I know, I know, your first reaction will be "what the #@**!?" Hear me out. And Daryl, if you read this, I did not hack into your servers and steal your idea though I know you've been thinking about it! We all know we need to win now! So we should do what Daryl is probably doing and think outside the box! We missed on Bosh and the offseason in general. We have a window with Dwight getting older with only 2 more years guaranteed. Why Kobe? Nash is now out for the year - LA is absolutely awful.They are going to stink it up. The Lakers have an incentive to rebuild and rebuild quickly. There are no guarantees they will sign someone in 2 years when Kobe comes off the books just like we missed out this year. They have Randle and if they have a top 5 pick this year they get to keep it. Not to mention we will include the Pelicans pick into this trade and they will have a new young core to build. And this is their answer to getting rid of the Kobe "problem" (see recent ESPN the Mag article). How will Kobe help us? We trade the pelicans pick, Papsmear, Ariza (trade would happen after December 15th), Garcia, and Jones for him. We then have the following starting lineup - Howard, Motiejunas, Kobe at SF, Harden at SG, and Beverly at PG. Think of our defense against the wings and PG! They will be smothered with Kobe and Beverly so Harden is no longer such a defensive liability. You may ask how can you mix Howard and Kobe again!? Howard has matured and developed thicker skin and will realize the need to win. Kobe will have realized he screwed up and wants that 6th ring. They will work together to pull this off! Another reason - as Daryl has always done, swing for the fences! We know we are not winning it this year - let's no get delusional. We are a 5-8th seed who will lose to OKC or SA. We have very little to lose - we need the third star as we've rehashed over and over and over again. We lose little with this trade (see below with Kobe coming off the books in 2 years). You may argue how is Kobe so much better than Ariza? Come on guys, don't be delusional. We know Kobe will be coming back better than Ariza, not only on offense but defense too, and thirsting to prove the haters wrong. Also this will allow for lineup flexibility. When 2 of our new big 3 are out of the lineup, one can stay on court and hold the fort. You may ask why would Kobe leave LA? He just stated he does not want a farewell tour like Jeter so sounds like he will basically keep playing till his legs fall off. So in 2 years time, we don't resign him or use his huge salary cap to pull off a sign and trade and max out Durant. We wil have no loyalty to him and won't feel obligated to keep him like the Lakers.
One Question, How can we match salaries to pull off a trade for Kobe? Excluding James and Dwight, you can add the rest of the players and you probably still can't match Kobe's salary. Lock it up.
You must remember that no matter how good you feel, you have to take all your meds, okay? good. BTW We have a random trades thread.
Salaries match up fairly close from the players involved (used ESPN trade machine for reference), we could potentially use trade exception or a third team if needed.
Kobe might be more of defensive liability than Harden right now. It would definitely be a defensive downgrade from Ariza.
Personally I think its a great idea! If you want The Rockets to make a move that will waste Harden's and Howard's time with no guarantee of a ring because Kobe is not even 70%..... BUT!!!! This could actually work wonderfully and this trio would be one of the best in history....If it was in another universe distant from this one where players are robots and don't have bones..... Still, its not that bad of an idea sir and you could potentially make a great GM.... Just not for the team I root for. If you could land a position in SA or Dallas that would be wonderful.
Dusting off the cobwebs of an old username, instead of using your most current one is smart...just sayin.
No, I don't think the OP is far off on salary matching. Kobe makes $23.5m. You have 25% wiggle room. So you'd need to send something like $18m. He suggests: Ariza 8.6 Papa 4.8 Jones 1.6 Garcia 1.3 Pick 0 Total 16.3 So, he's a little short. But, we also have Jason Terry for $5.4m that you could swap in to make it work. I don't really like Kobe, but I don't have a strong objection to the plan. It comes with myriad risks. We'd have until Dec 15 to see how his body is doing. He'd certainly count as a 3rd star. The Lakers should want to trade him, and he should want to be traded, but neither party seems to be acting rationally about the end of Kobe's career.
Yikes. First, this should be in the Random Trade thread. Secondly, Kobe is no where near what he used to be.
As the Lakers' contingent settled into the conference room's ergonomic chairs, it was clear that two-time MVP point guard Steve Nash, in a nice crisp shirt, listening attentively, was running Kupchak's game plan. But Bryant showed up, according to a person in the room, in "hoops shorts, a T-shirt and a gold chain." He had also packed an attitude. When Howard asked why his teammates let the injured center take all the flak when the Lakers' season went south, Nash said he didn't know that Howard had felt that way and that had he known, he would have acted differently. Bryant, on the other hand, offered a crash course in developing thick skin and a mini lecture on learning how to win. Sources told ESPN Insider Chris Broussard that Bryant's lecture was "a complete turnoff" for Howard. "It wasn't an easy meeting to be involved in," Kupchak later said on Cowherd's radio show. "And I decline to go into great detail." Howard shortly thereafter chose to leave for the Rockets, even though it cost him roughly $30 million in guaranteed salary. The story of the Lakers' losing Howard has been told as one of the big man chafing under Mike D'Antoni's offense. One Lakers source, though, says Howard's issue wasn't really with the offensive scheme but that "he saw one particular player play outside that scheme with carte blanche, with no accountability. These people who say Dwight couldn't handle the pressure of Los Angeles ... that's nonsense. LA was everything Dwight wanted. To be celebrated. To be among stars. To be among women of this caliber. To live, basically, in one big reality TV show. This was a perfect setting for him."
