Kobe asks to be traded-Then takes it back-Wants out again

I believe Kobe's preferred destinations will factor in what kind of lifestyle is available and how much national attention he'll receive & endorsement revenue, in addition to a better playoff situation.

The most logical choices are Chicago, Phoenix, and New Jersey (which will eventually be in New York).
* Chicago has a stable of young players and the 9th pick for LA's rebuild, population 9.5M as a market, Kobe will definitely be the franchise player in Chicago and it will be his team for all intents & purposes
* Phoenix has gotten the furthest in the playoffs but has a pop of 3.8M, nobody in Phoenix really has mass market recognition. I wonder how Kobe would feel with Nash having the ball 90% of the time.
* New Jersey could S&T Vince Carter for a 1 for 1 swap, Kobe campaigned for Kidd in LA, the franchise is moving to New York eventually, which is a larger market than even LA (19M).

Last edited by maes on Thu May 31, 2007 6:25 am, edited 1 time in total.

Well since this came up I was thinkin' ...

Pierce
Jefferson
Green
5th Draft Pick

For

Kobe
Contract of Aaron McKie

or some kinda trade involving both teams.

Just saw this in some ESPN Article.

CHECK OUT THIS TRADE

Theres no way in hell we would do this/pull this off...but it would work under salary cap rules.

Lakers get
Andre Miller
Samuel Dalembert
2007 1st round pick (Philadelphia)
2007 1st round pick (Denver)

Sixers get
Kobe Bryant

they get a pg and a center that they really need and draft picks.
we get kobe. nuff said.

However the reason this wont happen is that it could again fuck up the potential of iguodala, he really showed his stuff once ai got out of philly and hed be back at 10 ppg if kobe came here.

and not that this is important but if kobe was with the sixers hed be forced to wear #8 again.

Just saw this in some ESPN Article.

CHECK OUT THIS TRADE

Thanks ESPN, that was very insightful...

Not a chance. All they have is a bunch of overpaid crap

Why not?
All they got was overpaid crap for Shaq.
Remember who is running this team, and you will see it is all but possible for him to go to N.Y.

Well since this came up I was thinkin' ...

Pierce
Jefferson
Green
5th Draft Pick

For

Kobe
Contract of Aaron McKie

or some kinda trade involving both teams.

i would love to have kobe on the celts and all but dont ya think ya giving away the team just to get him? whats the point bringing in kobe if he has nothing but junk to play with?

Why not?
All they got was overpaid crap for Shaq.
Remember who is running this team, and you will see it is all but possible for him to go to N.Y.

There is a BIG difference between Shaq an Kobe. Shaq was past his prime when the trade occured. Right now Kobe is playing the best basketball of his career.

Plus, when they traded Shaq they could stand to lose a bit on the trade because they still had Kobe on the team. Like them or not, the Lakers front office isn't dumb enough to ship off their only star player for anything the Knicks have to offer.

If you have a reasonable trade that would work under salary cap rules (and would leave Kobe with a team he could lead through the playoffs) I would like to see it.

And now i just saw on ESPN that kobe doesnt want to be traded.

wow kobe needs to get his facts straight.

first guy tells smith he wants to be traded - nothing could change his mind, then guy demands a trade if west doesn't come, backtracks to save image says he never said anything, goes back again and demands trade, then says he's always wanted to be a lifelong laker. what is that? actions speak louder than words, and with actions like these its pretty obvious he WAS the reason buss didn't want to pay shaq. its like watching a bad politician.

it seems like he's throwing blame everywhere but himself. its embarassing.

in the end though i don't see him being traded, i think he's just acting out and needs some cock sucking to stay happy (as always). inevitably i think the lakers will suck it dry. in the unlikelihood he is traded i think it will be to phoenix. or to the east.

Well since this came up I was thinkin' ...

Pierce
Jefferson
Green
5th Draft Pick

For

Kobe
Contract of Aaron McKie

or some kinda trade involving both teams.

i would love to have kobe on the celts and all but dont ya think ya giving away the team just to get him? whats the point bringing in kobe if he has nothing but junk to play with?

The thought of a Lakers All-Star playing for the Celtics is absolutely revolting to me.

I highly doubt he'll go to the Celtics. The Sixers wouldn't trade Iverson without them offering Paul Pierce, so there's no way the Lakers would do it. I think those few mass market teams are the likely possibilities, aside from Phoenix. They are trying to scale their cap down, so taking on Kobe is nearly impossible to fit into their plans.

Chicago seems good, though it'd be interesting to see who they offer... New Jersey does seem like most likely candidate at this point though. Perhaps he'll go to the Heat!

I hope he goes to the Sonics though. Sign and trade Rashard and anyone else they could possibly want aside from Ray and their draft pick.

This is cool, the Lakers (could be) screwing their franchise player when Buss promised Kobe at good supporting cast.

first guy tells smith he wants to be traded - nothing could change his mind, then guy demands a trade if west doesn't come, backtracks to save image says he never said anything, goes back again and demands trade, then says he's always wanted to be a lifelong laker. what is that? actions speak louder than words, and with actions like these its pretty obvious he WAS the reason buss didn't want to pay shaq. its like watching a bad politician.

it seems like he's throwing blame everywhere but himself. its embarassing.

in the end though i don't see him being traded, i think he's just acting out and needs some cock sucking to stay happy (as always). inevitably i think the lakers will suck it dry. in the unlikelihood he is traded i think it will be to phoenix. or to the east.

Hold on a minute, you're the guy who claims it was such a travesty Shaq was traded from L.A. after everything that he did for them.

Shaq's trade demand stemmed from money.
Kobe's is about winning.

And yet you say Kobe should be blaming himself? What for? You put Lebron on this Laker team without Kobe and see how far they'll go. Tim Duncan, Steve Nash, even Shaq himself and I would be impressed if they even made the playoffs one of the past two seasons.

Kobe the past two years has played nearly as good as anyone in the history of the league in terms of individual production that helped a team. And before you say "he's playing for himself", look at his willingness to play playmaker in last seasons playoffs against pheonix, and look at the Lakers record when Kobe doesnt get 40+ points.

But I mean it's Kobe after all. When he talks, it's blashemy regardless of what he says. But when its Shaq...

Kobe will stay in LA and they will hire J.West and thats all
There are two teams where he wants to play,Clips or Bulls.
Kobe in Philly?

Kobe in Philly would be poetic justice.

http://www.realgm.com/src_wiretap_archives/46307/20070530/kobe_backs_off_trade_request/

Kobe had an emotional conversation with Phil Jackson who convinced him to stay with the Lakers, and he took his demand back. So, he's staying in LAL, so you guys could stop proposing your trade ideas.

Yes, realgm is such a reliable source of information.

I'm going to go buy my Paul Pierce Denver jersey now.

Realgm sometimes has some good things, but sometiems its BS, like PP Deal.

Anyways, Kobe will stay in LA til the end of his career period

Kobe will stay, so nobody get thier hopes up. Mitch Kupchak and Jim Buss are faggots. They need to get Jerry West in.

The problem is RealGM just grabs all the news from any source they can and reports it. It's not from RealGM itself.

wade_03, I wouldn't take any source's word for it in this situation. Not yet anyway.

What makes people think that a team would actually want to trade good, solid young players for a guy who is: A) expensive, B) selfish (5.4 assists per game? come on), C) although in his prime, he's definately not young, and D) strikes other people in the face from time to time

So what if he has 31.6 ppg and a 83.8% ft this year?

At this point I'd still be surprised if Kobe is traded, if only because of the clause in his contract and the lack of a deal that is remotely fair for the Lakers. That said, I don't think this latest report is necessarily the end of the story. With the way Kobe has been offering two very different stances in every report and interview, it's hard to know for sure whether there's damage control going on, he's constantly changing his mind or indeed what and whom we can believe right now.

At first glance its easy to say Kobe is offering two different stances, but its also pretty clear to draw a common theme amongst what he's saying:

He wants to win.

He'd probably rather do that in LA, as a Laker. But if there are no plans to bring in a Garnett, a Jermaine O'Neal or a Jason Kidd, then he would want to be traded.

Winning comes first. In a perfect world for Kobe, he'd want that supporting cast in LA. But if they dont even have a plan to try and get better, then he wants to be traded.

Thats what I got out of what he was saying anyway.

I agree, that much is obvious from his frustration with the way the Lakers' season ended and likely their struggles in the second half of the regular season as well. Still, I think he might be in two minds as to whether he can win and achieve the level of success he desires with the Lakers, and thus whether or not he wants to stay.