Now that Kobe has officially demanded a trade, I looked a couple of different scenarios that would work for the Lakers and Kobe. Kobe has a no-trade clause in his contract and can pretty much veto a trade to a "weak" team. The trick for the Lakers will be to get more than $.50 on the dollar and find a team that won't have a bare cupboard after trading for Kobe (Kobe won't accept this scenario anwyay). Below are three trades that should match up salary wise and make sense for both parties involved.
1. Kobe to the Wizards for Arenas and Haywood.
Kobe gets reunited with Caron Butler and has Antawn Jamison (or possibly Zach Randolph) to lessen the offensive load. Most importantly, the Lakers get Kobe out of the West so he won't torment them for years to come. The Lakers get Arenas entering his prime and pair him with Odom.
2. Kobe and Brian Cook to the Suns for Marion, Diaw and Barbosa.
Kobe gets to play with Amare and Nash, while the Lakers get three nice pieces to put with Lamar Odom. A starting five of Barbosa, Mo Evans (they would need to use their veteran's exemption to upgrade at SG), Marion, Odom and Bynum wouldn't be bad with Diaw, Walton and K. Brown off the bench. If Kobe and Raja Bell could coexist, the trio of Kobe, Amare and Nash would be the best in the NBA by far.
3. Kobe, Bynum and Mo Evans to Chicago for Luol Deng, Ben Gordon and Ben Wallace
Kobe and Hinrich in the Bulls backcourt with Nocioni, Ty Thomas and Bynum up front. The Lakers have their backcourt of the future with Gordon and Deng and get a shot blocking presence to replace Bynum. The Bulls probably won't move Deng but Ty Thomas could replace him and the trade should still work.
Posted by Eric Johnson at 5/30/2007 11:38:00 AM |
