Kobe Vs. Gasol

After Shaq, the Lakers were never "bad". They were in the playoffs each year, how could you call them bad before Gasol and after Shaq? Sure they never won a championship, but were always contenders with Kobe.

kbritt, firstly the lakers didn't make the playoffs each of the three years between the Shaq and Gasol eras, missing out on the playoffs in 2004-05 season. Also when they made the playoffs they were only 7th seeds and lost in the 1st round, so they were never contending.

Ok, from the time the lost Shaq (2004-05 season) they went 34-48, and missed the playoffs. That was a terrible season. 2005-06 they were 45-37, a decent season. 2006-07 they went 42-40, near .500 and a bad season by Laker standards. I honestly didn;t think they were that bad at one point with Kobe, so you're right. My bad.

Kobe is not against Gasol being there at all - he is just sick of the rumours & wants closure on the situation and said it's tough to go all out on the court if they feel they may be traded

Is it just me, or does this guy talk about getting drunk a lot?

meh we all make mistakes. Yeah you would think with how dominant kobe was during those seasons that the lakers would be better but it really shows that your only as good as the people around you. But he really didn't have the personnel around him to facilitate winning

I am retired, (kinda) what do you want me to talk about? how old nuch my woman sags?

http://espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=79gpb3l

Lakers get Howard, Turkoglu, and Nelson. Dominant center, amnesty Hedo, PG in Nelson.

Magic get Gasol, Bynum, and Ebanks along with draft picks. Magic get a solid PF/C combo along with a developing SF and draft picks. They may not need to wait long to rebuild.

http://games.espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=3gnd3gg

Williams straight up for Gasol. According to the trade machine both teams get better by this trade.

There aren't many pass first PG's or dominant Centers available for Pau. There's no reason to give up Pau for anything other than Williams or Howard.

I personally like Williams straight up for Gasol. If the Lakers could pull it off, and then Howard uses his early termination option, the Lakers could land both Williams and Howard, and still have Kobe and Bynum. It is a stretch, but there is still a chance. And as long as there is a chance, you never know what can happen.

Can they still get Jason Kidd for Andrew Bynum like Kobe once wanted?

Maybe Kobe can go work for MJ as the Bobcats' GM when he retires?

@cuseflynn10 : you can not use your amnesti on a player you traded for.

If you trade for d12 and you get a package with hedo.... you got to keep hedo or trade him (almost impossible) but you can not amnestied him.

Here's me about to get negged. It'll never happen, I understand that, but if I were the Lakers, I'd trade Kobe before Pau.

Kobe clearly said he doesn't want Pau traded. He then came out after yet another stinker performance by Gasoft and said that he wants LAL to give Pau some resolution so they can either get used to a new guy or things can settle down and they can get back to the task at hand of trying to win the ship.

Kobe's salary is absurdly huge going forward. If they don't move Pau or Bynum they literally have no other way of improving.

@PulseGlazer

Trade Kobe? Seriously... Absurd.

Even at this age, Kobe still draws a big ticket and is one of the best players in the world. He'll retire a Laker.

Ummmmmmm I'm pretty sure Kobe still leads the league in scoring so why would they trade him? I wouldn't even trade Kobe for Dwight Howard

Kobe leads the league in scoring... and usage rate. That's entirely unacceptable when you have two dominant post-bigs. And they're the freaking Lakers! They don't need Kobe to draw. Check his salary for the next 3 years, then the projected salary cap over the next few years. He's making a financially unfeasible amount in the new CBA.

Kobe has the no trade clause in his contract and I don't think he'd start saying he wants Gasol traded as that would be totally disrespectful to a player of Gasol's standing. Also isn't Dr Buss's son a huge fan of Bynum so could well resist any attempts to try and move him and could consider Bynum the key building piece post Kobe.

Whoever wouldn't trade Kobe for Dwight is a lunatic. They could then easily trade Bynum for a really good guard. Obviously none of this would never happen...

Why is Kobe complaining about Pau Gasol's effort? He's averaged a 18 ppg and 14 rbpg his past 10 games while getting a double double in every game. If that's him not trying that's scary.

In my Basketball Report I mentioned how the Lakers are built better for the playoffs. They aren't deep enough for the regular season but they have 3 good go to guys, a BIG THREE if you will. If they can get enough out of the small forward spot and hit 3's then they look fairly good going into the playoffs. Out west this year it is going to come down to matchups and momentum. I believe that there are several teams out west that can get to the Finals, the Lakers being one of them.

In the playoffs you need a big time scorer (superstar) and legit big men. The Lakers have that. Their supporting cast isn't great but they have a few guys with playoff experience (Fisher, Artest, Barnes) and a few guys with size (McRoberts and Murphy).

The Clippers are supposedly a lot better than the Clippers but outside of their superstar MVP candidate (Chris Paul vs. Kobe Bryant) and their all-star second-option power forward (Blake vs. Pau) they really don't have a whole heck of a lot. I will take Bynum over DeAndre Jordan. The Clips have Caron Butler at small forward which is a bit better than Barnes/Artest and Mo Williams at backup point guard (vs. Steve Blake for the Lake Show), but I would argue that the Lakers are built more for the playoffs with a better BIG THREE and they have just as good of a shot at coming out of the West as the Clippers.

Kobe has veto claus, he will not accept being traded. He would veto that

kobe never said anything abut them trading pau and this thread is bs. Also to all those saying trade kobe, lol.

I never understood the amnesty clause that well, but thanks for clarifying.

I'm surprised though more times haven't used it. I believe only six teams have used it, and I know some teams want to hold on to it, but there are plenty of players who should have gotten amniestied (Luke Walton in particular).

Walton won't be amnestied before Meta World Peace.

The lakers don't need to amnesty any player : they won't be under the cap if they use their amnesty on blake, artest (f*ck world peace....) or walton. They could use it to clear 1 roster spot if they need to.

But if you cut 1 player you don't know what is the consequence on the team alchemy (walton has been on this team .... for a lonnnnnnng time) and on the other players (bryant, fisher bynum, gasol.... remember the odom trade consequences). You have to be careful with that tool....

ha ha!