I don't see us pulling off any of the 5-6 options SAS mentions above. Like Savory said, year 1 and 2 players may make up 8 players in our rotation That's not attractive to top level free agents It's not a recipe to win NOW KOBE may be in his last year, and is this how he wants to go out? A team of 20 year olds and a 37 year old former superstar isn't a great fit If Kobe agreed to a trade, it could net some interesting assets to expedite a rebuild Would Kobe consider for the good of the franchise? Does he fit on this team? Does a ball dominant SG with little faith in veterans - much less rookies - make sense on this roster? Would we be doing him a favor if we put him in a winning situation to wrap up his career? Does this matter as much to him as it once did? Would he rather just suffer the losses with moldable talent around him? Is it acceptable to just lead and mentor? Will he be able to control the urge to take over at the expense of our youth? You'll never find a bigger Kobe supporter, but hard not to consider these questions for the good of the franchise. If it wasn't Kobe Bean Bryant it wouldn't even be a discussion most likely, but since it is, it's not an easy answer. I'm sure we keep him because he's Kobe, but in reality, it doesn't make any business sense. I hope he continues to evolve his game, meshes with our young talent, leads and mentors with balance, and finds a way to squeeze more out of them than any of us thought possible.
In his entire career Kobe only mentioned one other NBA team he'd play for and that's the Knicks. No way possible to trade Kobe to the Knicks without getting Melo back and no way even the Knicks do that. I got no problem with Kobe getting paid the way he is. He should be getting more actually IMHO. He's the best in a generation and put 5 more Chips in the case so he deserves it. He deserves it here too. Rarely does a massive star play it all for just one team. There are a lot of guys who make a lot of money without any results. (Howard, Paul, Melo etc.)
^^^^ He was thisclose to signing with both the Clippers and Bulls. In fact, he said he was house shopping in Chicago.
Well Kobe has had some mistakes too in his career. That was one, that fortunately lit a fire under the FO.
Id like to See Kobe play for 3 more years actually. Not sure he can or wants to, but what an odd fit to have a HOF'er play with a bunch of wet behind the ears kids. Could either be potentially miserable, or perhaps his finest hour. Here's rooting for option 2.
I think he'll find this season to be both challenging and invigorating once he gets going. He'll be surrounded by young guys that'll undoubtedly piss him off sometimes, but at other times will fire him up and his pride will kick in; he'll try to keep up with their young legs sometimes and we'll see flashes of Great Kobe again instead Great Grandpa Kobe. I just want to see one more addition we can get behind. Just one more guy we can look at and say "well there's something there maybe". Give Kobe SOMETHING to work with besides 20 year olds and a 30 year old with the mind of a 15 year old.
We're not moving at all. What's the adage? If you're not moving forward, you're moving backward? That's basically where we are. Mitch is standing pat, but while he's doing that most other teams are finding ways to improve. We're not necessarily taking steps back, but with everyone else getting better we're still moving backward.
Oh, I selfishly would like Kobe to play 5 more years, as I think he could be effective. I'd like to see him break the all time scoring record. I'd like to see him produce more magical playoff moments, but he needs some horses to run with and a solid coach. If we can't provide that, I'd like to see the Lakers to offer to provide that option. I still believe Kobe can be an elite player, and I think he has one more All Star game in him too. (Deserved) When people question my support for Kobe, I call them fece eaters!
