To Keep Kobe or Not to Keep Kobe
| 2
|
I played around with the ESPN Trade Machine on a potential deal involving Kobe.
Clearly he is unhappy. But should he be traded? I couldn't trade Jerry Buss or Mitch Kupchack. I looked at the money thrown at other Lakers and threw up in my mouth a little.
If I was handed this franchise which seems stuck in its current situation, I would try and deal some of the worthless players so overpaid currently. The reason this will probably not happen is because nobody wants their contracts. Still, you gotta hope someone would bite on Kwame's 9 mil, or Radmanovic's 5 mil and 4 years running; okay that one might be tough.
I look at the rest of this roster and am disgusted. You might find a taker for Odom. I mean why not suck all the way but rid yourself of the deadwood and then reload with as many stars as you can, maybe draft high a season or two. One good thing is that the LA crowd will return once the team starts winning again, in a few years. You might have light attendance during that time but if you are not committed to big contracts, you can survive this period rather than be stuck in the mess that they are now.
This leaves the Bryant question. What do you do?
Do you build a new team around him or ship him out as well? Throw marketing in there and as long as he is a Laker the fans and actors will show up and send text messages to their BFF's all game long save the last two minutes.
I would prefer going that route. I'd just scrap this team and try to build a better one around him but that sounds way too easy compared to how hard it really is. What you most likely get is what you already have. What you get in return for the guys you have now is probably more of the same.
Thus trading Kobe becomes imminent and even then it is tough. You need to really makes this trade a steal and there are few takers and the pieces coming back are likely not an improvement. So afterall, maybe you can keep Kobe and let him even walk away in 2 years for nothing.
Here is the thing, if he sees the team is improving in 2 years, he might stay a Laker for life. It is still better than getting another Shaq deal type return for him. Keep him in town so fans buy tickets and build a new team around him, dump other contracts like Odom's, let Kwame walk, say goodbye to Mihm and try to bring in a dominant big man.
