Time Is On Our Side
In his Monday Bullets discussing possible Kobe deals, Henry Abbott dismisses John Jackson's trade idea with this one liner: "Others suggest wasting everyone's time by offering Ben Gordon, Chris Duhon, Viktor Khryapa, P.J. Brown, the ninth pick in this draft and a future first-rounder."
I agree that one's not likely to happen, but some of the talk (that Matt ably dismisses here) is as ridiculous in the other direction. The fact is, the Bulls do not need to make this trade. At all. They can stand pat with what they have, see if Kirk, Ben, Luol, Ty and Thabo can continue to improve over the next 2 years or so (and whether Wallace starts to radically deteriorate), pick a decent player in the upcoming draft, and sign a nice bench player with the mid-level and, really, who could bitch?
Meanwhile, the Lakers are facing a star with a no-trade clause who will only allow himself to be traded to a handful of teams, none of which can offer a player in return who's the caliber of Ben Gordon. It's an uncomfortable situation, one that seems to be trending toward intolerable. Patience is a virtue that we can definitely afford.
I agree that one's not likely to happen, but some of the talk (that Matt ably dismisses here) is as ridiculous in the other direction. The fact is, the Bulls do not need to make this trade. At all. They can stand pat with what they have, see if Kirk, Ben, Luol, Ty and Thabo can continue to improve over the next 2 years or so (and whether Wallace starts to radically deteriorate), pick a decent player in the upcoming draft, and sign a nice bench player with the mid-level and, really, who could bitch?
Meanwhile, the Lakers are facing a star with a no-trade clause who will only allow himself to be traded to a handful of teams, none of which can offer a player in return who's the caliber of Ben Gordon. It's an uncomfortable situation, one that seems to be trending toward intolerable. Patience is a virtue that we can definitely afford.
posted by BenGo07 at 9:46 PM
3 Comments:
Would you, if you could swing it, be willing to trade Duhon for Abdur Rahim? I know he's older but it's not like he's expensive and he's signed to the MLE.
agreed, of the available trade partners (and even others that kobe might "potentially" accept), I don't see a team that could offer anything more compelling than the Bulls. The only other non-West teams Kobe would remotely consider (and, let's face it, the Shaq-swap proved that there'll be no trade within the West here) could be Detroit and, maybe, MAYBE, Cleveland. Is Tayshaun prince any 'sexier' than Gordon and a #9 pick? Rip Hamilton? And would Kobe ever consider Cleveland's third-world market and potentially playing "Egos" w/ Lebron? No, No and No. All the other Eastern teams are either too small a market or too crappy a trade partner. It's Chicago and Chicago.
And, another thing, let's dismiss this whole notion that LA has a shot of saving this quagmire by landing a star for Kobe to play with. Ain't gon' happen.
While would any Western team trade a star when A) they'll like get shi'ite in return and b) they're one more Kobe video from watching the best guard in the league move into the East? If anything, they'll encourage that. As for the East, who will take Bynum and Kwame for their star? The Pacer's won't b/c they've overvalued O'Neals broken-down ass. The Celts are in discussions for Garnett and may be able to get him w/o sacrificing Pierce. Memphis is too crappy a team and market. Aside from that, what Eastern team would trade a 'star' without getting Kobe in return.
Essentially, the Lakers are holding out hope that some other team will do what they won't: trade a star w/o getting one in return. The major flaw in that logic is that the entire league knows they hold none of the chips this go 'round. Kobe's in the driver seat and Buss is just being taken for a ride.
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