Lakers Get Crittenton
The Los Angeles Lakers picked up three players yesterday evening in the NBA Draft. In the first round, with the 19th pick overall, the Lakers drafted Javaris Crittenton, a big, sharp-shooting point guard from Georgia Tech. In the second round they got an Chinese small forward named Sun Yue with the 40th pick overall, and center Marc Gasol, another international from Spain.
Overall reaction to the picks seems positive. The Lakers had a fairly late pick with the 19th, so anybody they get who can contribute would have been considered a success. They got Crittenton, who might even earn a starting job with the team. Last year the lack of a decent point guard was painfully obvious, and the Lakers got somebody who will probably fit into the system well right off the bat.
The point guard on the Lakers has only a few things to do: Dribble up the court when Kobe doesn’t want to, pass get the ball to Kobe on the wing after he runs around a screen, clear out for Kobe and wait by Phil Jackson on the sideline, and lastly, congratulate Kobe on a good try while getting back on defense. Every ten minutes, you might be asked to shoot a wide open-three pointer. That’s it. It’s too bad last year’s point guards could barely manage the task.
There will be plenty of time to dissect the picks in the coming weeks, so stay tuned. So right now, the Lakers look like they just got a little bit better, and that’s good news if you were planning on going to StubHub.com to get Los Angeles Lakers tickets for games next season.
More Garnett Trade Rumors for Lakers
The NBA Draft is tonight, and things might start getting a little more interesting for Lakers fans once Portland and Seattle have picked Greg Oden and Kevin Durant, respectively. Then the Atlanta Hawks will be on the clock, and they might just be looking to deal, according to some sources. Apparently the Timberwolves might be looking to ditch Kevin Garnett in a three way deal that would involve the Hawks (and their No. 3 pick) and the Phoenix Suns.
What does all of this have to do with the Lakers? Well, the Lakers might just get caught up in some draft night deals as well, being that they have some urgent needs (to get another star player to keep Kobe Bryant happy) and some possible new job openings (Kobe might be playing somewhere else next year).
There are a million different ways tonight could go down, and you will have to stay tuned to find out. Normally I wouldn’t suggest that you turn away from StubHub.com, but if you are serious about getting Los Angeles Lakers tickets next year, you might want to watch the draft for all the trades tonight.
Lakers Draft Options
With the NBA Draft looming, and time running out, most of the news in the Lakers camp has been about possible Kobe deals and His Majesty’s current demands, complaints and tantrums. We haven’t even had any time to look at one important issue that simply must be addressed: the Lakers’ draft pick.
Right now the Lakers have the 19th pick in the first round. I say “right now” because they have been included in the list of teams that is possibly looking to move up their position in this year’s draft. There is always the possibility that the Lakers have somebody specific in mind, and they’ll move up on draft day to get him. If they don’t, they might be looking at getting the best available point guard when they pick at the 19 spot. One player who fits the bill is Rudy Fernandez, a Spanish point/two guard who has been excellent in Europe for a while, and could contribute right away. It is clear from last year that the Lakers are in need of a point guard who can contribute something to the team, but are they willing to trade to move up to get a Mike Conley or Acie Law? If they do, you might be getting Los Angeles Lakers tickets at StubHub.com to a much better team next year.
New Lakers Trade Buzz Deconstructed
Chad Ford of ESPN has a very intense read about the potential for a four-team blockbuster deal between the Lakers, Pacers, Timberwolves and Celtics. This stuff can get pretty complicated, and is oftentimes best left for the professionals. I thought I was in the middle of The Good Shepherd at one point, just struggling to figure out what each character was trying to get at. Near the end, Ford suggested that the Pacers should be cut out of the deal, and that the Lakers should try to ship the Celtics Odom and Bynum, netting them Kevin Garnet by way of the Celtics giving them a group of players and a draft pick. The end result would be that the Lakers give up on Bynum (something they have been hesitant to do [see last season’s draft deadline]), but they get a guy who might be able to bring them to the second round of the playoffs.
Or, if it all falls through and the T-Wolves can’t give up on Garnet (which is very, very likely), the Lakers can try to get Zach Randolph. Randolph is good, to be sure, but will he be enough to keep Kobe Bryant happy? Is he enough to make Bryant believe that the Lakers organization is ready to win immediately? An who would be traded for Randolph, anyways?
The draft is soon enough, so there will be plenty to talk about after that, unless the Lakers try to deal to get a higher pick… Until then you can get some Los Angeles Lakers tickets at StubHub.com.
Kobe not the first Kobe
In the National Basketball League, there have been several examples of a top player demanding a trade at the height of his career. In fact, this is nothing new to the Lakers’ organization, which facilitated trades with both Wilt Chamberlain and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Chamberlain demanded a trade from San Francisco to Philadelphia, and he got it. Then when he was unhappy in Phily, he demanded to be traded to the Lakers and got his wish as well. Abdul-Jabbar was traded to the Lakers for Elmore Smith, Brian Winters, Dave Meyers and Junior Bridgman, when, at the time, Jabbar was the league’s leading scorer.
Moses Malone, Charles Barkley, Oscar Robertson and Scottie Pippen were all traded when they were good because they were looking to leave and their teams let them go. Could Kobe Bryant be added to this list of babies who have gotten their way? History has shown that, however unlikely, it is entirely possible for a player as good as Bryant to force a move the owners wouldn’t have normally made.
Until we have something solid that says Kobe Bryant will be playing elsewhere, you can still get Los Angeles Lakers tickets at StubHub.com to see number 24.
New Lakers Center?
If the Lakers organization is serious about keeping Kobe in Los Angeles, it seems like they are going to have to do something drastic to accomplish this feat. Kobe is a very unhappy camper right now, but he could probably be made much more agreeable sort if the Lakers were able to appease him. If you believe any bit of what Kobe says- and you have to choose wisely what you believe on any given day- you probably believe that he wants to win most of all. Well, he wants attention most of all, but winning gets the good kind of attention. So if the Lakers were to add an element to the team that allows them to win right away, would that make Kobe happy?
One thing that used to work great for the Lakers was a great center. Remember? Well, could they possibly get another center like Shaq in his heyday? Of course not, but they could try to get someone doable, such as Kevin Garnett or Jermaine O’Neal. O’Neal-Bryant: II would be a more likely idea, being that the T-Wolves seem more hesitant to trade their star that the Pacers.
All we can do now is wait and watch… and get some Los Angeles Lakers tickets at StubHub.com.
Kobe Wants to Go East?
Trying to figure out what exactly Kobe Bryant is thinking from hour to hour is a difficult assignment. Marc Stein of ESPN thinks he has it all figured out, though. According to Stein, Kobe wants to move East. After seeing the NBA Finals (or not seeing them, as it were), you can’t help but wonder if Kobe isn’t thinking the same thing a lot of people are: if LeBron James can take a bunch of role players to the NBA Finals in the Eastern Conference, why can’t Kobe do it with an equally mediocre supporting cast?
It appears that a good fit for Bryant might be Chicago—and not just because Kobe wants to be like Mike. The Bulls have a few rapidly improving role players around, such as Luol Deng, Ben Gordon, and Kirk Hinrich, which could easily be as good as the squad in Cleveland besides King James. The question is: how would Kobe get to Chicago. The Bulls would have to trade pretty much their entire roster to get Kobe, and then, you wouldn’t have a supporting cast worth a hill of beans.
But then again, we always have to qualify all of this idle thought. Kobe probably won’t leave the Lakers. The Lakers are hesitant to get rid of their star player. Kobe might just forget that he wanted to leave in the first place. The Lakers might bring in a player to satisfy him until his contract runs out. But it is interesting to think that we might be seeing Kobe playing in the Finals next year for the Bulls.
You can get Los Angeles Lakers tickets (to see Kobe or not) at StubHub.com.
Kupchak: New Spokesman for Aspirin
We all know Kobe called out Lakers’ general manager Mitch Kupchak last month, pretty much demanding roster realignments. But what has Kupchak done to respond? Up to this point, his responses have been muted. “I think enough has been said,” was his most poignant response to Kobe’s comments. Sure, enough has been said by Kobe. But apparently Kupchak is aggressively working towards a solution behind the scenes.
Kupchak’s solution would almost definitely not involve trading the NBA’s leading scorer for the past two seasons. Kupchak needs to come up with a better solution to this one-sided equation, or Kobe’s going to erupt again. At least we can be confident that Kupchak is still rooting for his own team, and is looking to make the Lakers immediate contenders. Just about every other NBA executive has their eyes on the Lakers’ current emergency status. Because of this, Kupchak’s been getting inquiries about his players without even having to ask, which means he may be served a Kobe-solution on a silver platter. “I know, based on my conversations in the last three or four weeks, that we have a lot of desirable players that other teams would like to have,” Kupchak commented. Well get on it Kupchak. Get your Los Angeles Lakers tickets from StubHub.com and see what Kupchak comes up with.
Another Video, Another Trade Opportunity
So Kobe’s back ranting and raving on video. What else is new. Actually, the same video is being recycled on the Web with different date stamps, making it appear to be more recent than it actually is. But the date is entirely irrelevant at this point. Kobe is a time bomb with a faulty timing mechanism, alternating back and forth between one and two seconds remaining before detonation.
In this amateur video, Kobe allegedly rips Kupchak and Bynum for the passing on a trade for Jason Kidd. Well, that ought to be just the thing to get our Lakers out of their slump, some spicy team camaraderie. But Kobe may not even be a factor in the Lakers’ equation for very much longer. For one thing, the Knicks are still most interested in Kobe, especially after having seen this video. Knicks coach and president Isiah Thomas has been working on a trade package for Kobe over the last several weeks, but is trying to maintain a diplomatic approach, avoiding becoming the vulture of the NBA. “We’re always trying to make our teams better,” Thomas commented. “When a team is having problems with their players, you keep your eye on that around the league, but not necessarily trying to instigate a fire our cause a fire.” Here’s to waiting for the next substantial Kobe video to surface. In the meantime, get your Los Angeles Lakers tickets from StubHub.com and root on the Lakers.
No Backing Down
So we know the New York Knicks want Kobe. Okay, so we know just about every team wants Kobe. But lately it’s the Chicago Bulls with the trade attention. Bryant recently met with Buss to personally broach the trade topic once again. By now, it’s hard to tell how Buss is looking at all of this. Is he looking to get rid of a thorn in his side? Is he secretly grinning about the leverage he could potentially gain from a Kobe trade? Or maybe he’s just tired; really tired.
The Lakers can hold on to Kobe until 2009 if they choose. So they at least have that unit of power. And then, of course, there’s Kobe’s weight in gold to consider. Some franchises would be willing to trade their entire team for this guy. Well, perhaps not. But if the Bulls were to get their horns in this prize, they’d have to put together a package that included the likes of Ben Gordon, Deng, Wallace, and Thabo Sefolosha. Sorry to say it folks, but Kobe’s not backing off on his trade talks. Stay on top of the excitement. Get your Los Angeles Lakers tickets from StubHub.com today.