on 10 day "companionship" contracts than what this dude makes.
Hope DJ breaks the rim down on a dunk!

never -

I agree. Having recently obtained NBA League Pass, I am very pleased, overall with the quality of broadcasters. It is sad to say, however, that LA's duo is far from the best. Perhaps I have just been spoiled by Chick and Scully, but I feel that LA is enough of a media capital to warrant world class announcers.

Go Lakers!

Never,

Did you have the pass last year and have the misfortune to hear Lenny WIlkins do color commentary for the Sonics? They have ONE chip up there and they can't stop talking about it. All they did the whole game was talk about how Kobe wouldn't have started for their championship team (I'm exaggerating, but that was the overall feeling).

The home announcing team that has most impressed me has been the Portland team - very knowledgeable, very professional and very fair. Hearing other teams call the game really gives you some perspetive on our team - I feel like with all the negativity that Joel Myers spews it's easy to forget we have a great team representing the finest franchise in all of pro basketball.

The Kwame trades show how it might be valuable to always sign your top pick to a contract for the maximum amount of money - if the player becomes and all-star, he's probably worth it, and if he doesn't pan out, then his contract is attractive to teams looking for large expiring contracts.

I still say a washed up Gail Goodrich for the rights to Magic Johnson is pretty big.

I read some of the "positive" things which some of the Grizzlies people said after the trade, some of which included the benefit of Kwame in the deal. I also read some of Kwame's thoughts about it, and he actually seemed positive, thinking that the Grizzlies type of offense would help his performance, that this was good for him, that he might FINALLY performe up to expectations. Looking back over the last few Grizzlies games, it seems pretty clear that Kwame got his hopes up for nothing, and that, despite what they might have said, Kwame is nothing more to the Grizzlies than cap room for next year. He's getting very little playing time, and his numbers are actually down from when he was with the Lakers.

Kwame shouldn't be, nor should he have ever been, anything more than a backup, 2nd or maybe 3rd string center in the NBA. The expectations that come with him being the first overall pick in the draft, along with the money that he's making, are simply higher than Kwame could ever fulfill. The funny thing is that if Kwame would have been picked in the mid- to late second round (where he should have been taken, at best)instead of where he was, and was making about 1/4 to 1/5 of what he makes now (which is about what he is actually worth as a basketball player in the NBA), he could play exactly the same, and he would never get the criticism that he gets.

Somewhere deep down inside, I think we all feel a little sorry for the guy. He had things expected of him which he simple isn't capable of doing. He was placed in a position which he should never have been in in the first place.

CALI KING

WHAT ABOUT THIS TRADE:

On July 11, 2006, the Lakers trade starting center Vlade Divac for...

the (then) Charlotte Hornets 13th overall pick in that years draft, some guy out of high school named... what was his name?... wait, I think I remember... Kobe Bean Bryant.

Not quite in the last decade (12 years ago). Still, I think that one was pretty lopsided, at least in the long run.

CALI KING

I wonder where BOB COSTAS is?

How about a BOB COSTAS and STU LANTZ tandem?

Anyone?

Joel Myers is inappropriate for the great Laker franchise.

call it hating . . . but ive never been against what the players make . . . esp when you have billionaire owners willingly ponying up the cash, and then pretending to be broke . . .

but Kwame "freakin" Brown . . .

he of the tiny little girl hands
he of barely a high school education
he of no college
with the only redeemable skill in life was being an athletic freak of nature
someone who was paid on pure potential alone
has made over 27 million dollars in his career. . . .

now . . . teachers, firefighters, social workers . . . even most nurses and doctors, with all their education and training, could NEVER make as much as the "Great Expectation" . . . .

And for that, it is really not in anyone's business to feel sorry for a man, who as great a person he could be . . . just wasnt good at his job, yet still was paid millions more than most of us on this blog will ever see in our lives.

for the all star game do they have an allstar announcing team? how many times would chik have won that? haha or is it just the tnt guys that d the game?

andand

http://www.nba.com/lakers/news/otr_ronnyjordan.html

[high pitched voice]hello! i'm coby karl! i'm george's son!
lol...

we should trade our rights for Harper for Detlef!

CALI KING,

One thing I will say about Kwame, he is lot better than he has showed in the last year. Those ankle and knee injuries have really affected him.

Mike T's argument would have been better if Kwame never got hurt.. I'm with Phil on this one.. He had a lot more to show than he has showed due to his injuries. The guy is so athletic and is not the worst center in the league..

It's a shame his small hands and injuries hurt his potential... If he had better hands and was healthy, we would have easily been a 15 and 10 guy. At least.

I peeked into the Heat blog and saw that the recent trade for Marion has them feeling a little confident.

yeah love to see the lakers game, i think miami's gonna score an upset, the atmosphere is just different because of the future of this team

Posted by: tinsane | February 09, 2008 at 02:01 PM

I envision a Heat win tomorrow...

Posted by: Ergo Dixit... | February 09, 2008 at 02:06 PM

I liked the Marion trade for Miami but they're kidding themselves if they think a win is going to come outside of the Lakers laying an absolute egg.

The Marion trade took them from being a D-league team to a bad NBA team. When you're 9-39 and you're playing Alexander Johnson, Earl Barron, Dorell Wright and Mark Blount heavy minutes there's a reason why you're the worst team in the league.

Rick

We agree more than we disagree. I apologize for taking your comments as a slam on Jordan. He is a fan favorite at Staples Center, but has gotten far too little love on this blog.

Where was Mitch on guys we let go when we were so weak last season? Ty Liu and Kareem Rush are guys we dropped who have proven their NBA mettle. J-Crit, at least for now, is better off with a team where he can get minutes. And the Memphis folks seem to agree with me that Critter is likely to be most valuable as a shooter, not as a pure point guard.

As for Ronny, I also would like to see him play more minutes. And I've become a big fan of Mbenga in a defined role. Luke Walton may be a decent guy, but why PJ and the NBA announcers show so much love for his game is a mystery to me. PJ's substitution patterns drive me crazy. He has nine more rings than I have, but that doesn't make me less a student of the game.

Thanks for taking time to comment on my post.

Posted by: Rick Friedman | February 07, 2008 at 11:15 PM

Sorry for taking so long to get back to you but finally here it is. You really don't need to aplogise to me as you just unintentional took my comments out of context. I don't believe it was malicious so no apology required but deeply and humbly accepted.

Too explain my thought process let me explain myself so I don't get a barrage of uncomplimentary posts to my opinions. First I think Kobe is the best player in the league and will go down in haistory with the forever argument of who was best MJ or KB. I think it will never be decided as each player will have their following.

Now when I criticise Kobe that does not make me a Kobe hater but just because he is so great does not give him immunity of criticism. so I make comments on what I see and feel. Everyone don't get excited because it is just my opinion and am entitled to it. Any one can challenge or ask me to explain how I got there but refrain from insults as I will respond in kind.

As for Mitch not getting Rush or Lue back I have no concrete proof but can only give my humble opinion and thoughts.

As for Rush he did develope a to a very good player and as for getting him back, I think he would have commanded more money than the Lakers were willing to pay him with limited minutes backing Kobe up. Since he only played the two he could not be used as combo guard or sf so thus too much $$$ to bring him back.

As for Lue I believe he was tried to be reacquired and for whatever reason(s) it did not pan out. I remember he was at a SPL game with KG watching the Laker's play I think it was Bynum's rookie year. but neither one signed. Plus PJ likes tall guards.

As for Critter he imho is going to be a stud and more valuable as he could be a combo guard. Since PJ unfortunitely was not giving him minutes like he did with JF then he should have been sent down to the Developement league to get pt.

Since this was a response to a post prior to the Orlando game I noted that Fish and Farmar were consistently getting beat by dribble penetration by Nelson and Bogans (spelling?). We definitely need speed at the pg position to stop drbble penetration and kick outs.

Just my opinion and I stick by them.

Mbenga's last game for Lakers is this Sunday.
Say it ain't so - support the Congo!
How much money is this guy making? - Buss probably spends more on 10 day "companionship" contracts than what this dude makes.
Hope DJ breaks the rim down on a dunk!

Posted by: LakerinBC | February 09, 2008 at 03:33 PM

I hope they resign him at NBA minimum as best he would be best used to wear out Shaq and maybe have Shaq foul him and he has 6 fouls to let our bigs rest and run more.

Sorry if this has already been posted here, but Dan Patrick has a good interview with Derek Fisher yesterday.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/danpatrick/

The Lakers better kick that azz tomorrow. Or Else!!!!!!

Is there concrete info the Mbenga will not be resigned? I thought that 2nd contract had vaulted him into the rest of the season.

You guys are talking about Mychael Thompson? He's definitely got a little smugness about his knowledge.

Thompson is from the Caribbean? He drops the hints once in awhile, like it's some sort of fantasy island.

I like Spiro. I LOVE how he says "Farmar shoots a 3. And... IS GOOD!" I don't hear him getting more excited about the other teams shots at all.

Speaking of Thompson, he was on the Manush (sp?) show on Sporting News Radio. He said if Bynum comes back strong, he sees them coming out of the West. He gave the Lakers a lot of love. Said don't forget about the Spurs and the Pistons.

Thanks for the link LakerTom.

That was a great interview.

I'd like to keep MBenga for the rest of the season, he's inexpensive and you never know what can happen. I would hate to really need another body (center) and have him on another contending team.

Miami might be excited on Sunday, but we need to go for the throat from the beginning. It'll be the first of a back to back and Charlotte will be waiting next.

Colorado loves the Lakers!

The Lakers already have their play-by-play man of the future - Spero Dedes (Put him on TV)

Bring back Paul Sunderland (Put him on the radio).

Please get rid of Joel Meyers - he is absolutely the worst!! Good thing a lot of the Lakers' games are on ABC or TNT (I don't have to listen to that bozo).

Side Note... Keep Mbenga!!! At worst send him to the D'League so that he can work on a midrange game.

Go Lakers!!