It's so interesting to read many posts laid with thick homerism from certain ones on this forum.

I mean if Kobe is the best player in the NBA he should have the most trade value right?

Why is it when we discuss possibly trading our young players we read from many posters that "giving up Lee" for say J.O. is "too risky", which would imply Lee has a high trade value, yet he isn't even an All-Star. He's probably not even a Top 30 player and a debatable Top 40 player.

This shiit was done last yr when Frye was mentioned in trade talks and people didn't want to put him in the mix for K.G. or Boozer. Didn't want to scarifice the future that early. Look at Frye now.

This team gave up 2 unprotected lottery picks plus expiring contracts for Curry and Donationbury. Kobe is like 2-3x the player they both are, probably combined. Kobe is a winner they are both perennial losers.


When talking about trading Curry we read on this board "We better get back a star in return".


So why is it through all this Kobe and K.G. potential trade talk do we in our right minds feel we can trade, 1 young talent, Malik, Crawford, Francis and no draft picks for either 1 of those 2 players?


EXHIBIT Z the Depths of MORONICISM we stoop to on this board.

75% of this board doesn't think we're getting Kobe.

because Kobe isn't giving the Lakers much choice in the matter... that's what a no trade clause does... he has direct control of where he goes... for anyone to simply ignore that is the very definition of Moronicism, or whatever you want to call it.

btw, i'm noticing other so-called "realists" on this forum bringing up teams like the Magic saying they'd have a legitimate shot at trading for Kobe, all the while saying anything the Knicks could offer is complete garbage... right, Grant Hill, Trevor Ariza, Darko Milicic, Hedo Turkoglu are all of a sudden going to nab a smaller market the best player in the NBA over what we have to offer? let's get real here... Kobe is not giving the Lakers much choice in the matter... he'll either be traded to Chicago or to the Knicks, & i have big doubts that Chicago will be willing to give up what the Lakers will want in return, which leaves 1 option.

Posted by TMS:

because Kobe isn't giving the Lakers much choice in the matter... that's what a no trade clause does... he has direct control of where he goes... for anyone to simply ignore that is the very definition of Moronicism, or whatever you want to call it.

Actually all that means the Lakers will end up telling him to STFU and play or sit out and get your wages garnished. Believe me Kobe is setting himself up to be the GOAT on this. This gets back to a conversation we had a couple weks ago. This league is shiitty because players feel they have leverage when they don't. Sure Kobe can dictate to a large degree where he goes but it all starts first with being willing to trade such player who is under contract. J.O. obviously thinks the same way. Probably secretly told Walsh his preference is to go to the Lakers, well talks have been initiated and the Pacers are saying you give us Bynum, Odom, Kwame(expiring) and you'll also be taking Tinsley back.....Click! and there goes J.O.'s leverage, one he never had in the first place. The same will happen if Buss even decides to humor I SAY UGH and have a conversation with him. He'll request that this team will be gutted and will also call I SAY UGH's bluff in insisting Curry stays, because supposedly Kobe would want to play with Curry. I SAY UGH says no can do and.....CLICK! There goes Kobe's leverage that he never had in the first place.

[Edited by - TrueBlue on 06-18-2007 10:46 AM]

Jerry Buss is stubborn. If he doesn't get a good deal he will stick to his guns and let Kobe play it out in LA. The Lakers don't have to trade him and Kobe can continue selling out games for another two seasons.

OR, he'll take a wait-and-see attitude and re-examine Kobe's demands a year from now when they'll be under more pressure to make a deal.

There is no urgency really this season to do anything, and they have their tickets to sell anyway.

Posted by TMS:

we'll see... i have a feeling he'll be traded to either NY or CHI... if i'm Jerry Buss i don't want Kobe being a malcontent all year long, ruin our season, & then leave w/o getting anything in return for him later on... i talk to Isiah, milk him for whatever i can get (& Isiah will be willing to give up any player other than Curry & multiple unprotected picks to get the deal done, make no mistake about that) & move forward... i don't see the Bulls being willing to sell the farm to bring Kobe in... just my opinion.

Wrong. Lakers may try to trade him and it will be to who offers the most for Kobe, then Kobe probably refuses if say a team like Chicago doesn't step up. He'll come back be a malcontent, put the Lakers in the lottery, sabatoging games and faking injuries. He's not coming here without us getting royally screwed. Buss did an ESPN interview during Shaq's championship run with Miami and told the reporters his biggest mistake was trading Shaq, he won't repeat that mistake with Kobe. He's referred to Kobe as his Son. They won't trade him unless they are screwing a team or get extreme value for him and we don't have that unless we duplicate the Curry trade times 2.

like i said, Isiah will be willing to give up whatever it takes short of Curry to get Kobe.

Posted by TMS:

a whining & complaining Kobe is going to be a distraction & a malcontent... that's definitely NOT what you want to surround your young developing players with... & that's not something you want to subject your fanbase to either for that matter.

we'll see how it plays out... i just don't think the Lakers have many options at this point.

Buss wants to sell out 18,000 plus. The only way that happens is with Kobe.

Posted by kam77:

Posted by TMS:

a whining & complaining Kobe is going to be a distraction & a malcontent... that's definitely NOT what you want to surround your young developing players with... & that's not something you want to subject your fanbase to either for that matter.

we'll see how it plays out... i just don't think the Lakers have many options at this point.

Buss wants to sell out 18,000 plus. The only way that happens is with Kobe.

Yeah he didn't start addressing the media until the fans(ticket holders) flooded the office with emails and phone calls the past week.

Posted by TMS:

Posted by TrueBlue:

Posted by TMS:

we'll see... i have a feeling he'll be traded to either NY or CHI... if i'm Jerry Buss i don't want Kobe being a malcontent all year long, ruin our season, & then leave w/o getting anything in return for him later on... i talk to Isiah, milk him for whatever i can get (& Isiah will be willing to give up any player other than Curry & multiple unprotected picks to get the deal done, make no mistake about that) & move forward... i don't see the Bulls being willing to sell the farm to bring Kobe in... just my opinion.

Wrong. Lakers may try to trade him and it will be to who offers the most for Kobe, then Kobe probably refuses if say a team like Chicago doesn't step up. He'll come back be a malcontent, put the Lakers in the lottery, sabatoging games and faking injuries. He's not coming here without us getting royally screwed. Buss did an ESPN interview during Shaq's championship run with Miami and told the reporters his biggest mistake was trading Shaq, he won't repeat that mistake with Kobe. He's referred to Kobe as his Son. They won't trade him unless they are screwing a team or get extreme value for him and we don't have that unless we duplicate the Curry trade times 2.

what do u mean wrong... i'm giving u my opinion of what i would do if i'm jerry buss... if you disagree, that's your call... like i said before, Isiah will be willing to move Heaven & Earth to bring Kobe in here... if that means giving up unprotected picks for the next 3 years & their best young talent like D Lee, Balkman, Jamal, etc., he'll do it, make no mistake about that.

Actually it's kind of warped to think Kobe would go into full blown sabatoge mode for a full season, we're talking the most vain player in nba history. He still loves his stats. He'll do some manipulating things but he'll want to maintain his rep as much as possible. He'll just make it easier for them to build around Bynum acting that way. They'll both operate in a manner to clear themselves.




[Edited by - TrueBlue on 06-18-2007 11:16 AM]

The farce is exposed! Buss can't get by with having Kobe and not much else. The fans can see that this team isn't going to win anything as presently constructed and they don't really have many options to get better. The truth is that it's time for them to face reality and trade the one big asset they have and set the team up to rebuild.

If they force Kobe to play, what does that do for them except perhaps keep a few fans in the seats? Even that will begin to fade if the team doesn't get better. To get better who do they trade? Odom? They'll have to do better than that. So then you start to add in Bynum and it get's interesting for another team. IF they do that the team may still not be good enough to win in the West. So that brings them back to square one. They must trade Kobe to give themselves a good boost in rebuilding. This group isn't going to win and they can't add enough help to make a real difference in a tough Western Conf. NY is the most likely trading partner for all reasons that have been discussed.

Our possible offer of young role players and picks is a good offer as these kind of Superstar trades usually go. The team almost never get's much value in return, but in this case they'd get some good value from us. Our young players still have good upside and we can provide a vet with a contract that will run out in 2 seasons and they can have cap space not too long from now to be a player in the FA market at that time.