Beer: Kobe on Broadway?
First and foremost, let's be realistic here. The Los Angeles Lakers probably won't trade Kobe Bryant.
The odds of Kobe leaving LA are very slim. I wrote about this after Kobe Bryant's first coast-to-coast "Free Kobe Bryant" radio tour, and it's still true. Kobe Bryant is locked into a contract that will pay him $88.6 million over the next four years. He does not have the opportunity to opt out until after the summer of 2009, which means the Los Angeles Lakers control him for at least two more seasons. If the Los Angeles Lakers steadfastly refuse to trade him, and they have every right to make that decision, Kobe Bryant is stuck. Either he plays for the Los Angeles Lakers or he sits out and sacrifices two years of his prime. We all know that ain't happening. As an aside, the last thing I want to hear is that Los Angeles Lakers owe it to Kobe Bryant to either trade him or sacrifice any semblance of a long-term future by trading for an aging veteran. Please - save the pity parade! Jerry Buss and the Los Angeles Lakers are paying Kobe Bryant an ungodly amount of money to play basketball, and they have stuck by his side through the embarrassing incident in Colorado. And no matter how much Kobe Bryant belly-aches and pouts, if the Los Angeles Lakers hold onto him, they will sell out the Staples Center. So there is truly no reason for Buss and company to rush into anything. Still, if Kobe Bryant stands his ground this time he may force the Los Angeles Lakers hand and make them at least consider the possibility of moving him. They may think to themselves: "Do we want to put up with this headache for two more years and risk the chance of alienating him to the point where he opts out after the 2009 season and signs somewhere else just to spite us?" Nonetheless, even if he does opt out they will be able to resign him for more money than any other team. The other flaw in Kobe Bryant's thinking (or lack thereof) is that if the Los Angeles Lakers do agree to trade him to another team, will that new team still have a decent roster after sending the necessary pieces to the Los Angeles Lakers to acquire Kobe Bryant? It is unlikely that a team could ship off the requisite talent to entice the Los Angeles Lakers, and still have a solid nucleus that Kobe Bryant could count on. But, with that said - the NBA season is over, the Finals were disappointing, and Knicks fans have very little to look forward to this entire millennium. So let's look at this issue from another angle. If Kobe Bryant continues to take his trade demands public (once home-made movies starting popping up on you tube you know things are getting weirder by the day), and keeps grilling Jerry Buss in private, the Los Angeles Lakers may at least begin to test the waters. This is where things get interesting and every GM in the NBA gets fidgety. Let's say Mitch Kupchak put feelers out there and lets it be known that he is entertaining offers. Each of the league's 29 GM's would hit the drawing board. Kupchak's e-mail inbox would light up light a Christmas tree. But he is going to delete a few e-mails without reading them and not return a bunch of phone calls just on principal. And this is why Isiah Thomas and long-suffering Knicks fans can start to dream that impossible dream. The fact of the matter is - if the Los Angeles Lakers did ever trade Kobe Bryant for unlikely reason, the New York Knicks would have as good, if not better, chance than any team in the league. There are a number of reasons for this. First, from the Los Angeles Lakers perspective, Kupchak and Buss would not trade him to another Western Conference team. The idea of Kobe Bryant coming into the Staples Center multiple times each season, or seeing Kobe Bryant knock out the Los Angeles Lakers in a first-round playoff match-up, would be unbearable. A Western Conference squad would have to offer 200% more than any Eastern conference team for the Los Angeles Lakers to even listen. Imagine the Los Angeles Clippers calling. No way Kupchak even answers the phone - it doesn't matter if they went crazy and offered Elton Brand, Corey Maggette and Chris Kaman. So, that safely eliminates half the teams in the league from the "quest for Kobe Bryant competition." Next up we have the money issue. Kobe Bryant is in the middle of contract which pays him a total of 136.4 million dollars. Some organizations simply can not afford to pay one player over $23 million dollars a year and then still have enough money left over to surround him with a quality surrounding cast. It is simple economics at work here. In addition, Kobe Bryant has a trade kicker in his contract that is believed to add about $13 million to his total contract value, a cost to be absorbed by any team that acquires him. The money would be paid like a signing bonus and would not count toward the salary cap. Look at the Charlotte Bobcats for instance. There highest paid player last season was Gerald Wallace at $5.5 million, and they will probably let him walk this summer because they can't afford to sign him as a free agent. Last year, Kobe Bryant made more that the entire Bobcats starting lineup. So the reality of economics scratches a few more names of the "Kobe Bryant Wish List." And, of course there is the ace up Kobe Bryant's sleeve - the no-trade clause in his contract. Kobe Bryant is believed to be the only player in the entire league with a no-trade clause. As a result, we can knock a few more teams out of the running. Can you see Kobe Bryant ever playing his home games in Milwaukee? Neither can he. Let's recap. Even if the unlikely event that the Los Angeles Lakers decide they will trade Kobe Bryant (fat chance), they have to find a team can afford him and offer an overwhelming package in return (good luck). Then, Kobe Bryant has to agree to the trade. Clearly, the Los Angeles Lakers actual trading partners would be severely limited. This is why Knicks fans have to smile. Maybe Kobe Bryant ending up in the Bog Apple isn't as far-fetched as we thought it once was... When you look at the big picture, New York is a pretty good fit. (Chicago would likely be their stiffest competition - depending on what the Bulls are willing to give up.) As far as New York is concerned, money is no object to James Dolan and the Knicks. When you are willing to pay a $60 million dollars (salary cap tax penalties included) over five years to Jerome James, paying Kobe Bryant only $22 million would be like stealing. (Keep in mind that the Knicks total payroll last season exceeded $139 million; including over $61 million spent on five players who didn't score a single point - Allan Houston, Jalen Rose, Mo Taylor, Shandon Anderson, and Jerome Williams.) Moreover, it is being reported that the Knicks are one of three teams Kobe Bryant would play for (Chicago and Phoenix being the other two). It makes sense. Although Kobe Bryant makes a mint in advertising deals now, they would probably increase if he moved his act to Broadway. Kobe Bryant would be worshiped by a fan base desperate for hope in the form of a true superstar. If possible, his already substantial commercial earnings would increase. Ok - so we have established a plausible scenario. Now let's see if Zeke can make Kupchak and Buss consider trading their cash cow and the face of the Los Angeles Lakers Franchise. . First and foremost, Isiah can not say, "we'd love to land Kobe Bryant, but just can't give up Eddy Curry." This is Kobe Bean Bryant we are talking about. Kobe Bryant is the most unstoppable offensive weapon in the NBA. His resume is impeccable. A five time All-NBA first-team team selection (with five All-Defense first teams under his belt as well), he is one of the best players of this generation. Sure-fire, first-ballot Hall-of-Famers don't pop up on the trade market all that often. If you are trading for one of the league's best players (in his prime), you can't start the conversation by saying that one of the players from my 33-49 team is off limits. It just doesn't work like that... If Isiah is serious about landing Kobe Bryant, he has to make the Los Angeles Lakers an offer they can't refuse. Of course Isiah and the Knicks like to land Kobe Bryant while still holding onto Curry. But in order to seal the deal, they may have to include him. And while Curry took a huge step forward this season, his game is by no means flawless. He still needs to get in better shape, he is allergic to defense, and his rebounding needs to improve. Before we get to the actual proposal, a couple of stipulations: First, we have to make sure the salaries match up. Secondly, while some Knicks fans will suggest that New York simply dump a few bad contracts on the Los Angeles Lakers as part of the deal, this is obviously not going to happen. Remember, the Los Angeles Lakers aren't having a fire-sale. Quite the opposite. So, let's all agree not to waste anyone's time by including names like Steve Francis or Jerome James in even hypothetical offers. One last caveat, the Knicks can not include their first-round pick (#23), because there is an NBA rule that stipulates you can't trade first-rounders in consecutive years. With that out of the way - let's have some fun... After crunching numbers and jotting down infinite potential lineup, I came up with a deal that actually makes some sense: How about Eddy Curry, Jamal Crawford, Nate Robinson and Mardy Collins for Kobe Bryant? LA would have to think long and hard about this, no? The key would piece would obviously be Curry. They would get a young, developing big (20 and 9 next year?) who could theoretically team up with Bynum and Odom to form a huge, impressive front line. While the Los Angeles Lakers would hate to take on the four years and $40 million left on Crawford contract, he can score in bunches. Nate Robinson, a former NBA slam-dunk champion, may sell some tickets. And Mardy Collins, who came on strong at the end of last year (and actually led the NBA in minutes played during the final month of the season), is the type of tall point guard that Phil Jackson likes in his triangle offense. (If LA would prefer Renaldo Balkman over Collins or Nate - that is certainly negotiable. And obviously a couple of second-round picks could be thrown in as well.) From the Knicks perspective they get Kobe Bryant in a Knicks uniform. Yes, they would be giving up a lot, but think about that for a second. Kobe Bryant in the Garden. In the Eastern Conference. Keep in mind that we just witnessed LeBron James put a bunch of mediocre role-players on his back and carried them all the way to the NBA Finals. In a watered down conference, Kobe Bryant and a bunch of guys they could pick up at the Rucker would scare some people. Initially, the Knicks new starting lineup would look like this: Marbury, Kobe Bryant, Q Richardson, David Lee, and Frye. The added bonus in this scenario would be holding onto to David Lee and Channing Frye. Lee blossomed into a double-double machine last year (The Los Angeles Lakers may insist Lee be included). And although Frye had a horrible '06-'07 season, he was incredibly impressive as a rookie and still has a high ceiling. The Knicks would be selling-low if they moved Frye this summer. Coming off the bench you'd have Jared Jeffries, Jerome James, Renaldo Balkman, Malik Rose, and Steve Francis (until he gets bought out).. If the Knicks did trade Curry, they would obviously need to make additional moves to secure a decent center because Frye would not last a full season at center; Frye is a natural power forward. One intriguing possibility would be throwing some money at unrestricted free-agent Jamal Magloire. (Dolan has ordered Isiah not to use the mid-level exception this summer, but if KB24 came to town - things would change.) Magloire has seen his stock plummet in recent years but was an All-Star in 2004 Ideally, they could be looking at: PG: Marbury/Francis
SG: Kobe Bryant/Richardson/Francis
SF: Richardson/Balkman/Jeffries
PF: Lee/Rose/Jefferies
C: Magloire/Frye/James As far as other trade proposals are concerned, they get pretty far-fetched if you don't include Curry. Not only would Curry be the player Los Angles would most desire, if you take out his money, its nearly impossible to make the salaries match up. The Los Angeles Lakers are not going to touch the other poison contracts on the roster: James, Jefferies, Francis, Rose (can't be moved due to a trade restriction), Marbury, or Richardson. Still, whenever you trade a superstar, you know right off the bat that its nearly impossible to get equal value back. And if Kobe Bryant continues to play hardball and holds the Los Angeles Lakers feet to the fire, of the few teams that meet the above-mentioned criteria, would any be able to beat the Knicks offer...
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