Doesn't Kobe make about $23 mil/year now? If he opted out of his contract, he'd lose his Bird rights and have to "settle" for the max free agent salary, which is probably a big pay cut for him. He could try to force a trade, but what would the Lakers want from the Knicks anyway? All their tradable assets are gone (go Morey! ), except David Lee (not even close to being worth Kobe).
Technically, Kobe can still sign for 105% of his 2009-10 salary with either the Lakers or any other team with enough cap room. Since the Knicks are one of the very few teams with that much cap room, they could do it. However, that would preclude New York from being able to sign another max player. David Lee might even need to be renounced, as well. If Kobe is willing to take "only" $21-22M next season with the Knicks, then Walsh will not have to renounce Lee's rights (Lee's cap hold will be $10.5M until he is signed) and could later re-sign Lee without regard for the salary cap. That said, I'm not exactly quaking in my boots at the long-term success of a Kobe-Lee-Gallinari-nobody else roster. Oh, yeah. And no way Kobe does this.
The Knicks should be quite formidable next year with the additions of Kobe, Lebron, Bosh, and Wade. I look forward to seeing that team in action.
Thanks, Bima! :grin: So, if he stayed with the Lakers, his annual raise would likely be around 10.5%, right? That would mean losing out on about $1.26 mil for the year plus losing 1 year on the length of his new contract (since his home team could sign him for a longer contract than a free agency team). Hmmm ... the opportunity to play with that killer NY line up (especially under such a brilliant mastermind coach like D'antoni) would be awwwwwfully tempting!
