Comments on: Some Morning Reading, Including Previews

By: Kurt

Kurt — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 18:38:55 +0000

new post, because we can’t get enough Odom talk.

By: Chris J

Chris J — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 18:01:27 +0000

I wasn’t advocating the Lakers trade Pau now. I totally agree that they need to give the current roster time to gel, and I hope that they twin towers approach works for the best.

The point of my prior post was simple: if the situation does reach a point where someone needs to be moved due to a frontcourt log jam, the idea that the traded player must be Odom seems a bit short-sighted. Kupchak might find a better return out there by shopping Pau instead. I hope it doesn’t come to that, but if it does, he should keep all options on the table.

That said, let the current guys play and see what comes of it. I totally agree that October isn’t the time to be making a trade of major significance.

By: MannyP

MannyP — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 16:47:20 +0000

Don’t traade Odom. He gives the Lakers incredible versatility and is a great insurance policy in the event Bynum or Gasol have to cover the other due to injuries. I have also read in the LA Times that Odom has said he would be willing to stay with the Lakers at a lesser amount than he could get elsewhere (but of course he qualified it by saying he would do what’s “best for his family”). In addition, it is unlikely that the Lakers are going to get a player back in any trade that would mesh seemlessly into Phil’s triangle (let’s be real, we were lucky that Gasol was able to pick it up so fast).

Honestly, I wish people would lay off him and just let the team play hard and see how the season pans out. Frankly, I don’t care who starts as long as the end result is the same – A RING.

By: Kareem

Kareem — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 16:05:59 +0000

I haven’t been very impressed with Karl. He’s missed a lot of open looks and made mistakes. In the Sac game I thought Joe outplayed him, and thought we might just see Son of George go.

Nice post over on your site Jones. The next year was my begging with serious fandom.

By: magiclover

magiclover — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 16:03:05 +0000

It’s a long, long season.Who knows what injuries await out there.What looks like a very deep roster may end up being just right.A player may be traded for someone desperately needed.Too soon to talk about who needs to go.

By: E-ROC

E-ROC — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 15:26:23 +0000

I’ll give this guy Lebron at number one, but CP3 possibly number 2? He had one great (historical) season and this fool is ready to crown him. Puff puff pass….

I would much rather have CJ Giles over DJ Mbenga, but that’s just me. Mbenga is a solid backup though. Can’t go wrong with either choice, but I like Giles upside.

Crawford will probably be hanging out at the D-League level for most of the season, depending upon Vujacic’s injury.

By: JONESONTHENBA

JONESONTHENBA — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 15:11:50 +0000

19. Remember how it took Bynum about 10 games before he was with it out there. I honestly feel we might see the same thing this year. It might be a good idea to have him start slowly off the bench with Jordi, Trevor and Sasha just to get him going. That group will run and force Bynum to be active. Anyhow, this was just a practice, so Bynum might have just been loafing it. Kobe definitely doesn’t loaf it in practice, so it makes Bynum’s loafing obvious. Ariza looked great in practice.

That bench is what is going to set the Lakers apart this season. I mean, you either have Lamar, Jordi, Trevor, and Sasha or Bynum, Jordi, Trevor, and Sasha as subs. All of those guys could start on many teams in the league. And when you have that kind of bench playing against another teams subs, you’re going to see a lot of success. Obviously Luke Walton, Chris Mihm, and Josh Powell are not bad for 10, 11, and 12th men.

On another note, did you guys read how Joe Crawford might make the team over Son of George? Will be sad to see him go. Maybe he can stick with the D-Fenders for the season, just in case the Lakers want him back?

By: harold

harold — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 13:56:25 +0000

The article ranking Kobe #3 only makes sense if you read it as “projected rankings for the upcoming season.”

And I think it was written that way. A lot of credit on past accomplishments, but a lot more placed on what we’re about to see. If so, I think Kobe at #3 makes perfect sense, since I do think LeBron and Paul have a much better chance at improving their play than Kobe. The big irony here is that even if Kobe improves, his ‘improvements’ will come at the expense of his stats.

But if the article was to rank the current players based on their achievements, it should be Shaq, Kobe, Duncan.

As for Odom…

We’ll have to wait and see. Especially since there’s nobody, I mean NOBODY on the market that we could logically trade for. Maybe we would be better off dangling Bynum if he keeps up with this half-heart thing.

By: wondahbap

wondahbap — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 13:28:18 +0000

JONES,

How was Bynum when it came to quick decisions? Was he holding too long?

By: Xavier

Xavier — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 11:48:38 +0000

I don’t get why we talk about trades 2 weeks from season opening. I mean, We have seen NOTHING of how will this team be this season. Preseason games means nothing to me, I would rather see a summer league game than a preseason game (maybe that’s I’m not excited about the Wizards Hornets game tomorrow here in Barcelona).

Kupchak tought us an important lesson last season. Be patient.
NBA Fans figuring out trades when nobody watch the WNBA playoff… and those are the ones who are supposed to be pasionate fans of basketball.