Trade rumors, possibilities, and who knows? Staff, NBA Draft Report Penny will probably be dealt during training camp anyways. The team is looking to go younger at the two guard spot and like the idea of Joe Johnson starting. Penny can command a lot in a trade, but few teams will have enough to make the deal. He has a big contract as well. The Lakers really want him to team back up with Penny and the triangle works best with taller point guards. The Lakers would have to give up a big group of first rounds and role players to get him though. It’s probably not likely, but if the Penny talk comes back up like it should, expect a lot of talk of Shaq wanting Penny again. Shaq doesn’t get the alley oops he used to without Penny and the duo worked well together.
Considering that Penny will make $12+m for the coming season, I wonder how many of the following contracts the Lakers will ship to Pheonix? Robert Horry ....... $5,300,000 Rick Fox ............... $4,170,375 Derek Fisher ........ $3,000,000 Lindsey Hunter .... $3,000,000 Samaki Walker ..... $1,540,000 Mark Madsen ....... $813,000 It appears to me the Lakers would have trouble fielding a 12 man roster if they did this. IMHO, this is trade rumor is pure BS.
A three way deal which allows us to get rid of Cato while netting us Horry would be alright in my book.
GATER - they traded Hunter to Toronto in the Hunter/Chris Jeffries for Rush/Tracy Murray deal on draft day. They'd essentially have to trade everyone else on their roster, and I can't see that happening - personally, I think the thought is dreamcasting on someone's part.
Just think though, If the Lakers had Penny and Shaq together again and more importantly a healthy Penny....They will be unstoppable.
I'm surprised LA would consider getting Penny... I could see him crying for being the 3rd or maybe even 4th banana in LA. Though Phil is the master at winning in spite of distractions, ie. Glen Rice and Dennis Rodman. LA doesn't need anymore offense. You know Kobe and Shaq are good for 55-60 pts night in and night out, and they will have either Rush or George step up on most nights to score 15 or so pts. This would hurt LA's chemistry and cap situation (they try to avoid the lux tax at all costs). A player they would have more use of would have been a Vin Baker-type at PF. Hell, Gugliotta would make more sense. As for what they'd have to give up, I doubt that LA would have to give up more than 1 first rounder + cap fillers for Penny. Phx has no leverage in dealing Penny before the season. Teams know Phx is desperate to unload his big contract, with little production. If I'm Phx, I showcase Penny in the first 1-2 months of the year, and if he does anything decent, Phx could get something decent in return. Of course, since Phx is desperate to unload his contract, they probably don't want to risk having an injured/untradable Penny. I don't think any team in the NBA would find Penny to be attractive, unless they could dump their cap burdens on Phx.
Why? I think this is probably just not true. He's a pretty good player, but probably not worth $12 million injury-free. Add to that the fact that Penny has an unattractive medical history and he is a cap albatross. Phoenix wants to trade him because they don't want him injured on their time again. I imagine they'd take inferior players and expiring contracts just to get him off the books.
You just described two things that are impossible, one of them much moreso than the other. I'll leave you to figure out what that one is.
mfclark - ooopss, it's been a long summer! You're right...it must be Horry, Fox and Fisher to work cap wise.
If the Lakers did get Penny and he was healthy his entire time with them they could go for the record 72-10.
