Comments on: Looking Past The Distractions

By: hertagnism

hertagnism — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 22:16:43 +0000

@ 45 Warren

I like the scenarios but based on Phil’s reluctance to pull trades during the season, I think it’s more probable that the Lakers do nothing at all.

By: Sean P.

Sean P. — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 18:08:26 +0000

Another worth reading: http://www.sportshubla.com/2007/10/18/unless-kobe-bryant-wants-to-be-scottie-pippen-plus-he-should-stay-with-the-lakers/

By: Sean P.

Sean P. — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 17:44:38 +0000

A must-read posted by Lazenby today:

http://myespn.go.com/blogs/truehoop/0-28-193/Lazenby-s-Latest-from-Laker-Land.html

By: 81 Witness

81 Witness — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 17:04:59 +0000

Props to Kurt for not posting follow-up stories from this morning to FB&G. I.E. PJ expects Bryant to play tonight. Really, the media has gone far enough, really.

By: chris

chris — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 17:03:59 +0000

so…do we get TV coverage of tonight’s pre-season game?
I was out of the country for the last 2, so this will be my first, and I for one, am excited that the Lakers are back on TV!
maybe all this bruhaha will die down and we can get on with the season.
nothing will cure all these recent ill’s like a winning streak!
go Lakes!

By: Craig W.

Craig W. — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 16:06:12 +0000

This is a real distraction for us. Whether or not it is a distraction for the team is another story. Most of us have no professional sports background and I suspect those that do are not saying much these days. These guys have to put up with celebrity status every day of the season – I suspect they have a more even keel about things than we fans do.

By: gdchild

gdchild — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 12:17:12 +0000

No Buss apologetic media hacks and fans bother to criticize his big fat mouth. All he did with his interview is to distract the team and creat mess.

By: Warren Wee Lim

Warren Wee Lim — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 07:00:00 +0000

I still am silly enough to believe the key parties will get together,â€hug it outâ€, and see what the season brings. If by Feb. the team is floundering,the fire sale of Lamar,Kwame,and others begins.

Stephen, this is the part that I agree the most. Dousing this flame will soon come and Kobe will play like nothing has happened at all. Media will continue to tickle the topic until one of Buss, Phil or Kobe will blurt out something out of the ordinary.

I also agree that February is the middle ground. The Lakers can decide to keep Kobe, deal Kobe, keep the others or deal the others.

There are 7 possible scenarios I can foresee with this…

1 – Lakers get it together exceptionally, on pace to win 54 games. Team is kept intact, perhaps a minor tweak or two, no relevant names involved.

2 – Lakers struggle as expected, sport a .500 record and Kobe talks intensify. Other teams are better positioned to assess themselves too, depending on the remaining schedule and the current record. I bet those that sport more than 12 games below .500 will soon decide to trade for cap relief.

3 – Lakers deal key players to some Eastern team – preparatory for THE Kobe trade come summer. Kobe can be asked to sit out the last 2 months with pay, as the Lakers tank for the lottery.

4 – Indiana budges on taking on Odom + Kwame for JO and Foster. Crittenton is more or less added here or the 08 1st.

Or, Indiana takes on the Bynum-centered package. Indiana realizes cap space is more important at this stage than pride.

Kobe signifies renewed commitment, perhaps waiving his option year in 2009. (Highly unlikely but perhaps miraculously possible)

5 – Bynum contribute CONSISTENTLY for 8 pts, 12 boards and 2 blocks. Odom and Cook are dealt to Washington for Tawn Jamison and 08 2nd. Radmanovic will be traded, as long as he puts up 8-10ppg and 2 threes a night off the bench. Miami could be interested for a slew of expirings…

6 – Unless the Lakers decide to FORTIFY Kobe, Kwame will not be traded. Fish and Walton remain with the team for the next 3 years at least.

7 – Kobe is traded.

By: harold

harold — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 04:47:16 +0000

Buss is playing this the right way. Kobe cannot and will not pull a Carter on us, and Kobe CAN be appeased if the right opportunity comes along. If you have faith in a healthy Lakers team, then you can afford to sit back, especially since there is still ample time.

Kobe, if he didn’t have his no-trade, would definitely LIKE to pull a Carter if only to REDUCE his value on the market and have something resembling a contender to join. But he does have that no-trade AND his image needs no more hits… So he will soldier along and will see what the Lakers are capable of IF they remain healthy.

All in all, barring something very dramatic (which Kobe should object to since it would gut the team he will play for) Kobe will play this season. If the Lakers stay healthy and get past the first round, with perhaps some development from Bynum…

By: Stephen

Stephen — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 04:23:41 +0000

A couple of general points. Recent history suggets teams get more trading elite players during the off-season. Shaq and T-Mac were traded for 3 starters off PlayOff teams,KG for a bunch of young talent and picks. Whereas AI and Vince Carter brought back much less when they were traded during the season.

In the unlikely event Kobe was to be traded,you’d have to know how the Laker FO evaluates the team to guess at who the Lalers would trade for. If they think the team is health and a tweak or two away from contending they’d want completely different packages than if they think the team is a few yrs away or if they don’t think the roster will ever be contenders.

I still am silly enough to believe the key parties will get together,”hug it out”, and see what the season brings. If by Feb. the team is floundering,the fire sale of Lamar,Kwame,and others begins.