Posted by kam77:

A Kobe deal will not include Curry. IF La and NY ever make a deal, Kobe and Curry will be teammates. Either in LA or NY.

Posted by islesfan:

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.

Why do you seem to think that the Lakers are at a point where they are forced to accept whatever the Knicks feel like giving them for Kobe?

Posted by TMS:

Posted by islesfan:

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.

Why do you seem to think that the Lakers are at a point where they are forced to accept whatever the Knicks feel like giving them for Kobe?

when did i say that? i said Isiah would be willing to give up anything the Lakers wanted other than Curry to get Kobe here... & the Lakers' options aren't many at this point.

Posted by islesfan:

Posted by TMS:

option 1: keep Kobe & have a huge distraction for the entire season & lose him for nothing when he opts out

option 2: trade him to Chicago for players the Bulls are not likely to be willing to give up

option 3: strip the Knicks of as much young talent & future picks as you possibly can & set your franchise up to make a serious run at Lebron or D Wade once they become FA's after 2 years.

When Bryant signed his free-agent contract on July 15, 2004, a seven-year deal worth $136.4 million, a no-trade clause was built into his contract. He is the only player in the NBA that has a no-trade clause in his contract. He has a no-trade clause for at least two more seasons, at which time he can opt out of his current contract (after the 2008-09 season). If he exercises his option to become a free agent, he would walk away from a combined $47.8 million for the 2009-10 and 2010-11 seasons. The only way the Lakers could trade Bryant is if he waived his no-trade clause, which means the team would need Bryant's approval to trade him.

Bryant can't walk away for another 2 seasons. Lots can happen between now and then. And if he did opt out, he's walking away from almost $24M a year. Do you think he's going to walk away from that money to take the MLE from another team?

What about the options of trading him to other teams? Those are already exhausted? I don't think so.

Posted by TrueBlue:

Posted by islesfan:

Posted by TMS:

option 1: keep Kobe & have a huge distraction for the entire season & lose him for nothing when he opts out

option 2: trade him to Chicago for players the Bulls are not likely to be willing to give up

option 3: strip the Knicks of as much young talent & future picks as you possibly can & set your franchise up to make a serious run at Lebron or D Wade once they become FA's after 2 years.

When Bryant signed his free-agent contract on July 15, 2004, a seven-year deal worth $136.4 million, a no-trade clause was built into his contract. He is the only player in the NBA that has a no-trade clause in his contract. He has a no-trade clause for at least two more seasons, at which time he can opt out of his current contract (after the 2008-09 season). If he exercises his option to become a free agent, he would walk away from a combined $47.8 million for the 2009-10 and 2010-11 seasons. The only way the Lakers could trade Bryant is if he waived his no-trade clause, which means the team would need Bryant's approval to trade him.

Bryant can't walk away for another 2 seasons. Lots can happen between now and then. And if he did opt out, he's walking away from almost $24M a year. Do you think he's going to walk away from that money to take the MLE from another team?

What about the options of trading him to other teams? Those are already exhausted? I don't think so.

Let's look at it from Kobe's standpoint some more. He stands to remain a Laker for 2 more yrs. Does anyone honestly think he would be a malcontent for 2yrs? He'll probably want to be moved but he'll be professional enough to not damage his rep. Why would the guy be a flat out malcontent the whole time hurting his trade value and risk potentially 2 more yrs of no championships? The Lakers have already begun a rebuild process so in the meantime while he's in off and on temper tantrum mode, he becomes strictly a money asset to the Lakers and nothing more. TMS is talking as if the Lakers will have to move him just to move him and that absoultely will not happen.

[Edited by - TrueBlue on 06-18-2007 1:13 PM]

Posted by RemBee76:

I can't think of an example of a star player (let alone a super-star player) requesting to be traded but being forced to play for the team for two years.

Teams can come to an agreement with their player to hold off for a bit (suspect this is what happened with KG barring the rumored trade to Phoenix) but T-Mac, Davis, Artest, Shaq, Vince Carter, Ewing, Stephon Marbury, Joe Johnson...all were moved when they made it clear that they didn't want to play another season in their current uniform. And no, teams never get "value" in those trades, but they do put themselves in the position to rebuild via youth.

If Kobe is really requesting a trade he will be traded.